antonym
/'æntənim/
Definition
- Noun:
- A word that expresses a meaning opposed to the meaning of another word: An "antonym" is a word that has the opposite meaning of another specific word. When two words are antonyms, they form a pair of opposites.
Usage and Examples
- Noun:
- "Hot" is an antonym of "cold".
- In the vocabulary exercise, students were asked to match each word with its antonym.
- The words "arrive" and "depart" are antonyms.
Advanced Usage
- Graded Antonyms: Pairs that allow for degrees of comparison (e.g., and , where and are intermediate states).
- "Young" and "old" are graded antonyms; you can be "very young" or "quite old".
- Complementary Antonyms: Pairs that represent an either/or relationship, with no middle ground (e.g., and ).
- "True" and "false" are complementary antonyms; a statement cannot be both.
- Relational Antonyms: Pairs that describe a relationship from opposite perspectives (e.g., and , and ).
- In the transaction, "borrow" and "lend" are relational antonyms.
Variants and Related Words
- Antonymous (adj): Having the nature of an antonym; being opposite in meaning.
- The words have an antonymous relationship.
- Antonymy (n): The semantic relationship of opposition between words.
- The concept of antonymy is fundamental to understanding vocabulary.
Synonyms
- Opposite: A word or thing that is totally different from another in nature or quality.
- Counterterm: (Less common) A term that is the opposite of another.
Antonyms
- Synonym: A word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word.
- "Rapid" is a synonym for "fast", not an antonym.
Related Phrases and Concepts
- Auto-antonym (or Contronym): A word that can have two opposite meanings (e.g., can mean to approve or to penalize).
- The word "cleave" is an auto-antonym because it can mean to split apart or to cling together.
- Direct antonym: The most precise and commonly accepted opposite for a given word.
- For the word "light," "dark" is considered its direct antonym in most contexts.
Noun
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a word that expresses a meaning opposed to the meaning of another word, in which case the two words are antonyms of each other
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to him the antonym of `gay' was `depressed'
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