What is an antonym

Antonyms are words with opposite meanings. Here are some examples of antonyms:.

An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word. For example, hot and cold are antonyms, as are good and bad. Antonyms can be all types of words: verbs , nouns , adjectives , adverbs , and even prepositions. Knowing how to use antonyms can improve your writing and English skills, but some details need to be explained. Below we answer the question, What are antonyms? We go into full detail and explain the different types and when to use them.

What is an antonym

Some Differences Between Synonyms and Antonyms. The English language and, we may presume, many other languages has both antonyms and synonyms. There are many more words with synonyms than there are words with antonyms , since many things exist which do not have an opposite the word sandwich , for instance, may be said to have synonyms in the words hoagie , grinder , submarine , and many other words, but there is no opposite of sandwich. Antonym is also a much more recent addition to English than synonym is; it first appeared in the s, whereas synonym has been used for more than years. Additionally, both nouns have adjectival forms: synonymous and antonymous. Synonymous , which is often used loosely "She has become synonymous with good taste" , is the more common of the two. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'antonym. Send us feedback about these examples. For each set of words, can you tell which one is not a synonym of all the others? Yes, it is possible to be kempt, couth, ruly, and gruntled. Accessed 12 Mar.

See Definitions and Examples ». An antonym can be an adjectiveadverbnounprepositionor verb. Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English.

Forget doing it or forget to do it? Avoiding common mistakes with verb patterns 2. Add to word list Add to word list. Two antonyms of " light " are " dark " and " heavy ". Synonym opposite. Compare synonym.

Forget doing it or forget to do it? Avoiding common mistakes with verb patterns 2. Add to word list Add to word list. Two antonyms of " light " are " dark " and " heavy ". Synonym opposite. Compare synonym. Related word antonymous. Grammar Gradable opposites antonyms. Examples of antonym.

What is an antonym

An antonym is a word having a meaning opposite to that of another word, such as hot and cold , short and tall. An antonym is the antonym of synonym. Adjective: antonymous. Another word for antonym is counterterm. Antonymy is the sense relation that exists between words which are opposite in meaning. In Language: Its Structure and Use , Edward Finnegan defines antonymy as "a binary relationship between terms with complementary meanings. It's sometimes said that antonymy occurs most often among adjectives , but as Steven Jones et al. Nouns can be antonyms for example, courage and cowardice , as can verbs arrive and depart , adverbs carefully and carelessly , and even prepositions above and below. Such pairs often occur in binomial phrases with and : blow hot and cold , search high and low.

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See Definitions and Examples ». Choose your language. When you learn all of the antonyms for a word, you might find that some are better for specific sentences than others. Read on to learn everything about antonyms, including lots of antonym examples and fun ways to find and remember them! Browse antivirus. The antonym of big is small. For example, an antonym of day is night , and an antonym of on is off. Lesson credits. English American Examples Translations. Placing opposites together highlights their differences and makes the individual words stronger. Kids Definition. Published December 20, Case studies information pack. Descriptive writing Finding the antonym of a word can help us when we are writing something descriptive. Functional Functional Always active The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.

An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word.

Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings. Antonym is also a much more recent addition to English than synonym is; it first appeared in the s, whereas synonym has been used for more than years. Compare synonym. Some Differences Between Synonyms and Antonyms. Buy Now. I believe in making education inviting and accessible to all. Choose your language. Synonyms and antonyms are a lot of fun, especially when you start being able to match them in your head. I often imagine some scales: I put the two possible antonyms on them, and if they level out — or weigh the same — chances are you have a true pair of antonyms! Usually, a word has many synonyms: Happy, joyful, contented, content, cheery, merry, jovial, jolly, joking, jocular, gleeful, carefree, untroubled, delighted, smiling. Add to word list Add to word list. Examples of antonym in a Sentence. Kids Definition. Word of the Day. March 11,