Antonyms

Antonyms are words that have contrasting, or opposite, meanings. Like so much of the English language, "antonym" is rooted in the Greek language. The Greek word anti means opposite, while onym means name. Opposite name - that makes sense!

Since the English language is so complex, people may disagree about which words truly have opposite meanings. With the examples of antonyms listed below, we try to clear that up and offer some tactics for choosing the most appropriate word every time.

Types of Antonyms

You may be interested to know that there are three different kinds of antonyms. Let's take a look at each one:

Complementary: Complementary antonyms have no middle ground. Examples include:

• boy - girl, off - on, night - day, entrance - exit, exterior - interior, true - false, dead - alive, push - pull, pass - fail

Relational: These are similar to complementary antonyms, except that both must exist for them to be antonyms of each other. Check out these examples:

• above - below, doctor - patient, husband - wife, servant - master, borrow - lend, give - receive, predator - prey, buy - sell, instructor - pupil

Graded: These antonyms deal with levels of comparison and they can be two words on a scale. Many are relative terms, which can be interpreted differently by different people. Examples include:

• young - old, hard - soft, happy - sad, wise - foolish, fat - skinny, warm - cool, early - late, fast - slow, dark - light

Add a Prefix to Create an Antonym

Sometimes, you don't need to search for another word entirely. It's possible to create an antonym simply by adding a prefix to the word.

Some examples of antonyms created by adding the prefix dis- are:

• Agree → disagree
• Appear → disappear
• Belief → disbelief
• Honest → dishonest

Adding the prefix in- can make the following opposites:

• Tolerant → intolerant
• Decent → indecent
• Discreet → indiscreet
• Excusable → inexcusable

Using the prefix mis- create antonyms like:

• Behave → misbehave
• Interpret → misinterpret
• Lead → mislead
• Trust → mistrust

Examples of antonyms made by adding the prefix un- are:

• Likely → unlikely
• Able → unable
• Fortunate → unfortunate
• Forgiving → unforgiving

By adding the prefix non- you can make these antonyms:

• Entity → nonentity
• Conformist → nonconformist
• Payment → nonpayment
• Sense → nonsense

100 Examples of Antonyms

monarchy

democracy

atmosphere

terrain

evaluate

misjudge

guardian

enemy

antonym

synonym

happy

sad

audience

absence

love

hate

route

detour

hi

bye

concoction

separate

agriculture

industry

era

moment

selfish

generous

good

bad

cascade

drip

smile

frown

horde

few

beckon

ignore

coward

brave

hero

villain

colony

empire

legislation

repeal

nomad

settled

journey

stay

refugee

resident

version

original

infer

misunderstand

producer

consumer

debris

cleanness

orphan

parented

research

ignorance

beautiful

ugly

awesome

unimpressive

freedom

slavery

strategy

coincidence

confident

shy

propaganda

truth

anxious

calm

dialogue

silence

victim

offender

extravagant

frugal

summit

bottom

aquatic

terrestrial

analyze

assemble

rubble

repair

desecration

sanctuary

petrified

fearless

argument

agreement

expedition

delay

camouflage

reveal

ancient

modern

contradict

agree

structure

disorganization

atheist

theist

enigma

clearness

fear

courage

unschooled

well-versed

architect

demolisher

harvest

plant

convert

remain

graceful

awkward

nice

unpleasant

endangered

protected

denotation

connotation

trust

distrust

rivulet

ocean

campaign

rest

abode

public

corridor

cell

gratitude

thanklessness

anguish

joy

century

second

clamber

descend

sophisticated

naive

chamber

walkway

nostalgic

forward-looking

pride

humility

memoir

fantasy

tenement

mansion

survival

death

reluctant

eager

prejudice

fairness

artificial

natural

evidence

guess

hierarchy

declassification

culprit

innocent

crevice

closing

chronological

disordered

stamina

weakness

eerie

normal

traditional

nontraditional

hypocrite

honest

postscript

introduction

emerge

disappear

collaborate

disagree

hostile

friendly

punctual

tardy

peaceful

violent

boor

king