Opposite word pairs list

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Building your vocabulary is an important part of learning English, and a great way to expand your vocabulary is by memorizing antonym pairs, which are words with opposite meanings. Check out the list of 424 common antonym pairs we’ve compiled below!

If you want a fun way to keep practicing your antonym pairs while studying, as a game with friends, or as a classroom tool, we offer a set of flashcards on these as well as synonyms, idioms, sense words, and other useful vocabulary for English learners in our package 1,574 Flashcards All English Learners Need to Have. And if you want to keep practicing your new English vocabulary with a native speaker, we also offer English tutoring for learners across the world.

above — below

absent — present

abundance — lack

abundant — scarce

accept — decline

accidental — intentional

accurate — inaccurate

add — subtract

admit — deny

adult — child

advance — retreat

advanced — elementary

advantage — disadvantage

after — before

agree — disagree

ahead — behind

alive — dead

already — not yet

always — never

amateur — professional

amuse — bore

angel — devil

appear — disappear

approached — departed

approval — disapproval

approve — disapprove

arrival — departure

arrive — depart

ascend — descend

attention — inattention

attractive — repulsive

aunt — uncle

authentic — imitation

awake — asleep

bad luck — good luck

bald — hairy

beauty — ugliness

beg — offer

begin — end

beginning — ending

bend — straighten

best — worst

better — worse

black — white

bless — curse

body — soul

bold — timid

boring — stimulating

bound — unbound

boy — girl

brave — cowardly

bravery — cowardice

bright — dim

buy — sell

can — cannot

capable — incapable

careful — careless

cellar — attic

certain — uncertain

city — country

clean — dirty

clockwise — counterclockwise

close — distant

cloudy — clear

cold (noun) — heat

combine — separate

comfort — discomfort

complete — incomplete

conceal — reveal

condemn — praise

constant — changeable

construction — destruction

continue — interrupt

cool — warm

correct — incorrect

courteous — discourteous

create — destroy

cruel — kind

dangerous — safe

daughter — son

dawn — dusk

day — night

daytime — nighttime

deep — shallow

definite — indefinite

demand — supply

despair — hope

dictatorship — democracy

disease — health

disgrace — honor

down — up

downstairs — upstairs

downwards — upwards

dwarf — giant

early — late

east — west

easy — difficult

ebb — flow

employer — employee

encourage — discourage

enter — exit

even — odd

everybody — nobody

exactly — approximately

excited — calm

expand — contract

expensive — inexpensive

extinguish — ignite

fade — brighten

fall — spring

fancy — plain

fear — courage

feeble — powerful

female — male

fertile — barren

fiction — fact

first — last

fix — break

float — sink

floor — ceiling

fold — unfold

foolish — wise

for — against

forbid — allow

fore — aft

foreground — background

foreign — domestic

forelegs — hind legs

former — latter

fortunate — unfortunate

forward — backward

frank — secretive

freedom — captivity

freeze — melt

frequently — occasionally

fresh — stale

friend — enemy

from — to

front — back

full — empty

future — past

gain — loss

gather — distribute

general — particular

give — take

glad — sorry

gloomy — cheerful

go — stop

godfather — godmother

good — bad

graceful — clumsy

grant — refuse

granted — refused

grow — shrink

guardian — ward

guest — host

happy — sad

harmful — harmless

harmony — discord

harsh — mild

hasten — dawdle

haves — have-nots

heaven — hell

height — depth

help — hinder

here — there

hide — show

hill — valley

hilly — flat

him — her

hit — miss

honest — dishonest

hopeful — hopeless

horizontal — vertical

hot — cold

humble — proud

hunger — thirst

husband — wife

idle — busy

immigrate — emigrate

immigration — emigration

import — export

important — trivial

imprison — free

in — out

include — exclude

increase — decrease

inferior — superior

inhabited — uninhabited

inhale — exhale

inner — outer

innocent — guilty

inside — outside

insult — compliment

intelligent — unintelligent

interested — bored

interesting — uninteresting

interior — exterior

internal — external

jolly — unhappy

junior — senior

just — unjust

justice — injustice

keen — uninterested

king — subject

knowledge — ignorance

known — unknown

lady — gentleman

land — sea

landlord — tenant

large — small

laugh — cry

lawful — unlawful

lazy — energetic

lead — follow

leader — follower

lend — borrow

lender — borrower

length — width

lengthen — shorten

less — more

life — death

light — dark

like — dislike

likely — unlikely

limited — boundless

literal — figurative

little — big

live — die

lock — unlock

lofty — lowly

loose — tight

lost — found

love — hate

low — high

loyal — disloyal

magnetize — demagnetize

major — minor

majority — minority

man — woman

many — few

married — single

marry — divorce

mature — immature

me — you

men — women

minimum — maximum

miser — spendthrift

misunderstand — understand

mix — sort

moderate — extreme

modern — ancient

monarchy — republic

morning — evening

most — least

mother — father

nadir — zenith

naked — clothed

native — foreigner

natural — artificial

near — far

neat — messy

nice — nasty

niece — nephew

none of — all of

noon — midnight

normal — strange

north — south

nothing — everything

notice — ignore

nourish — starve

now — then

obedient — disobedient

obey — disobey

older — younger

on — off

open — closed

opposite — similar

optimist — pessimist

order — mess

ordinary — special

outskirts — center

over — under

parents — children

patient — impatient

perfect — faulty

plant — harvest

pleasant — awful

please — displease

poetry — prose

polite — rude

positive — negative

possible — impossible

poverty — wealth

presence — absence

preserve — waste

probably — certainly

protect — attack

prudent — imprudent

public — private

pure — impure

push — pull

qualified — unqualified

question — answer

quiet — loud

rainy — sunny

raise — lower

rare — common

raw — cooked

real — fake

regular — irregular

regularly — irregularly

reluctant — enthusiastic

remember — forget

repair — damage

reward — punishment

rich — poor

right — left

rigid — pliable

rough — smooth

rural — urban

sadness — happiness

safety — danger

same — different

sane — insane

satisfaction — dissatisfaction

satisfactory — unsatisfactory

satisfy — dissatisfy

save — spend

scatter — collect

second-hand — new

secure — insecure

security — insecurity

seldom — often

selfish — unselfish

send — receive

sense — nonsense

serious — silly

servant — master

set free — arrest

sharp — dull

she — he

shelter — exposure

shopkeeper — customer

sick — healthy

simple — complex

singular — plural

sister — brother

sit — stand

slim — fat

slow — fast

smart — dumb

smile — frown

soft — hard

solid — liquid

some — none

sorrow — joy

sow — reap

speaker — listener

start — finish

stationary — movable

straight — crooked

strengthen — weaken

strict — lenient

strong — weak

student — teacher

stupid — clever

succeed — fail

success — failure

sugar — salt

summer — winter

supporter — opponent

sweet — sour

synonym — antonym

tall — short

tame — wild

teach — learn

temporary — permanent

terrible — lovely

thankful — thankless

thick — thin

throw — catch

tiny — huge

together — apart

top — bottom

total — partial

tough — tender

tragedy — comedy

transparent — opaque

true — false

trust — suspect

truth — lie

ugly — pretty

unbreakable — fragile

unite — divide

unity — division

upside down — right-side up

urgent — leisurely

useful — useless

usually — rarely

vacant — occupied

valuable — valueless

victory — defeat

villain — hero

virtue — vice

visible — invisible

voluntary — compulsory

vowel — consonant

walk — run

war — peace

wax — wane

well — ill

wet — dry

whisper — scream

whole — part

wide — narrow

win — lose

winner — loser

wisdom — folly

work — rest

yes — no

yesterday — tomorrow

young — old

zip — unzip

Did you find this list of 424 common antonyms useful in expanding your English vocabulary? Remember, if you want to keep practicing these and other useful words, check out our set of fun and challenging flashcards, 1,574 Flashcards All English Learners Need to Have. And remember, if you want to practice one on one with a native English speaker, we offer personalized English tutoring for you, no matter your skill level or where you are in the world.

Opposite Words in English PDF Download: A word that expresses meaning in opposition to the meaning of a certain word is known as an opposite word. The two words in this instance are referred to as antonyms of one another. Students should acquire as many antonyms and opposite terms as they can because this will help them expand their vocabulary and strengthen their command of the English language. «Opposite words» is an important topic in English Grammar. For competitive exams, in the reading comprehension topic or in the English language section, questions from the Opposite Words in English are common. These terms will be crucial to your academic development as well as the improvement of your reading and writing abilities. However, the list of opposite words in English a to z is provided below. The candidates in search of Antonyms/Opposite Words, frequently want to know about opposite words in English 20, opposite words in English list, words and opposite in English, opposite words in English 100, opposite words in English 10, opposite words in English a to z 200, opposite words in English a to z list, 100 opposite words in English, opposite words in English 20 PDF Download, 100 opposite words in English pdf download, 100 opposite words in English easy, etc., can refer to this article for more info.

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Opposite Words In English a-z

It is not possible for one individual to study the antonyms of every word in the English lexicon due to the scope of the topic «Opposite Words.» There are many opposite terms that we frequently use in our daily lives, but some of us might not be familiar with all of them. We have listed more than 1000 opposing terms in this post for your reference; browse through them and attempt to understand a few new words with opposing connotations. This article will teach you many of the opposing words used in English grammar, which will undoubtedly improve your vocabulary, especially if you’re getting ready for competitive exams like the Bank Exams, SSC Exams, UPSC, and others where you have to study for the English subject. Candidates aspiring to know all the z opposite words, 1000 opposite words in English, and opposite words in English a-z can read further.

Opposite Words In English a to z PDF Download

Candidates preparing for competitive exams can make use of the opposite words in English a to z PDF Download link provided below. With the help of opposite words in English a to z PDF Download link, aspirants can learn the opposite words easily and also they can download the PDF and take printouts if necessary. Make use of the opposite words in English a to z PDF Download link for effective preparation.

Opposite Words In English a to z PDF Download

Opposite Words In English List: Basic Words Antonyms

Here we have added the list of opposite words in English for the reference of the candidates. Below is a collection of some general and simple opposing words in English. Utilize these antonyms to expand your vocabulary in English. You can read the following general 100 opposite words in English easy here.

Opposite Words In English List: Basic Words Antonyms
Words	Antonyms In English
Absent	Present
After	Before
Active	Lazy
Brave	Afraid
Bitter	Sweet
Beginning	End
Blunt	Sharp
Big	Small / Little
Cheap	Expensive
Clean	Dirty
Close	Open
Deep	Shallow
Day	Night
Down	Up
Daughter	Son
Early	Late
Easy	Difficult / Hard
Enter	Exit
Far	Near / Close
Friend	Enemy
Fast	Slow
Fat	Thin / Skinny
Full	Empty
Good	Bad
Happy	Sad
Heavy	Light
Happy	Sad
Here	There
High	Low
Hot	Cold
In	Out
Inside	Outside
Interesting	Boring
Light	Dark
Long	Short
Loud	Soft
Many	Few
Male	Female
New	Old
Near	Far
Over	Under
Rich	Poor
Right	Left
Right	Wrong
Safe	Dangerous
Single	Married
Smooth	Rough
Soft	Hard
Strong	Weak
Tall	Short
Thick	Thin
Tight	Loose
Top	Bottom
Ugly	Beautiful
Vertical	Horizontal
Warm	Cool
Wet	Dry
Wide	Narrow
Young	Old
Yesterday	Tomorrow
Yes	No

Opposite Words In English a to z List

Here you can find out the opposite words in English in alphabetical order from a to z. 

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘A’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter A tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘A’

absent — present abundant — scarce accept — decline, refuse accurate — inaccurate admit — deny advantage — disadvantage against — for agree — disagree alive — dead all — none, nothing ally — enemy always — never ancient — modern answer — question antonym — synonym apart — together appear — disappear, vanish approve — disapprove arrive — depart artificial — natural ascend — descend attic — cellar attractive — repulsive awake — asleep

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘B’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter B tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘B’

backward — forward bad — good beautiful — ugly before — after begin — end below — above bent — straight best — worst better — worse, worst big — little, small bitter-sweet black — white blame — praise bless — curse bold — meek, timid borrow — lend bottom — top bound — unbound, free boundless — limited boy — girl brave — cowardly bright — dim, dull brighten — fade broad — narrow build — destroy

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘C’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter C tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘C’

calm — windy, troubled can — cannot, can’t capable — incapable captive — free careful — careless cheap — expensive cheerful — sad, discouraged, dreary clear — cloudy, opaque clever — stupid clockwise — counterclockwise close — far, distant closed — ajar, open clumsy — graceful cold — hot combine — separate come — go comfort — discomfort common — rare compulsory — voluntary conceal — reveal contract — expand cool — warm correct — incorrect, wrong courage — cowardice courteous — discourteous, rude create — destroy crooked — straight cruel — kind

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘D’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter D tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘D’

dangerous — safe dark — light day — night daytime — nighttime dead — alive decline — accept, increase decrease — increase deep — shallow definite — indefinite demand — supply despair — hope dim — bright disappear — appear discourage — encourage diseased — healthy down — up downwards — upwards dreary — cheerful dry — moist, wet dull — bright, shiny dusk — dawn

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘E’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter E tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘E’

early — late east-west easy — hard, difficult empty — full encourage — discourage end — begin, start enter — exit even — odd expand — contract export — import exterior — interior external — internal

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘F’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter F tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘F’

fade — brighten fail — succeed false — true famous — unknown far — near fast — slow fat — thin feeble — strong, powerful few — many find — lose first — last float — sink fold — unfold foolish — wise for — against fore — aft forget — remember fortunate — unfortunate found — lost free-bound, captive frequent — seldom fresh — stale friend — enemy full — empty

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘G’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter G tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘G’

generous — stingy gentle — rough get — give giant — tiny, small, dwarf girl — boy give — receive, take glad — sad, sorry gloomy — cheerful go — stop good — bad, evil grant — refuse great — tiny, small, unimportant grow — shrink guest — host guilty — innocent

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘H’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter H tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘H’

happy — sad hard — easy hard — soft harmful — harmless harsh — mild hate — love haves — have-nots healthy — diseased, ill, sick heaven — hell heavy — light help — hinder here — there hero — coward high — low hill — valley hinder — help honest — dishonest horizontal — vertical hot — cold humble — proud

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘I’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter I tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘I’

ill — healthy, well immense — tiny, small important — trivial in — out include — exclude increase — decrease inferior — superior inhale — exhale inner — outer inside — outside intelligent — stupid, unintelligent intentional — accidental interesting — boring interesting — dull, uninteresting interior — exterior internal — external

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘J’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter J tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘J’

join — separate junior — senior just — unjust justice — injustice

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘K’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter K tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘K’

knowledge — ignorance known — unknown

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘L’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter L tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘L’

landlord — tenant large — small last — first laugh — cry lawful — unlawful, illegal lazy — industrious leader-follower left — right lend -borrow lengthen — shorten lenient — strict less — more light — dark, heavy like — dislike, hate likely — unlikely limited — boundless little — big long — short loose — tight lose — find loss — win loud — quiet love — hate low — high loyal — disloyal

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘M’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter M tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘M’

mad — happy, sane major — minor many — few mature — immature maximum — minimum melt — freeze merry — sad messy — neat minor — major minority — majority miser — spendthrift misunderstand — understand more — less

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘N’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter N tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘N’

nadir — zenith narrow — wide near — far, distant neat — messy, untidy never — always new — old night — day nighttime — daytime no — yes noisy — quiet none — some north-south

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘O’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter O tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘O’

obedient — disobedient odd — even offer — refuse old — new old — young on — off open — closed, shut opposite- same, similar optimist — pessimist out — in outer — inner over — under

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘P’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter P tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘P’

past — present patient — impatient peace — war permanent — temporary plentiful — scarce plural — singular poetry — prose polite — rude, impolite possible — impossible poverty — wealth, riches powerful — weak pretty — ugly private — public prudent — imprudent pure — impure, contaminated push — pull

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘Q’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter Q tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘Q’

qualified — unqualified question — answer quiet — loud, noisy

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘R’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter R tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘R’

raise — lower rapid — slow rare — common real — fake regular — irregular rich — poor right — left, wrong right-side-up — upside-down rough — smooth rude — courteous

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘S’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter S tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘S’

safe — unsafe same — opposite satisfactory — unsatisfactory scatter — collect second-hand — new secure — insecure separate — join, together serious — trivial shallow — deep shrink — grow sick — healthy, ill simple — complex, hard singular — plural sink — float slim — fat, thick slow — fast sober — drunk soft — hard some — none sorrow — joy sour — sweet sow -reap start — finish stop-go straight — crooked strict — lenient strong — weak success — failure sunny — cloudy sweet — sour synonym — antonym

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘T’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter T tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘T’

take — give tall — short tame — wild them — us there — here thick — thin tight — loose, slack tiny — big, huge together — apart top — bottom tough — easy, tender transparent — opaque true — false truth — falsehood, lie, untruth

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘U’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter U tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘U’

under — over unfold — fold unknown — known unqualified — qualified unsafe — safe up — down upside-down — right-side-up upstairs — downstairs us — them useful — useless

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘V’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter V tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘V’

vacant — occupied vanish — appear vast — tiny victory — defeat virtue — vice visible — invisible voluntary — compulsory

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘W’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter W tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘W’

war — peace wax — wane weak — strong wet — dry white — black wide — narrow win-lose wisdom — folly, stupidity within — outside wrong — right

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘X’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter X tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘X’

Xenial — Inhospitable Xenophobic — Impartial Xeroxes — Original

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘Y’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter Y tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘Y’

yes — no yin — yang young — old

Opposite Words In English Starting With Letter ‘Z’

Aspirants can check the important opposite words in English starting with the letter Z tabulated below.

Opposite Words In English Starting With ‘Z’ / Z opposite words

zenith — nadir zip — unzip

Opposite Words In English Exercises

In the English language portion of numerous tests, including SSC (SSC CGL, CHSL, JE, etc.), UPSC (NDA, CDS, etc.), Banking, and more, candidates who are taking government examinations commonly encounter questions relating to antonyms/opposite words. The opposite words that are requested in the vocabulary part are more complex than the straightforward opposite terms mentioned before. A few significant questions from the perspective of competitive exams are presented below for practice using opposite words.

Choose the word opposite in meaning to the given word

Q1. Xenophobic

1. yang
2. Impartial
3. qualified
4. Original

Ans. (b)

Q2. Optimist

1. courteous
2. messy
3. pessimist
4. sink

Ans. (c)

Q3. Wisdom

1. folly
2. Impartial
3. always
4. courteous

Ans. (a)

Q4. Ally

1. enemy
2. together
3. repulsive
4. support

Ans. (a)

Q5. Scatter

1. disperse
2. Inhospitable
3. even
4. collect

Ans. (d)

Q6. Bless

1. blame
2. praise
3. curse
4. enjoy

Ans. (c)

Q7. Cheerful

1. Happy
2. dreary
3. Entertain
4. optimistic

Ans. (b)

Q8. Hinder 

1. trouble
2. help
3. disturbance
4. pessimistic

Ans. (b)

Q9. Calm

1. relax
2. satisfied
3. Righteous
4. Windy

Ans. (d)

Q10. Nefarious

1. Recuperate
2. Stupidity
3. Righteous
4. Sobriety

Ans. (c)

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FAQs — Opposite Words in the English Language

Q. What are the opposing words in English?

A word that expresses meaning in opposition to the meaning of a certain word is known as an opposite word. The two words in this instance are referred to as antonyms of one another.

Q. What is the opposite word of benefit?

Some of the opposite words of benefit are, disadvantage, hindrance, drawback, impediment, minus, liability, obstacle, etc.,

Q. What are the opposite words of kind?

The opposite words of kind are unkind, inconsiderate, mean, etc.,

Q. What are the opposite words of tall?

The opposite words of tall are short, small, low, etc.,

Q. What are the opposite words of fat?

The opposite words of fat are thin, skinny, etc.,

Tight is the opposite word of _________.

Choose the best answer from the choices below

___ is the opposite word of out.

Choose the best answer from the choices below

What is the opposite word of fun?

Choose the best answer from the choices below