Word pairs that are antonyms

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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.

Antonyms are word pairs that are opposite in
meaning, such as hot
and cold,
black and
white, and
in and
out.
Antonyms are
usually defined as words belonging to one and the same part of
speech, close in meaning.
Antonyms are broadly divided into 3
categories:

Graded are
antonyms which allow for a natural, gradual transition between two
poles: good/bad, hot/ cold

Complementary represent the two opposite possibilities.(man-woman, dead — alive)

Relational are
antonyms which share the same semantic features, only the focus, or
direction, is reversed: tie/untie,
buy/sell, give/receive, teacher/pupil, father/son.

  1. Мinor types of semantic relations

Hyponym
— In
linguistics,
a specific term used to designate a member of a class. For instance,
oak is a
hyponym of tree,
and dog is
a hyponym of animal.

Hyperonym
— is a word with a general
meaning that has basically the same meaning of a more specific word.
For example, dog
is a hypernym, while collie
and chihuahua
are more specific subordinate terms.

Equonym
— generic term as compared to
the specific names wolf, dog or mouse (which are called equonyms).
Dog, in its turn, may serve as a generic term for different breeds
such as bull-dog, collie, poodle, etc.

  1. Phraseological units as distinguished from free words.

  2. Different classification of phraseological units.

Phraseology is known in the
narrow sense as a branch of Linguistics. In the lexicological aspect
Phraseology studies the meaning of set expressions and idioms.
The sources of
Phraseology.

In
etymological classification of idiomatic phrases by L.P. Smith in his
book “Words and Idioms”, the author points out the following
sources of phraseology:

1.
Ph. Units built around the names of different parts of the body: soft
in the head, to have an open hand, to have a good head on one’s
shoulders.

2.
Ph. Units from sport life: straight from the shoulder, to keep the
ball rolling, to back up(support).

3.
Set expressions from art: to play the first fiddle, out of tune, to
make a scene, to change one’s tune.

4.
Phrases from Shakespeare writing: to be or not to be, to make sure
double sure, the beginning of the end, to the heart’s content.

5. Biblical expressions: safe and sound, dairy bread, to be a proverb
and a byword

A Phraseological Unit &
its definition
. The
combinations of words maybe divided into free and set phraseology
studies, set combinations of words.
Free
word-combinations
comprise
two or more notional words combined in accordance with
grammar rules. Each
component preserves its individual lexical and grammatical meanings,
stylistic colouring and syntactical function: to
break a match (2 matches): to change
a
plan
(a
programme);
Set expressions
are word
combinations characterized by structural, semantic, functional,
stylistic integrity, i.e. neither the forms nor the order of the
components may be changed, no words can be inserted into PhUs, the
meaning of the whole structure is not the sum of the meaning of PhU
components, the components are united by one syntactic function and
stylistic colouring.

Comparison

Free combinations:

have insertions (вставки)
to take a
book, to receive the books;

each
component preserves an
independent meaning: to
take, to grasp, to snatch
a
book;

each
component has its own stylistic colouring:
to help — neutral
style; daddy

colloquial.
free
word combinations are formed in speech when a necessity arises

Set
expressions:

— stable
grammatical structures: to rain
cats and dogs, to snow black a cat or hounds;

the
meaning of the components put together isn’t adequate to the
meaning of the whole
PhU: to
rain cats & dogs;

one
logically possible component:
profound,
thorough,
considerable
deep
gratitude:

the PhU
has one stylistic colouring —
colloquial: to
kick the bucket — colloquial style:

we
don’t create but use PhU by tradition the usage of a PhU is
programmed for effect.

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The term antonymy in semantics derives from the Greek words anti and onym, which mean opposite and name. The opposite of antonymy is synonymy.

Antonymy meaning in semantics

Antonymy in semantics refers to words that have opposite meanings. These are usually in pairs, for example: hot/cold, tall/short, loud/quiet.

To test yourself, look at the following sentence from Barack Obama’s 2008 victory speech and find the antonyms:

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled — Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of red states and blue states; we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

The antonyms that are included in the excerpt are: young/old, rich/poor, Democrat/Republican, black/white, gay/straight, and disabled/not disabled.

A ← → B

Examples of antonymy

Antonymy can be found across all parts of speech. For example:

  • Adjective: easy/hard, wet/dry, hot/cold

  • Nouns: hero/villain, freedom/slavery

  • Verbs: answer/ask, discourage/encourage

  • Adverbs: now/then, loudly/softly

  • Propositions: on/off, above/below

Antonymy can also be found in idioms:

  • Although they are twins, their personalities are night and day.

  • Things don’t always go as you want. You have to learn to take the bad with the good.

Types of antonyms

There are three types of antonyms which are categorized by the relationship between the opposing words:

Gradable antonyms

Imagine you’re looking at a room thermometer. If the indicator is at the bottom of the thermometer, it tells you that the room is cold. If it is at the top, the room is hot. However, the thermometer can also indicate warm temperature when the indicator is in the middle.

Hot and cold are gradable antonyms. Gradable antonyms define words that are at the opposite ends of a spectrum with some gradation between the two extremes. In our temperature example, we have hot — cold, with warm between hot and cold. Other examples include empty — full (gradations: half empty or half full), high — low (gradation: medium), and young — old (gradation: teenager).

Antonymy, Image of a hand holding an ice cream in a beach, StudySmarterFig. 1 — An example of gradable antonyms is hot/cold

Complementary antonyms

Complementary antonyms are a kind of antonymy that explains an either-or relationship between the opposite word pairs.

Remember when you have to answer true or false questions on tests? This is an example of a complementary antonym. There are only two options, either true or false. There is no half-true or half-false.

Because of this, each complementary antonym can exist independently of the other and is usually its absolute opposite. Other examples are dead/alive, exterior/interior, and yes/no.

Antonymy, A computer mouse icon selecting the alive option next to the dead option, StudySmarterFig. 2 — An example of complementary antonyms is dead/alive.

Relational/converse antonyms

Relational/converse antonyms show a dependent relationship between opposite words. A word from the pair can’t exist without the other. For example, open/close. A shop owner must first open the shop before they can close it. Other examples include husband/wife, front/back, and doctor/patient.

Antonymy, A computer mouse icon selecting the present option next to the absent option, StudySmarterFig. 3 — An example of relational/converse antonyms is absent/present

Kinds of antonyms Explanation
Gradable antonymy Shows a word pair that is at the opposite ends of a spectrum with some gradation between the two extremes.
Complementary antonymy Shows an either-or relationship between opposite word pairs.
Relational/converse antonymy Shows a dependent relationship between word pairs.

Antonymy in Literature

In Literature, antonymy is often used as a device. Antonymy allows writers to juxtapose words to suggest irony or satire, or to make some words more prominent than others.¹ Antonymy is used in a number of ways in Literature:

Antithesis

This is a juxtaposition of two logically opposed elements.

To err is human to forgive is divine — Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism (1711).

The err and forgive are relational/converse antonyms. An error needs to exist first for it to be forgiven. The two contrasting words also juxtapose human and divine (coming from or connected with God or a god — Oxford English Learner). The sentence then means ‘it is normal for humans to make mistakes but to forgive is difficult’.

Oxymoron

This is a combination of two contradictory terms.

Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate,

O anything of nothing first ‘create!’

O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!

Misshapen chaos of ‘well-seeming’ forms. — William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1597)

Shakespeare expresses Romeo’s emotional turmoil by using contradictory words: brawling love — loving hate. These signify that love and hate can exist at the same time. The conflicting meanings are further emphasized with heavy lightness — serious vanity which implies that the brawl may be about nothing (vanity), but it has serious consequences.

Paradox

This is a contradictory statement that, after closer inspection, is found to be true.

We die and rise the same, — John Donne, The Canonization (1633)

In his poem, Donne uses the analogy of a phoenix to describe a challenging love affair. According to mythology, a phoenix is an immortal bird that is reborn after it dies, from the ashes of its dead body. To convey this, Donne chooses to die and rise which are complementary antonyms.

Irony

This refers to meaning the opposite of what is said.

The apparent statement or event is undermined by another context to give a different meaning. Take Percy Shelley’s Ozymandias (1818):

I met a traveler from an antique land

Who said: «Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:

And on the pedestal these words appear:

«My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

In this poem, the antonymy/irony relationship is described by contrasting the past and present. It is reflected by the magnificent power-imagery used about Ozymandias (king of kings; ye Mighty and despair) which sometime in the future is turned into its opposite. All that is left of the grandeur described on the plinth is desolation (half sunk; stamped on these lifeless things).

It is therefore ironic that the statue, which was meant to show his everlasting power, is decapitated and no longer represents his great accomplishments. Instead, it is sunken in the desert, partially covered with sand.

Synonymy and antonymy — what’s the difference?

Synonymy refers to similar meanings, while antonymy refers to opposite meanings. In other words, synonymy is the opposite of antonymy.

Here are some side-by-side comparisons of the two terms using the same words:

Synonymy Antonymy
good (adjective) pleasant, useful, reliable bad, poor, inadequate
always (adverb) constantly, regularly, repeatedly never, at no time
question (noun) inquire, investigation answer, reply
receive (verb) accept, collect, take in reject, deny, let go
above (preposition) raised, over below, under

Antonymy — Key takeaways

  • Antonymy is a pair of words that have opposite meanings. It is also known as ‘opposition’.
  • The term antonymy derives from the Greek words anti and onym, which mean opposite and name.
  • The opposite of antonymy is synonymy (words with the same/similar meanings).
  • There are three types of antonymy: gradable antonyms, complementary antonyms, and relational/converse antonyms.
  • Some antonyms are used for antithesis, oxymoron, paradox, and irony.

¹Nünning, V., & Nünning, A, An Introduction to the Study of English and American Literature, (2004).

Definition of Antonym

An antonym is a semantic term for words that have opposite meanings or definitions. To simply put it, an antonym is an opposite of another word. The term “antonym” has been derived from a Greek word antonumia, which means counter name.

It is, in fact, a sense relation or binary relationship between words that have opposite or contradictory meanings. For instance, in the sentence, “You forget what you want to Remember and you Remember what you want to forget” (The Road, by Cormac McCarthy), the underlined words “forget” and “remember” are opposites to one another. In other words, they are antonyms of one another.

Difference Between Antonym and Synonym

Antonyms are pairs of words that have opposite meanings, such as: night-day, bright-dull, and wet-dry. Synonyms, on the other hand, are a group of words having similar meanings. Most words have synonyms. Verbs, nouns, prepositions, adjectives, and adverbs have synonyms, provided they belong to the same parts of speech.

Types of Antonym

There are three types of antonym, which are:

  1. Graded Antonyms – Graded antonyms use words having variations between two opposites. For instance, the words “big” and “little” are opposite; however, they can use a variety of other words with opposite meanings such as:
    1. Big, bulky, full-size, huge / petite, slight, and little
    2. Smart, clever, canny, bright / stupid, dim, obtuse, foolish, unwise
    3. Happy, pleased, joyful, ecstatic / sad, gloomy, dejected, miserable
    4. Healthy, vigorous, fit, strong / sick, unwell, ill, ailing
  2. Relational or Converse Antonyms – Relational antonyms use word pairs having a close relationship in which each word cannot exist without the other, or one word has only a single relational opposite. For example:
    1. Front-back
    2. Open-close
    3. Husband-wife
    4. Hello-goodbye
  3. Complimentary Antonyms – Complimentary antonyms use word pairs that are absolute opposites. They can independently exist without each other, such as a daughter is not the complimentary opposite of a son in the family. Similarly girls can exist without their complimentary opposites, boys. Some of these are given below:
    1. True-false
    2. Dead-alive
    3. Male-female
    4. On-off
    5. Daughter-son
    6. Yes-no

Examples of Antonyms in Literature

Example #1: The Plain Man and His Wife (by Arnold Bennett)

“If you ask me whom I mean by the plain man, my reply is that I mean almost every man. I mean you. I certainly mean me. I mean… the successful and the unsuccessful, the idle and the diligent, the luxurious and the austere.”

This is a good example of graded antonyms, as “successful” is opposite to “unsuccessful,” while “idle” is opposite to “diligent,” and “luxurious” is exactly opposite to “austere.”

Example #2: The World As I See It (by Albert Einstein)

“Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.”

The above example has used the graded antonyms “inner” and “outer,” “give” and “received,” and complimentary antonyms “living” and “dead.”

Example #3: Hamlet (by William Shakespeare)

“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the Night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

In this excerpt, Shakespeare has used graded antonyms “night” and “day,” and absolute or complimentary antonyms “living” and “dead.”

Example #4: A Tale of Two Cities (by Charles Dickens)

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…”

Dickens has beautifully used antonyms in this passage. “Best” is opposite to “worst,” “wisdom” is opposite to “foolishness,” and likewise “belief” and “incredulity,” “light” and “darkness,” “hope” and “despair” are all graded antonyms.

Function of Antonym

The function of antonyms, in both speech and writing, is important because they highlight or emphasize the main idea of a text or speech. In literature, antonyms are used in different literary devices such as in synecdoche and paradox. These devices make some features of a character, or some quality in a person prominent. Antonyms also are helpful tools in narration, argumentation, description, and explanation. Antonyms also play an important role in language acquisition.

Antonyms give English writing meaning, and studying antonym examples will help you understand them better.

Antonyms are words in the English language that have opposite meanings. They can be nouns, adverbs, prepositions, or adjectives. The only rule is that the word must mean the opposite of another word, and if it does, it is an antonym.

Antonym is a word that comes from the combination of two Greek words. Anti means “opposite,” and onoma means “name.” Combining these into the word “antonym” means “opposite name,” or opposite meaning. The word antonym has its own antonym, the word synonym, which means words with the same meaning.

Understanding antonyms will help you create more engaging writing and give you a better understanding of English grammar. The best way to understand them is to study antonym examples so you can understand how these opposite words appear in your writing.

Antonym Examples

Before looking at specific types of antonyms, consider some basic antonym examples. These are opposites you probably already know, but learning how to spot them will teach you how to use antonyms in your writing.

  • Accept and deny
  • Add and subtract
  • Agree and refuse
  • Alive and dead
  • Always and never
  • Angel and devil
  • Beautiful and ugly
  • Better and worse
  • Big and small
  • Boring and amusing
  • Ceiling and floor
  • Cheap and expensive
  • Child and adult
  • Clean and dirty
  • Dark and light
  • Deep and shallow
  • Defend and attack
  • Depart and arrive
  • Empty and full
  • Enemy and friend 
  • Far and near
  • Fast and slow
  • Fat and thin
  • Full and empty
  • Gentle and violent
  • Happy and sad
  • Hot and cold
  • In and out
  • Kind and mean
  • Last and first
  • Lazy and active
  • Low and high
  • Marry and divorce
  • Mess and order
  • Moon and sun
  • New and old
  • Normal and odd
  • Odd and even
  • Optimist and pessimist
  • Over and under
  • Part and whole
  • Plenty and lack
  • Public and private
  • Reduce and increase
  • Reply and ask
  • Rick and poor
  • Safe and dangerous
  • Same and different
  • Stupid and smart
  • True and false
  • United and divide
  • Vacant and occupied
  • War and peace
  • Water and land

You can also use a thesaurus to find new words that fit these patterns. For example, you could say warm and chilly instead of hot and cold. These are also antonyms. 

Using Antonyms in Sentences 

Creating a word list of opposite words is a fun activity for kids and English language learners, but antonyms can actually make your writing very rich. Adding contrasting words with different meanings to the same sentence can create a word picture. Consider this example sentence:

  • She placed her freezing hands on the warm cup of cocoa. 

You can instantly picture the scene here and the contrasting temperatures of the woman’s hands and the warm drink. In addition, this use of antonyms makes the imagery more vibrant in the sentence. 

Four Types of Antonyms

Antonyms typically fall into one of four categories. Understanding these will help you spot some antonyms that may not be as obvious as others.

Complementary Antonyms

Complementary antonyms
Exit and entrance are complementary antonyms

Complementary antonyms are mutually exclusive words that exist without depending on each other. For instance, daughter and son are considered complementary antonyms. This is because a family can have a daughter without having a son, but the two words are opposites.

Here are some more examples of complementary antonyms:

  • Exit and entrance
  • Treat and punishment
  • Right and wrong
  • Left and right
  • Push and pull
  • Boys and girls
  • Man and woman

Relational Antonyms

Relational antonyms have a relationship with each other. This means the words can only exist together. This concept is a bit harder to understand, but here are some examples:

  • Teacher and student
  • Doctor and patient
  • Husband and wife
  • Parent and child
  • Plug and socket
  • Night and day

In each of these examples, you must have one to have the other. For example, you cannot have a student if you don’t have a teacher. Nor can you have a child if there wasn’t at one point a parent.

Sometimes relational antonyms have a relationship based on how they are used in the sentence. For example:

  • The pan was warm. After a while, it became cool to the touch.

In this example, the pan must be warm before it could cool off, making these relational antonyms. 

Graded Antonyms

Graded antonyms are adjective antonyms that can have adverbs in front that qualify the intensity of the word. For example, you could say that your airline tickets were expensive or cheap. Or, you could say that they were “very” cheap or “very” expensive. 

Some examples of graded antonyms include:

  • Bland and tasty
  • Light and dark
  • Interesting and boring
  • Wet and dry
  • Friendly or mean

Auto-antonym 

The auto-antonym is one word with two different meanings, and one of the meanings is an opposite meaning of another. This type of antonym can also be called a contronym or Janus word.

The word clip is a good example of an auto-antonym. It can mean to attach something to another item, or it can mean to cut off. These meanings are opposite of each other, as these sentences show:

  • Sarah clipped the note onto her backpack, so she would not forget it.
  • Sarah clipped the signed portion of the permission slip to take back to her teacher.

Dust is another example of an auto-antonym. It can mean to remove a fine layer of particles off of a surface, or it can mean to add them. Here are example sentences that show these meanings:

  • Johnathan will dust the cabinets before company comes.
  • Johnathan will dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar.

Again, these two meanings are in contrast to one another. Other words that can be auto-antonyms include:

  • Left: meaning “remaining” or “departed.”
  • Plug: meaning “to fill a hole” or “to create a hole.”
  • Sanction: meaning “to bless” or “to ban.”
  • Awful: meaning “awe-inspiring” or “really bad.”

Making Antonyms with Prefixes 

In addition to the four main types of antonyms, English writers can create antonyms by adding prefixes to words. The four prefixes that create antonyms are:

  • Dis-
  • Im-/in-
  • Mis-
  • Non-/un-

Here are some example word pairs that show how these prefixes create antonyms:

  • Obedient and disobedient
  • Comfortable and uncomfortable
  • Tolerant and intolerant 
  • Possible and impossible
  • Lead and mislead
  • Understood and misunderstood
  • Verbal and nonverbal

A Final Word on Antonym Examples

You can find examples of antonyms everywhere in the English language. These opposite words can help create interesting contrasts in your writing. 

As you learn to use antonyms, don’t be afraid to grab the thesaurus, which lists both synonyms and antonyms to any word you’re considering. This tool will help you find the exact word that conveys your meaning and, in the case of antonyms, its opposite.

FAQs on Antonym Examples

What are synonyms and antonyms?

A synonym is a word that has a similar meaning to another word. For example, happy and joyful are synonyms. An antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning of another word. For example, happy and sad are antonyms.

Both antonyms and synonyms work together to make writing more meaningful and memorable when you use them properly.

What are the types of antonyms?

The four types of antonyms are:
1. Auto-antonyms
2. Graded antonyms
3. Relative antonyms 
4. Complementary antonyms

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  • Nicole Harms has been writing professionally since 2006. She specializes in education content and real estate writing but enjoys a wide gamut of topics. Her goal is to connect with the reader in an engaging, but informative way. Her work has been featured on USA Today, and she ghostwrites for many high-profile companies. As a former teacher, she is passionate about both research and grammar, giving her clients the quality they demand in today’s online marketing world.

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