An antonym is word with a meaning opposite to another word.
4
votes
3answers
132 views
“Loosen up”, “tighten up”
"To loosen up" means "to become not nervous". Could the phrase "to tighten up" be a good opposite and mean "to become nervous"?
4
votes
7answers
2k views
Opposite word of “addiction”
Though the very obvious opposite of the word addiction is "deaddiction", I couldn't find the latter in any dictionary (I checked in Oxford, Chambers and Cambridge). Why is it so?
If "deaddiction" is ...
-1
votes
3answers
189 views
“Not empty” set in one word? [closed]
Is there a single word which means "not empty"? That is, a word which one might use to describe a field with one or more cows in it, as opposed to an "empty" field with none?
Full or even ...
0
votes
4answers
332 views
Adjective for thing you do for others
I sometimes write university projects for students and fix friends' computers, sometimes for money. I call things I do for myself personal projects, personal work, personal act, etc.
What adjective ...
4
votes
7answers
3k views
What is the synonym/antonym for “feminist”/“feminism”?
I am looking for a word or phrase that are to men's rights as the words feminist/feminism are to women rights.
And will the word or phrase be called a synonym or antonym?
2
votes
3answers
184 views
What is the opposite of the ending “-cide” (as in “suicide”, “pesticide”)?
I'm looking for the antonym of -cide (as in suicide, pesticide, etc.). Essentially the ending to words that would mean "to create or embrace".
3
votes
5answers
142 views
Is there a word for something that gets “acted upon”?
For instance, say I have two individuals and one is active, the other passive. I know I can call the active person the "actor"—he "acts upon" the passive person. But what do I call the "acted upon"? ...
1
vote
4answers
137 views
Antonyms of “lesser” and “greater”
The opposite of "lesser" is "greater or equal" and vice versa. Does the English language have single word antonyms for "lesser" and "greater"?
8
votes
8answers
1k views
A single word antonym of “absorb”
In textbooks, they say "absorb" heat and "give off" heat.
Is there a single word which can perfectly take the place of "give off"?
1
vote
4answers
131 views
More specific antonym to “lodger” than “landlord”
You can distinguish between someone who's paying for a room and paying for an apartment or house with lodger versus tenant.
Is it possible to distinguish between someone who offers a room for rent ...
4
votes
4answers
295 views
How to say the opposite of “check” (for lists)?
Suppose you enumerate points of some list, adding "check" after each one. How to speak about the reverse of a "check" (i.e. omission or an opposite for the item)?
Like if you have:
Big scary horns ...
6
votes
3answers
4k views
What is the opposite of “enroll”?
Deenroll? Unenroll? I understand words like cancel and resign would work, but is there an appropriate antonym with "enroll" in it?
11
votes
4answers
735 views
Antonym of verb “holster”
What is a word that means to remove from a holster as opposed to putting something back in a holster? I’ve searched deholster and unholster, each with no results found.
6
votes
4answers
935 views
What is the best antonym for “Approve” in the context of approving a business-related application
I work a lot with business applications and traditionally I've used the word "disapprove" as the counterpart to application approvals (e.g. disapprove leave application, disapprove waiver). But I've ...
15
votes
7answers
3k views
Is there an antonym for “capitalize” (as in letter-case)
A word that starts with a lower-case (lowercase?) letter can be capitalized, but what is the converse action?
Google has only one page in the top results that addresses this and the closest thing to ...
5
votes
4answers
357 views
Antonym(s) for “antipode” / “antipodes” / “antipodean”?
Wiktionary says these terms refer to "the opposite" side, etc and offers no antonyms.
But in practice, in the field of north vs south hemispheres, they are only ever used in my experience to refer to ...
3
votes
1answer
191 views
Opposite of “straight talk”
What is the opposite for the straight talk idiom? How do I best call the activity when someone makes a very long preamble before he says what he wants?
7
votes
7answers
1k views
Word for “person that I supervise”
What is the best word to refer to the person that I (directly) supervise, in the context of a corporate workplace? The closest I can think of is employee, but that doesn't directly convey a direct ...
0
votes
4answers
114 views
Is there a word for the total amount of time you weren't working in a day?
I can say that I plan to work 7 hours today, but how do I say I plan to "not work" for 2 hours?
"Be on a break/pause for 2 hours" or "Rest for 2 hours" doesn't work because I might take several ...
3
votes
5answers
133 views
What is an inverse phrase for “topping-off”?
I’m looking for a term or phrase that is the inverse equivalent to the action of “topping-off”, like a gas tank, but meaning “to completely empty.” Not a steady state (empty, depleted), but more a ...
1
vote
4answers
321 views
Antonym of “comfort zone”
What is a good antonym of "comfort zone", or an expression replacing "outside my comfort zone"? I'm writing an essay and don't want to repeat myself too much.
-2
votes
1answer
359 views
Word pairs that are both synonyms and antonyms [closed]
The words "catholic" and "parochial" are synonyms or near-synonyms meaning "pertaining to the Catholic Church" (e.g., a parochial school is a Catholic school) but they're antonyms in a different ...
5
votes
5answers
891 views
Word meaning the reverse of 'Xenophobia'
Xenophobia refers to the irrational fear or hatred of foreigners. But recently I've seen people displaying (in newspaper articles and other places) an irrational fear or hatred of their own ...
8
votes
7answers
571 views
Opposite of “bells and whistles”
Bells and whistles refers to non-essential features, visual or functional, that are an enhancement to the object. What is the opposite of bells and whistles?
17
votes
5answers
830 views
Word for the opposite of “hypochondria”
Is there a word for the opposite condition of hypochondria, i.e. someone who denies being sick when they clearly are? I would just say that they are "in denial". Is there any other adequate word?
I ...
0
votes
6answers
209 views
What is the word for something that has not yet been configured?
I am writing a user-interface for a program that configures some things. Let’s call them entries. To help the user keep track of what is left of configuration, a section such as the following is ...
13
votes
2answers
313 views
What is the name for the inverse of an aphorism
For example, given a common saying or sequence of words, like
A picture is worth a thousand words
One reverses the order and obtains
A word is worth a thousand pictures
Is there a name for ...
0
votes
1answer
322 views
What's the logical opposite to “onboarding”?
When you have a lengthy process after hiring someone, you call that the "onboarding" process. Is the term "offboarding" correct for a lengthy end-of-contract process? Or what would that be called?
1
vote
9answers
4k views
What is the opposite of “free” as in “free of charge”?
What is the opposite of "free" as in "free of charge" (when we speak about prices)? We can add "not" for negation, but I am looking for a single word.
1
vote
4answers
1k views
What's an antonym to “legacy”?
I am struggling to find out what the best and shortest way is to describe the opposite of a legacy system (especially in software architecture, where legacy means the system used previously).
I need ...
1
vote
3answers
134 views
Positive antonym of brunt?
You're taking the brunt normally when a storm of bad events hits you the hardest and deals most harm to you.
How would you call it when a storm of mostly unrelated positive events leaves you ...
5
votes
1answer
256 views
Reason vs. purpose
Just now I wanted to explain why I was doing something, then I wrote "the purpose of doing something is blablabla". Immediately I wondered why I didn't write "the reason of doing something is ...
4
votes
11answers
998 views
What's the inverse of “scalable” — capable to be broken down further and further?
If something is scalable that means that the project is able to operate as it gets bigger.
What's the inverse of this? Suppose I have something that is big, but it can be broken down into subsections ...
5
votes
9answers
889 views
Need a word that has the opposite meaning of “nominal”?
I'm looking for a word that has the opposite meaning of the word nominal in the sense of in name only.
Here's an example (fill in the blank).
Brian was in charge of scheduling in his ...
6
votes
4answers
283 views
Is there any expression that is the opposite of “slippery slope”?
Slippery slope is a subtle and powerful English expression. Are there any expressions that are opposite or contrasting of that expression?
The sense of slippery slope I have in mind is Small ...
4
votes
5answers
381 views
Opposite of a deposit refund
I'm developing a database and coming up with the statuses for a given account with regard to their Glassware Deposit. ($$ paid upfront, but refundable at the end)
I have
Never Paid
Paid
Refunded
...
1
vote
9answers
456 views
Single word antonym of “censorship”
What is a single word antonym of censorship? Freedom of speech is too long. I would like to be able to contrast it like:
ignorance vs knowledge
submission vs defiance
oppression vs ...
4
votes
4answers
221 views
Word for “cinema with a single screen”?
I usually say multiplex for a cinema with more screens. What word can I use to refer to a cinema with a single screen? Monoplex? Singleplex?
Is there a word other than single-screen to describe a ...
-2
votes
2answers
567 views
What's the opposite of 'dense' [closed]
I'm referring to densities of materials, not the number of particles per unit volume.
1
vote
1answer
128 views
Schadenfreude and its direct opposite [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
A word for being troubled at others' potential schadenfreude against me
This is the ability to laugh at others' misfortune. What word would you use if you knew that ...
3
votes
7answers
3k views
Antonym to 'Assign'
Suppose we have users and operators. Some users are assigned to certain operators. What should I call a procedure of removing an assignment, so an operator no longer works with a user or group of ...
2
votes
1answer
101 views
Using Ngram to Choose an Antonym [closed]
I'm looking at using Google's Ngram to pick out the word that is the closest to an opposite of a given word by looking at the frequency and correlation over time of the two words. For example, I ...
4
votes
9answers
3k views
Which word best describes something opposite to “delay”?
My application displays a column which shows if tasks are delayed or not and how big the delay is. The delay may be positive (if a task is delayed) or negative (if it's on time). The time difference ...
1
vote
2answers
338 views
Sports: opposite of an upset
What's the opposite of an upset in sports. Maybe "expected outcome"...
Terser would be better, but I'd hear anything that came to mind.
4
votes
2answers
108 views
A different sort of antonym for Schadenfreude?
Schadenfreude is the joy or pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. What is the word for the feeling of discomfort derived from witnessing the misfortunes of others?
2
votes
4answers
218 views
Antonym for the verb “subordinate”
I'm looking for some sort of antonym for the word subordinate, to be used in a sentence such as
She [verb] these principles above all others.
It's being used in an academic paper, so it ...
12
votes
7answers
2k views
6
votes
9answers
520 views
What is the metaphoric antonym to “paycheck to paycheck living?”
Is there any metaphoric antonym to “pay check to paycheck living”?
In Japanese we have the word, ‘Kirigirisu zoku’ – people who live like a grasshopper who squanders money and not prepare for winter ...
3
votes
5answers
1k views
Antonym for “deficient”
What is an appropriate antonym for deficient?
The dissertation is deficient of sources.
It should be a bit more decorated than the phrasing The dissertation contains enough sources.
1
vote
2answers
629 views
Best choice of word for the opposite of acknowledge
The most common word for the opposite of acknowledge is either ignore or deny.
Can I use the word disregard as the opposite of acknowledge?
I have a form that have the following options:
...
