An antonym is word with a meaning opposite to another word.
2
votes
4answers
541 views
What is a good antonym for “infest”?
What is a good antonym for "infest"? I thought of "cleanse" but I'm hoping there is a better antonym. The context I'm thinking of is when an exterminator gets rid of an insect infestation.
37
votes
20answers
5k views
What's the opposite of “concatenate” in programming?
To concatenate means to string together different things. Concatenating "snow" and "ball" produces "snowball." But what would the opposite action be? What is the name of the action used to derive two ...
2
votes
4answers
1k views
Is “uncollaborative” a word?
I am describing a process as being antithetical to collaboration.
To clarify, I'm referring to its quality as being "not naturally collaborative", not "actively anti-collaboration"
Is ...
0
votes
3answers
317 views
Antonyms for “extempore” — speak without notes
I am looking for antonyms for extempore in the context of "to speak extempore", i.e. speak without notes.
I am looking for something better than prepared.
17
votes
4answers
6k views
Opposite of acronym
If U.N. is the acronym of United Nations, then United Nations is the what of U.N.?
Is there an opposite of acronym?
3
votes
4answers
595 views
Term for people who don't joke at all
Joker is the term that describes people who joke. Are there any terms to describe the opposite of joker?
2
votes
3answers
410 views
What is the antonym of “boldface”?
Is it nonboldface? Is bold's antonym nonbold? Is it unemboldened? Is it hyphenated? What word do I use to mean text that is not in boldface style?
6
votes
9answers
524 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 ...
-2
votes
1answer
444 views
What is the opposite of “patricide”? [closed]
What’s the opposite of the word patricide?
I’m looking for the word that describes the act (or the person, to keep in similar vein with suicide, patricide, etc.) of a father killing his son out of ...
43
votes
12answers
4k views
What do you call a disk drive that is not solid state?
I tried searching for things like opposite of solid-state, but most of what I've found suggest things like liquid-state. I'm pretty sure a drive that is not solid-state contains no liquid to speak of.
...
1
vote
2answers
793 views
What do you call a person who gets hungry easily? [closed]
Is there a word to describe a person who gets hungry easily? If there is, are there any antonyms for it?
41
votes
15answers
4k views
Antonym of “recommend”
What's the antonym of recommend? For example:
I recommend that item!
I tried to use unrecommend, but the spell-checker throws an error and it sounds stupid as well!
3
votes
1answer
110 views
Name for words that are counterparts to each other in some context but not antonyms?
What is the name for words that are contrasting counterparts or near opposites to each other in some context, but are not generally strict antonyms?
Some examples with word1 word2 (example context):
...
0
votes
1answer
214 views
-3
votes
4answers
746 views
What's the opposite of “envious”? [closed]
What's the opposite of envious? For instance, I felt X when I got accepted into MIT and my sister did not. Or, when you feel bad for being lucky, when someone else is not.
By googling, I found ...
5
votes
2answers
574 views
“Spontaneous”, “voluntary” and “involuntary”
I was looking for a synonym of spontaneous, and voluntary naturally came to my mind. In an attempt to understand the difference between them, I tried to google spontaneous vs voluntary. To my ...
3
votes
1answer
342 views
Is there an antonym for the word “Behold”?
What is the opposite word (or antonym) for the word "Behold" as in the phrase "Behold the mighty ..."?
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"?
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Antonym of “phobia”
If a phobia is to have an irrational fear of something, what is the word for having an irrational affinity for something?
For example a numerologist may fear the number 13, but be attracted to (or ...
1
vote
4answers
414 views
Antonym of “faction” [closed]
I was hoping to find the antonym for "faction", i checked http://www.synonyms.net/synonym/faction which provided other related. However, I didn't want to use a word that could be related to 'evil' :)
18
votes
6answers
5k views
Antonym of “highlight”
What's the opposite of highlight?
I don't mean the verb to highlight or to emphasize something, so downplay isn't an option.
Instead I'm looking for the opposite of "the highlight of the movie, ...
6
votes
4answers
973 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 ...
5
votes
8answers
522 views
Antonym of “insightful”
What is the antonym of insightful? I want to say that the information provided is not insightful. I searched in various dictionaries. The most common antonym is unperceptive, but that does not exactly ...
4
votes
3answers
2k views
Opposite of “most recently”
What is a good way to formulate the opposite of "most recently"? For example,
Display the five most recently updated streams.
The two most recently hired coders are doing a great job.
How ...
0
votes
4answers
342 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 ...
11
votes
4answers
758 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.
4
votes
4answers
705 views
“Doubt” vs. “suspect” [closed]
I have never used doubt or suspect properly before. Now I understand that they seem to bear quite the opposite meanings in a sentence.
For example,
Everybody believes him, but I suspect he is ...
5
votes
4answers
2k views
Would anyone use “ramp down” as the opposite to “ramp up”
In the context, for example, of factory production I often read the phrase "ramp up production" or "a ramp-up in production". To me "ramp down" sounds a strange phrase to use as the opposite - does ...
7
votes
3answers
3k views
What is the opposite of “personification”?
I want a word that means the opposite of personification.
What is the correct word for describing people with the characteristics of an object/as if they are objects?
I found the word chremamorphism ...
1
vote
1answer
110 views
Is “non-view” versus view a received English word?
I found the phrase, “views and non-views” in the following sentence of the New Yorker article (October 15) titled “Are Debates Good for Republican,” which was written by its senior editor, Amy ...
2
votes
2answers
231 views
Why can “bill” mean (almost) opposite things?
Bill is somewhat of an auto-antonym, since it can mean either a piece of paper which has positive monetary value (i.e. a note), or a piece of paper which has negative monetary value (though it only ...
1
vote
6answers
326 views
A word meaning the opposite action of recruiting
If I was starting a club for cool kids only, I would recruit all the cool kids by, for example, actively seeking them out and convincing them to join the club.
To keep the uncool kids out of my club, ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
What is the opposite of “Coexist”?
Is there a good phrase or word that means the opposite of "coexist"?
The phrase I am using it in is similar to "these two ideas need not (be) __."
10
votes
3answers
535 views
What's a good opposite of “keep track”? [closed]
How can I say the opposite of "keep track"? I was trying to keep track of something but something happened and I lost the track.
I'd like to say "lose track". Is it possible to say it this way or is ...
2
votes
1answer
816 views
What are the words that can't exist without their prefix or suffix? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What do you call words that look like a negation but are not?
I found these poor orphaned words that only exist through the life-giving quality of their affix:
...
16
votes
3answers
2k views
What is the antonym of the prefix retro-?
A coworker and I are discussing the word "retromingent", which means urinating backwards. We are wondering what the opposite would be: the word that means urinating forwards.
What is the opposite of ...
1
vote
5answers
1k views
Metaphorical antonym of “crutch”
Often times something is referred to as being a "crutch" for something, meaning they rely on it. What would be a suitable opposite to this metaphor?
EDIT:
To rephrase: What's a good metaphor/term for ...
2
votes
2answers
370 views
Antonym of “low-ball” as price
What is an antonym or popularly used phrase meaning the opposite of low-ball used to refer to a price?
6
votes
4answers
564 views
Antonym of “nonsensical”
I'm interested in finding out two things:
Why is sensical not a valid antonym for nonsensical?
Is there an antonym of nonsensical that can be used instead? I haven't found any in dictionary ...
1
vote
6answers
1k views
Common antonyms to “happy ending”?
I know you may specify to something like tragic, open end to describe actually what the end is like.
But do English critics/reviewer in movie magazines use a common term for movies with bad/evil ...
2
votes
8answers
672 views
What is the opposite of “green”? [closed]
What best completes this sentence?
Joe, in opposition to environment-friendly sentiments, has decided to go ____.
4
votes
5answers
694 views
Opposite of “prediction”
What is the opposite of the word prediction? I thought of retrospect but that refers to events that already happened.
-3
votes
4answers
881 views
Opposite of “distributed” [closed]
What is the opposite of distributed ? Is it single or combined ? What is a more appropriate word?
35
votes
2answers
1k views
Origin and evolution of “hapless”
I would like to know what the origin of hapless is.
For example,
He is a hapless person
means
He is an unfortunate person.
Has it got anything to do with the fact that hapless people live ...
1
vote
4answers
1k views
What's the opposite of “dogmatic”?
I'm trying to describe an approach that doesn't just blindly follow established opinion, but seeks validation through experimentation. Any ideas?
4
votes
5answers
725 views
What is the opposite of the verb “animate”?
What is the opposite of the verb animate? I am looking for something meaning "take life out of something."
8
votes
3answers
633 views
“Undertake” and “overtake”
Under- and over- seem to be prefixes with contrary meanings. But with the example of undertake and overtake, I don't see contrary meanings between them. Am I missing something?
4
votes
5answers
390 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
3answers
137 views
Antonym of “dispenser”
I've been searching a lot of dictionary websites for the antonym of dispenser. I was wondering if anybody could think of one.
4
votes
11answers
1k 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 ...
