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does an adjective imply the existence of the opposite ?

Like: You're tall.

Does that mean that there is someone shorter than the tall person ? I think that at least one person has to exist which is shorter, to tell someone that he is tall.

Sorry English is not my mother language. Hopemyou guys understand what I mean.

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    It suggests but does not demand that there is an "opposite".
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Oct 28, 2019 at 21:41
  • 2
    This question isn't really specific to English.
    – Robusto
    Commented Oct 28, 2019 at 21:55
  • 1
    I ball can be red. Is some respects, green is the opposite of red (opponent process color theory, or the reason why you don't have red-green clothes, no matter how diverse and extensive your wardrobe). If you consider red and green opposites, then yes. If not, then no.
    – jimm101
    Commented Oct 29, 2019 at 0:48
  • This is a question that might belong in philosophy.se. Can there be light without dark? That sort of thing ...
    – David M
    Commented Oct 29, 2019 at 4:52
  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is a question of philosophy.
    – David M
    Commented Oct 29, 2019 at 4:52

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Perhaps sometimes, but certainly not always.

The shape is circular.

What would the opposite of the adjective circular be? Square, triangular, or some other shape? I think at best it would be not circular—but that's pretty broad and undefined.

If you're going to assume an opposite, it could only be possible where a definitive opposite could possibly exist. There are adjectives that simply don't have opposites.

So, to turn opposition into some kind of grammatical or semantic rule, barring any context, would be a mistake.

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  • To add to this answer, this example implies there is something which is not circular, but such a thing wouldn't necessarily be the opposite of circular. The same is true of tall: it implies something else is not tall, but it doesn't imply the existence of an opposite. I've heard children who discover opposites say things like "cat is the opposite of dog" because they assume everything has an opposite, but it doesn't.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Nov 28, 2019 at 14:41

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