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Turning a phrase negative (e.g. goodnot good, and a questionnot a question) is called negation. One can say "I negated the phrase".

What is the act of turning a phrase into its opposite (e.g. goodbad and a questionan answer) called? I'd like to say "I ×'d the phrase."


A gerund sounds forced. "Oppositeing"? "Oppositising"? "Oppositeifying?" Maybe I'm getting too fixed on conjugating "opposite".

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    Negation can be observed, and precisely defined. "Opposite", on the other hand, is a very vague term; most terms have several dimensions in which they oppose other terms, and there is no special term for it. No reason to have a technical term for something that's not technical. Sep 27, 2015 at 21:11

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You have to use a phrase in this case. "Change something to/into antonym" or "convert something to/into antonym".

There is no single verb that can describe it.

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I went with inversion: “I inverted the phrase.

This may not be the technical term, but it is very descriptive in context.

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