Questions tagged [antonyms]
An antonym is a word with a meaning opposite to another word.
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Term for words which can have the same or opposite meanings in same contexts [duplicate]
In Term for words which can have the same or opposite meanings in different contexts?,
hot and cool are opposite temperatures, but can also both be used to mean fashionably attractive/impressive.
I ...
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Is there a term for antonyms that are a small edit distance from each other?
I'm looking for examples of dramatic typos - where a minor edit can dramatically change the meaning of a phrase, and would like to know if there's a name for this phenomenon.
Paronyms are a similar ...
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Opposite of causality [closed]
Is there a word which describes the relationship between two things when one thing prevents the other? For example, to fill in the sentence "there is ___ between resistance and flow"?
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What is the word for lying on your stomach facing downwards, the opposite of 'supine'?
Today, l learned a new word 'supine'. It has multiple meanings, but I am asking about the opposite of the following meaning:
Lying on the back facing upwards.
In other words, what is the suitable ...
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Why use "modeless" as the opposite of "modal" in UI design? [closed]
"Modeless" is widely used which is not in the dictionary such as "Modal and Modeless Dialog Boxes". Why they do not use "modaless"?
If "Modal" is the adjective ...
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What is the word for a person or entity that has one or more avatars?
I am using the word 'avatar' in my work in the sense that an avatar is the physical representation of some higher entity. We could say that a particular person, animal or object is the avatar of a ...
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Antonym for “elitist” with a negative connotation?
I’m looking for an adjective to describe, for example, someone who shows disdain for elitism or fine things. Google only gives examples that have positive or neutral connotations.
EDIT:
I've accept ...
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What is the name for a group of words that share antonyms but do not necessarily equate?
An example of this would be the concepts of humility and shame, which are both antonyms of pride, but are not synonyms or necessarily the same. What is the word that describes words that have this ...
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Are these phrases antonyms? [closed]
"He showed little sign of hawkish attitude"
"He showed a little sign of hawkish attitude"
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What is the antonym of 'Capital' letters? [duplicate]
Like how the antonym of uppercase is lowercase, and of majuscule is minuscule, what is capital's own antonym?
Alternatively, if capital has no unique antonym of its own, how did it come to refer to ...
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Is there a female or gender neutral equivalent for the verb to sire?
Is there a good equivalent for to sire I could use for a woman who mothered a child? Obviously other than to mother itself.
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A word opposite of friend? Not "enemy"
I don't speak English natively, but I wanted to know if there is a word that can describe someone you dislike/hate without it sounding so harsh like the word enemy or rival.
Not an insult, either.
For ...
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Words attaining different meanings [duplicate]
If jail and prison are (at least nearly) synonymous, why does jailer refer to the captor, and prisoner refer to the captive? Are there similar examples?
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Is there an antonym for "trajectory"?
Trajectory is defined as:
the path followed by a projectile flying or an object moving under the action of given forces.
In game or software development, it's very common to visualize trajectory. ...
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Is there a dual to "non-sequitur"? [closed]
A non sequitur:
"a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement."
"A non sequitur is a conversational literary device, often used for ...
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what is the antonym of "DELETED" [closed]
Hello what would you propose to use as opposite(antonym) word for "DELETED"?
I was thinking of "ACTIVE"
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What's the opposite word for "Host"? [closed]
Not really opposite word but more like a corresponding word?
Teacher - Student
Doctor - Patient
Interviewer - Interviewee
Host - ??? (Guest? Hostee?)
I cannot find anything that feels right. Host ...
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Is Miracle An Antonym of Catastrophe? [duplicate]
In this post that I do not have sufficient reputation to comment on, @hyderallie28475 asks for antonyms of catastrophe, which they define as follows:
A word for a positive event with far reaching ...
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Is there such a thing as a "positive" antonym to catastrophe?
A catastrophe is an event causing great and usually sudden damage or suffering; It is negative in nature.
Is there a word which is antonymic to catastrophe, but positive/"good" in nature? I....
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Is there a word for fake or incorrect historical reproductions?
I could've sworn there was a specific word for the situation where someone in the present makes up some historical detail to appear authentic, manufactures an antique that is actually anachronistic ...
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A word that means the opposite of "shoehorned", something that fits its purpose well
I'm looking for a word that means the opposite of shoehorned, ie. something that DOES fit its purpose well.
shoehorn (v.) (transitive, figuratively) To force (something) into (a tight space); to ...
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What is the difference between antonyms and negations?
Merriam Webster defines antonyms as :
a word of opposite meaning.
However, I cannot understand what does opposite in the definition mean . Does it mean a negation ? For example, negation of to teach ...
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Approval Process feature best wording for approve and decline
I'm a UX designer but not an English native speaker. I'm working on a web interface where some item types required an approval from a 3rd party.
So when the user clicks on a button named 'Approval' he ...
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Antonym of 'Boolean'
A Boolean variable has either 0 or 1 as its value. (correct me if I'm wrong) If 'Boolean' is used as an adjective, it means, either that entity exists or does not exist (but no both). For example:
A ...
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Word for people who live outside the city
What word would one use that applies to all those living outside of cities - not just in the suburbs but also more isolated areas in the country?
I feel that the word 'citizen' implies living in a ...
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Why does 'luck out' have the completely opposite meaning to 'out of luck'?
How did this arise? Seems paradoxical.
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If someone instigates the end of a relationship, what is the term for the other party?
When discussing a person that has chosen to end a relationship, particularly a romantic or intimate one, I have chosen to use the word instigator. What is the complementary word that describes the ...
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What is a word for "the feeling of wanting something good for others"?
I'm looking for a word that is the inverse of envy, in which a person wants others to have something good that they don't have.
The definition of envy from Lexico:
A feeling of discontented or ...
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The opposite of 'not lift a finger'
All dictionaries give examples with this expression in the negative:
He just watches TV and never lifts a finger to help with the dishes.(Cambridge)
He never lifted a finger to get Jimmy released ...
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Is there an antonym for "nonstick"?
I have a pan that is not a nonstick pan. Is there a word to describe it? Something less awkward than "non-nonstick"? Maybe "stick" or "sticky", but I've never heard those ...
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Antonym for Nightmare [duplicate]
Recently I was discussing nightmares vs. "good dreams" and realized there isn't a decent antonym (at least that I'm aware). My question is two-fold:
What is a good antonym for Nightmare?
Is ...
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What is the most suitable antonym for the word loud? [closed]
In terms of talking, what is the opposite of a loud voice?
For example, when someone is talking and I can not hear them properly, how can I say to them that their voice is very "opposite to loud&...
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How did the meaning of "hectic" become precisely the opposite of its meaning 100 years ago?
I found, a while ago, a small pocket dictionary published in 1921. There were several interesting words I found, but the word "hectic" caught my attention. I cannot remember the precise ...
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What is the opposite of "the deaf are"?
Could someone help me with the (or "a") correct opposite of the deaf are (deaf as defined in this National Association of the Deaf article)?
Saying the non-deaf are does not sound nice.
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Is there a term to describe words with opposites of the same form?
By "words with opposites of the same form", I mean word pairs such as:
Input/Output
Inhale/Exhale
Import/Export
and so forth.
Is there a term to describe such pairs?
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Antonyms and opposites
Is there an antonym for the verb besiege? asked for an “opposite” for the word besiege, with answers like occupy, barricade, where the person doing the barricading is inside the barrier, defending his ...
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The opposite of reclined?
I'm aware of the difference between Prone vs. Supine vs. Prostrate, but I'm trying to find the opposite of the related word 'reclined'.
Every web or dictionary search brings up 'upright' as the ...
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Is there an antonym for the verb 'besiege'?
I am trying, and failing, to find an appropriate and succinct way of describing an individual's action in occupying a secure building to the exclusion of all others as a protest.
I could say 'he ...
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What is the relation to the pre- and post- words of an event?
What would be the connection to words indicating the 'pre-' stage and the 'post-' stage of an event or action. E.g. 'preparation' and 'packing up' are similar in that they're sort of the mirror of ...
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Term or phrase that means the reverse of "is located at/within"
Consider a thing that is located within another thing, say a particular store (not one of a chain of stores, but a distinct non-fungible individual store) within a particular mall.
We can describe the ...
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Is there a word for sets of words with related meaning in English, like 'yellow' and 'green' or 'January' and 'February'?
I'm learning the Indonesian language, and they took the word 'antonim' from Dutch (antonym in English), but changed and expanded the meaning. In Indonesian, 'green' is an antonym of 'yellow' and '...
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Is there a direct antonym to affirm?
I've seen affirm defined as "To say that something is true in a confident way." I've looked at various antonyms, and antonyms of synonyms of affirm and none seem appropriate. I'm wondering ...
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What is an antonym for 'one-to-one'?
I am writing a perspective for a general medical science audience. The following adapted figure will be included in the publication:
The figure title appearing in the legend includes the following ...
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Looking for an opposite to "sacrifice" (n.) in a specific context [closed]
I'm looking for a word or phrase with an opposite meaning to "sacrifice", as used below:
"They had to make sacrifices in order for us to meet the deadline, since the recent event ...
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Opposite of invariant
I look for the opposite of "invariant" in the context of scientific language.
If you look at this example sentence:
[...] Although it is translationally and rotationally invariant,
it is ...
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What is a word or term with an opposite or complementary meaning to "flaky person"? [closed]
One good candidate would be "reliable", but I am looking for a word with more direct connotations to social behavior like flaky has.
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Aesthetically pleasing antonym for "afar"?
I'm writing an introduction for my PhD thesis. The text has to sound natural and formal, but can also have glimpses of poetry and broadness. I would like to express that a problem will be addressed ...
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Antonym for purist? [closed]
Does a word exist that could accurately be used as an antonym for 'purist', which is a person who insists on absolute adherence to traditional rules or structures, especially in language or style.
I ...
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Opposite of wailing to describe how a cello sounds
I'm looking for a word to nicely describe how a cello sounds, and I think that an opposite of wailing might be a good description.
The definition for wail describes a high-pitched tone:
Wail
1 A ...
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Why do we have different words for countable/uncountable quantity in the decreasing direction but not the increasing direction?
Why do we differentiate between "fewer" for a countable quantity and "less" for an uncountable one but not between countable and uncountable quantities for "more"? Is ...
