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Antonyms


SarahRTW

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Last thread I posted about synonyms, which have the same (or very similar meaning)

This time I am writing about antonyms.  These are two words which have opposite meaning, such as:

Hot and Cold

Happy and Sad

Good and Bad/Evil

Like synonyms you can find antonyms in a thesaurus, but don't get too exotic in your word choice.  Language, written or spoken, should sound natural. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
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It's interesting, because psychologically the very existence of antonyms can lead you to thin of things in those terms and search for opposites where they don't even exist.

When I was very little I thought Spanish was the opposite of English, because I spoke both and 'knew' everything had an opposite.

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I always understood antonyms to a certain extent. Of course I knew the antonym for hot was cold, and for high is low. I always wondered though about the correctness of certain words and their respective antonyms. For example, if the antonym for hot is cold, what about scorching? Would it be cold, or freezing? What about words like disgusted and scornful, static, hazardous etc. I guess what I would like to know is do all words have a single correct antonym?

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I always understood antonyms to a certain extent. Of course I knew the antonym for hot was cold, and for high is low. I always wondered though about the correctness of certain words and their respective antonyms. For example, if the antonym for hot is cold, what about scorching? Would it be cold, or freezing? What about words like disgusted and scornful, static, hazardous etc. I guess what I would like to know is do all words have a single correct antonym?

There are many words that have more than one antonym. You can find examples of this on any page of a thesaurus. Be careful, though. Some of the words listed may only become antonyms in specific situations and/or contexts.

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There are so many antonyms that come to mind but i'll just list a few.

big and little

up and down

inside and outside

now and then

above and beneath

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I agree, exotic words are a big no-no, especially when it comes to essays or using them formally, like your thesis for example. It will make you look trying hard to look smart if you do that. It is also even more prohibited when you speak with someone, the whole thing will sound so awkward.

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