What is an Antonym?

An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word. For example, “hot” and “cold” are antonyms, as are “good” and “bad”.

Types of Antonyms

• Complementary antonyms (binary antonyms) are pairs where one word’s positive means the other’s negative and they cannot both be true at the same time, e.g., “on” and “off,” “alive” and “dead”.

• Gradable antonyms show opposite degrees of the same quality but admit degrees in between, like “hot” and “cold,” “long” and “short”.

• Relational antonyms express opposite roles in a relationship, such as “teacher” and “student,” or “buy” and “sell”.

Usage and Importance

Antonyms help clarify meanings by showing contrasts between words. They are especially useful in writing and reading comprehension to distinguish opposite ideas or qualities.

Antonyms serve as linguistic opposites that highlight differences in meaning between words.

An antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning of another word.

For example:

• The antonym of hot is cold.

• The antonym of happy is sad.

• The antonym of big is small.

Think of antonyms as words that are on opposite ends of a meaning spectrum.

An antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning of another word.

Think of it like the opposite end of a spectrum.

Here are some common examples: