antonym
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antonym
- /ˈæn.təˌnɪm/
Rhymes with -ɪm
Where it comes from
From French antonyme (1840s and 1850s), which was modeled on earlier synonyme and influenced by the etymons of Ancient Greek ἀντωνυμία (antōnumía, “pronoun”); credit for popularization of the French loanword's naturalization into English is given principally to Charles John Smith and his 1867 book Synonyms and Antonyms: Or, Kindred Words and Their Opposites. Collected and Contrasted. By surface analysis, ant- + -onym.
noun antonyms
-
A word which has the opposite (averted or inverted) meaning of another word.
“Rich” is an antonym of “poor”; “full” is an antonym of “empty”.
Similar: counterterm, opposite · Opposite: synonym
-
A word that describes one end of a scale, while its opposite describes the other end, such as large versus small; a gradable antonym.
All four lines of the pattern are required to establish that hot and cold are antonyms.
The water is hot entails The water is not cold.
The water is cold entails The water is not hot.
The water is not hot does not entail The water is cold.
The water is not cold does not entail The water is hot.
Similar: counterterm, opposite · Opposite: synonym
Translations
Every language
noun word which has the opposite meaning
| Español | antónimo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 반의어 banuieo, 반대어 bandaeeo, 반대(反對)말 bandaemal |
| 日本語 | 対義語 taigigo, 反意語 han'igo, 反対語 hantaigo |
| 中文 | 反義詞 /反义词 fǎnyìcí |
| हिन्दी | विपर्याय viparyāy, विपरीतार्थी शब्द viprītārthī śabd, विलोम vilom |
| Português | antónimo, antônimo |
| Français | antonyme |
| Deutsch | Antonym, Gegenwort, Gegensatzwort, Gegenbegriff |
| Italiano | contrario, antonimo |
| Ελληνικά | αντώνυμο antónymo |
| Română | antonim |
| Русский | анто́ним antónim |
| Tiếng Việt | từ trái nghĩa |
| العربية | عَكْس ʕaks, نَقِيض naqīḍ |
| עברית | הֶפֶךְ, היפך héfech |
Talk about this word "antonym." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/antonym. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. antonym. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/antonym "antonym." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/antonym.Cite this
@misc{antonym_2026,
title = {antonym},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/antonym},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
