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The term antonym (and the related antonymy) is commonly taken to be synonymous with opposite, but antonym also has other more restricted meanings. Graded (or gradable) antonyms are word pairs whose meanings are opposite and which lie on a continuous spectrum (hot, cold).
Dead Euphemistic: Croak [7] To die Slang: Crossed the Jordan Died Biblical/Revivalist The deceased has entered the Promised Land (i.e. Heaven) Curtains Death Theatrical The final curtain at a dramatic performance Dead as a dodo [2] Dead Informal The 'dodo', flightless bird from the island of Mauritius hunted to extinction Dead as a doornail [1]
A contronym is a word with two opposite meanings. For example, the word original can mean "authentic", or "new, never done before". This feature is also called enantiosemy, [1] [2] enantionymy (enantio-means "opposite"), antilogy or autoantonymy. An enantiosemic term is by definition polysemic.
Listing of antonyms, such as "good and evil", "great and small", etc., does not create oxymorons, as it is not implied that any given object has the two opposing properties simultaneously. In some languages, it is not necessary to place a conjunction like and between the two antonyms; such compounds (not necessarily of antonyms) are known as ...
Antithesis (pl.: antitheses; Greek for "setting opposite", from ἀντι-"against" and θέσις "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together for contrasting effect. [1] [2]
eager or intent on, example: he is keen to get to work on time. desirable or just right, example: "peachy keen" – "That's a pretty keen outfit you're wearing." (slang going out of common usage) keeper a curator or a goalkeeper: one that keeps (as a gamekeeper or a warden) a type of play in American football ("Quarterback keeper")
An unpaired word is one that, according to the usual rules of the language, would appear to have a related word but does not. [1] Such words usually have a prefix or suffix that would imply that there is an antonym, with the prefix or suffix being absent or opposite.
Antiphrasis is the rhetorical device of saying the opposite of what is actually meant in such a way that it is obvious what the true intention is. [1] Some authors treat and use antiphrasis just as irony, euphemism or litotes. [2] When the antiphrasal use is very common, the word can become an auto-antonym, [3] having opposite meanings ...