The term antonymy in semantics derives from the Greek words anti and onym, which mean opposite and name. The opposite of antonymy is synonymy.
Antonymy meaning in semantics
Antonymy in semantics refers to words that have opposite meanings. These are usually in pairs, for example: hot/cold, tall/short, loud/quiet.
To test yourself, look at the following sentence from Barack Obama's 2008 victory speech and find the antonyms:
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of red states and blue states; we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
The antonyms that are included in the excerpt are: young/old, rich/poor, Democrat/Republican, black/white, gay/straight, and disabled/not disabled.
A ← → B
Examples of antonymy
Antonymy can be found across all parts of speech. For example:
Adjective: easy/hard, wet/dry, hot/cold
Nouns: hero/villain, freedom/slavery
Verbs: answer/ask, discourage/encourage
Adverbs: now/then, loudly/softly
Propositions: on/off, above/below
Antonymy can also be found in idioms:
Although they are twins, their personalities are night and day.
Things don't always go as you want. You have to learn to take the bad with the good.
Types of antonyms
There are three types of antonyms which are categorized by the relationship between the opposing words:
Gradable antonyms
Imagine you're looking at a room thermometer. If the indicator is at the bottom of the thermometer, it tells you that the room is cold. If it is at the top, the room is hot. However, the thermometer can also indicate warm temperature when the indicator is in the middle.
Hot and cold are gradable antonyms. Gradable antonyms define words that are at the opposite ends of a spectrum with some gradation between the two extremes. In our temperature example, we have hot - cold, with warm between hot and cold. Other examples include empty - full (gradations: half empty or half full), high - low (gradation: medium), and young - old (gradation: teenager).
Fig. 1 - An example of gradable antonyms is hot/cold
Complementary antonyms
Complementary antonyms are a kind of antonymy that explains an either-or relationship between the opposite word pairs.
Remember when you have to answer true or false questions on tests? This is an example of a complementary antonym. There are only two options, either true or false. There is no half-true or half-false.
Because of this, each complementary antonym can exist independently of the other and is usually its absolute opposite. Other examples are dead/alive, exterior/interior, and yes/no.
Fig. 2 - An example of complementary antonyms is dead/alive.
Relational/converse antonyms
Relational/converse antonyms show a dependent relationship between opposite words. A word from the pair can't exist without the other. For example, open/close. A shop owner must first open the shop before they can close it. Other examples include husband/wife, front/back, and doctor/patient.
Fig. 3 - An example of relational/converse antonyms is absent/present
| Kinds of antonyms | Explanation |
| Gradable antonymy | Shows a word pair that is at the opposite ends of a spectrum with some gradation between the two extremes. |
| Complementary antonymy | Shows an either-or relationship between opposite word pairs. |
| Relational/converse antonymy | Shows a dependent relationship between word pairs. |
Antonymy in Literature
In Literature, antonymy is often used as a device. Antonymy allows writers to juxtapose words to suggest irony or satire, or to make some words more prominent than others.¹ Antonymy is used in a number of ways in Literature:
Antithesis
This is a juxtaposition of two logically opposed elements.
To err is human to forgive is divine - Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism (1711).
The err and forgive are relational/converse antonyms. An error needs to exist first for it to be forgiven. The two contrasting words also juxtapose human and divine (coming from or connected with God or a god - Oxford English Learner). The sentence then means 'it is normal for humans to make mistakes but to forgive is difficult'.
Oxymoron
This is a combination of two contradictory terms.
Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate,
O anything of nothing first 'create!'
O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!
Misshapen chaos of 'well-seeming' forms. - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1597)
Shakespeare expresses Romeo's emotional turmoil by using contradictory words: brawling love - loving hate. These signify that love and hate can exist at the same time. The conflicting meanings are further emphasized with heavy lightness - serious vanity which implies that the brawl may be about nothing (vanity), but it has serious consequences.
Paradox
This is a contradictory statement that, after closer inspection, is found to be true.
We die and rise the same, - John Donne, The Canonization (1633)
In his poem, Donne uses the analogy of a phoenix to describe a challenging love affair. According to mythology, a phoenix is an immortal bird that is reborn after it dies, from the ashes of its dead body. To convey this, Donne chooses to die and rise which are complementary antonyms.
Irony
This refers to meaning the opposite of what is said.
The apparent statement or event is undermined by another context to give a different meaning. Take Percy Shelley's Ozymandias (1818):
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair! '
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
In this poem, the antonymy/irony relationship is described by contrasting the past and present. It is reflected by the magnificent power-imagery used about Ozymandias (king of kings; ye Mighty and despair) which sometime in the future is turned into its opposite. All that is left of the grandeur described on the plinth is desolation (half sunk; stamped on these lifeless things).
It is therefore ironic that the statue, which was meant to show his everlasting power, is decapitated and no longer represents his great accomplishments. Instead, it is sunken in the desert, partially covered with sand.
Synonymy and antonymy - what's the difference?
Synonymy refers to similar meanings, while antonymy refers to opposite meanings. In other words, synonymy is the opposite of antonymy.
Here are some side-by-side comparisons of the two terms using the same words:
| Synonymy | Antonymy |
| good (adjective) | pleasant, useful, reliable | bad, poor, inadequate |
| always (adverb) | constantly, regularly, repeatedly | never, at no time |
| question (noun) | inquire, investigation | answer, reply |
| receive (verb) | accept, collect, take in | reject, deny, let go |
| above (preposition) | raised, over | below, under |
Antonymy - Key takeaways
- Antonymy is a pair of words that have opposite meanings. It is also known as 'opposition'.
- The term antonymy derives from the Greek words anti and onym, which mean opposite and name.
- The opposite of antonymy is synonymy (words with the same/similar meanings).
- There are three types of antonymy: gradable antonyms, complementary antonyms, and relational/converse antonyms.
- Some antonyms are used for antithesis, oxymoron, paradox, and irony.
¹Nünning, V., & Nünning, A, An Introduction to the Study of English and American Literature, (2004).
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