Antonymy

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

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.

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.

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.

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):

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:

¹Nünning, V., & Nünning, A, An Introduction to the Study of English and American Literature, (2004).