An Antonym or Opposite is a word which – generally speaking – has the opposite meaning to another word. For example, the following are antonyms:
big ↔ small
fat ↔ thin
tall ↔ short
old ↔ young
male ↔ female
Some words will have more than one antonym depending on context. For example
big ↔ small, tiny, miniature
And the antonym of antonym? That’s synonym which describes a word having the same meaning as another word.
Forming Antonyms
In many cases there’s no obvious relationship between a word and its antonym. For example these two words have completely separate etymologies:
hot ↔ cold
However, English also sometimes forms antonyms by using prefixes such as:
- de-
- dis-
- il-
- im-
- in-
- in/ex-
- ir-
- non-
- re-
- un-
Examples of opposite pairs formed like this include:
arm ↔ disarm
code ↔ decode
complete ↔ incomplete
internal ↔ external
legal ↔ illegal
possible ↔ impossible
regular ↔ irregular
sense ↔ nonsense
Certainly when these words or prefixes appear in the classroom you can explain how they work to form antonyms.
Use
In the TEFL classroom antonyms can be used with your students when looking at vocabulary and explanations.
Rather than teach a single word, you can teach the word and its antonym, so rather than just teach cheap you can teach expensive along with it.
And when a student asks for the meaning of a word, rather than explain it directly (or as part of your explanation) you can use its antonym, e.g.
S: What does absent mean?
T: It’s the opposite of present.
Common Antonyms
The following is a list of antonyms which learners of English at Upper-Intermediate level should be aware of.
absence ↔ presence
accept ↔ refuse
accurate ↔ inaccurate
advantage ↔ disadvantage
alive ↔ dead
always ↔ never
ancient ↔ modern
answer ↔ question, query
approval ↔ disapproval
approached ↔ receded, departed
abundant ↔ scarce
admit ↔ deny
advance ↔ retreat, retire
artificial ↔ natural
arrival ↔ departure
ascend ↔ descend
attack ↔ defense
attractive ↔ repulsive
attention ↔ inattention
asleep ↔ awake
ally ↔ enemy
agree ↔ disagree
bad ↔ good
backward ↔ forward, onward
bend ↔ straighten
beautiful ↔ ugly
beginning ↔ ending
below ↔ above
bent ↔ straight
big ↔ small, little
blunt ↔ sharp
better ↔ worse
best ↔ worst
blame ↔ praise
bless ↔ curse
bitter ↔ sweet
borrow ↔ lend
bravery ↔ cowardice
build ↔ destroy, demolish
bold ↔ timid, meek
bright ↔ dull
broad ↔ narrow
clear ↔ vague, cloudy
careful ↔ rush, careless
calm ↔ troubled
capable ↔ incapable
captivity ↔ freedom, liberty
cellar ↔ attic
cheap ↔ dear, expensive
close ↔ distant
clever ↔ stupid
cold ↔ hot
combine ↔ separate
clockwise ↔ anti-clockwise
correct ↔ incorrect
conceal ↔ reveal
come ↔ go
common ↔ rare
comfort ↔ discomfort
courage ↔ cowardice
cruel ↔ kind
courteous ↔ discourteous, rude
cunning ↔ simple
dainty ↔ clumsy
danger ↔ safety
dark ↔ light
deep ↔ shallow
decrease ↔ increase
definite ↔ indefinite
demand ↔ supply
despair ↔ hope
disappear ↔ appear
disease ↔ health
discourage ↔ encourage
dismal ↔ cheerful
doctor ↔ patient
dry ↔ wet
dull ↔ clear, bright
dusk ↔ dawn
early ↔ late
easy ↔ difficult
ebb ↔ flow
East ↔ West
economize ↔ waste
encourage ↔ discourage
entrance ↔ exit
employer ↔ employee
empty ↔ full
excited ↔ calm
end ↔ beginning
expand ↔ contract
expensive ↔ inexpensive, cheap
export ↔ import
exterior ↔ interior
external ↔ internal
fail ↔ succeed
false ↔ true
feeble ↔ sturdy, strong, powerful
foolish ↔ wise
fast ↔ slow
few ↔ many
famous ↔ unknown
forelegs ↔ hind legs
fat ↔ thin
find ↔ lose
first ↔ last
freedom ↔ captivity
fold ↔ unfold
frequent ↔ seldom
forget ↔ remember
found ↔ lost
fresh ↔ stale
friend ↔ enemy
fortunate ↔ unfortunate
frank ↔ secretive
full ↔ empty
generous ↔ mean
gentle ↔ rough
gather ↔ distribute
glad ↔ sorry
gloomy ↔ cheerful
giant ↔ dwarf, pygmy
granted ↔ refused
great ↔ minute, small, little
guardian ↔ ward
guest ↔ host
guilty ↔ innocent
happy ↔ sad, miserable
hard ↔ soft
harmful ↔ harmless
hasten ↔ dawdle
hate ↔ love
healthy ↔ unhealthy, ill, diseased
here ↔ there
heavy ↔ light
height ↔ depth
hero ↔ coward
hill ↔ valley
horizontal ↔ vertical
hinder ↔ aid, help
honest ↔ dishonest
humble ↔ proud
hunger ↔ thirst
imitation ↔ genuine
immense ↔ tiny, minute
imprison ↔ free
include ↔ exclude
increase ↔ decrease
inhabited ↔ uninhabited
inferior ↔ superior
inside ↔ outside
intelligent ↔ unintelligent, stupid
inhale ↔ exhale
interior ↔ exterior, outside
interesting ↔ uninteresting, dull
internal ↔ external
intentional ↔ accidental
join ↔ separate
junior ↔ senior
justice ↔ injustice
king ↔ subject
knowledge ↔ ignorance
laugh ↔ cry
lawful ↔ unlawful
lazy ↔ industrious, energetic
land ↔ sea
landlord ↔ tenant
large ↔ little, small
last ↔ first
lawyer ↔ client
lecturer ↔ student
lender ↔ borrower
lengthen ↔ shorten
left ↔ right
less ↔ more
light ↔ dark, heavy
like ↔ dislike, unlike
likely ↔ unlikely
leader ↔ follower
little ↔ large, much, big
lofty ↔ lowly
long ↔ short
loud ↔ soft
loss ↔ find, win
low ↔ high
loyal ↔ disloyal
mad ↔ sane
magnetize ↔ demagnetize
master ↔ servant
mature ↔ immature
maximum ↔ minimum
me ↔ you
merry ↔ mirthless, sad
minority ↔ majority
miser ↔ spendthrift
misunderstand ↔ understand
narrow ↔ wide
near ↔ far, distant
neat ↔ untidy
new ↔ old
night ↔ day
noisy ↔ quiet
North ↔ South
obedient ↔ disobedient
odd ↔ even
offer ↔ refuse
open ↔ shut
optimist ↔ pessimist
out ↔ in
parent ↔ child
past ↔ present
patient ↔ impatient
peace ↔ war
permanent ↔ temporary
please ↔ displease
plentiful ↔ scarce
poetry ↔ prose
possible ↔ impossible
poverty ↔ wealth
powerful ↔ feeble, weak
polite ↔ impolite, rude
private ↔ public
prudent ↔ imprudent
pretty ↔ unsightly, ugly
pure ↔ impure
qualified ↔ unqualified
rapid ↔ slow
regularly ↔ irregularly
rich ↔ poor
right ↔ wrong, left
rigid ↔ pliable, soft
rough ↔ smooth
satisfactory ↔ unsatisfactory
security ↔ insecurity
scatter ↔ collect
serious ↔ trivial
second-hand ↔ new
sense ↔ nonsense
shopkeeper ↔ customer
singular ↔ plural
simple ↔ complicated
slim ↔ thick, stout
solid ↔ liquid
sober ↔ drunk
speaker ↔ listener
sour ↔ sweet
sorrow ↔ joy
sow ↔ reap
stand ↔ lie
straight ↔ crooked
strong ↔ weak
success ↔ failure
sunny ↔ cloudy
take ↔ give
tall ↔ short
tame ↔ wild
teacher ↔ pupil
thick ↔ thin
tight ↔ slack, loose
top ↔ bottom
transparent ↔ opaque
truth ↔ untruth, lie
up ↔ down
vacant ↔ occupied
valuable ↔ valueless
victory ↔ defeat
virtue ↔ vice
visible ↔ invisible
voluntary ↔ compulsory
vowel ↔ consonant
wax ↔ wane
wisdom ↔ folly
within ↔ without
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