كلمات لها معانى متناقضة
Antagonism
Ana basis: A
military advance vs. A military retreat (3) {C}
Anon :
Immediately [Archaic] or soon vs. Later (3) {M}
Anxious: Full
of mental distress because of apprehension of danger or misfortune [in effect,
seeking to avoid] (We were anxious about the nearby gunshots.) vs.
Eager or looking forward to (Until you returned, I was anxious to see you.) (1)
Apparent: Not clear or certain (For now, he is
the apparent winner of the contest.) vs. Obvious (The solution to
the problem was apparent to all.) (1) {I}
Assume: To
actually have (To assume office) vs. To hope to have ("He
assumed he would be elected.") (3) {M}
Avocation:
A hobby vs. a regular occupation [and one could say it's a triple
antagonym if you agree that the archaic meaning of "a distraction" is
the opposite of working (even at a hobby) and if you agree that the obsolete
meaning of "a calling away" takes you away from (the opposite of
participating in) your hobbies, work, and even your distractions!] (1)
Awful: Extremely
unpleasant, ugly vs. Awe-inspiring [typically, a feeling of
admiration] (1)
Bad: See above
Bound: Moving
("I was bound for Chicago") vs. Unable to move ("I
was bound to a post", or less literally, "I was bound to my
desk") (3) {S}
Buckle: to hold
together (e.g. buckle your belt) vs. to fall apart (e.g., buckle
under pressure) {AQ}
Bull: A solemn
edict or mandate vs. Nonsense or worthless information (3) {M}
Chuff: Elated vs.
Unhappy (hinted at in 1) {M}
Cite, Citation:
For doing good (such as military gallantry) vs. for doing bad
(such as from a traffic policeman) (1)
Cleave: To adhere
tightly vs. To cut apart (1) {A}
Clip: to attach
vs. to cut off (1) {AH}{AS}
Cool: positive
sense (cool web-sites) vs. negative sense(cool reception). {AA}
Comprise:
To contain entirely vs. To be included in ("The United
States comprises 50 states"; "The 50 states comprise the United
States") [Some will argue with both uses, including me; however, both uses
have become commonplace and some sources list both without comment.] (1) {U}
Counterfeit: [Archaic]
a legitimate copy vs. a copy meant to deceive{Y}
Cut: get in
(as in line or queue) vs. get out (as in a school class) {T}
Dust: To remove
dust vs. To apply dust (as in fingerprinting) {H}
Effectively: in
effect (doing the equivalent of the action but not the real thing) vs.
with effect (doing the action and doing it well) [Contrast "he is
effectively lying" (colloquial?) with "he is lying effectively"]
{AD}
Enjoin: To order
someone to do something vs. To stop someone from doing something
[such as in law by an injunction] (1) {D}
Fast: Moving
rapidly vs. Unable to move ("I was held fast to my
bed.") (3) {S}
Fix: to
restore to function (fixing the refrigerator) vs. to make
non-functional (fixing the dog) {AZ}
Fearful: Causing
fear vs. Being afraid (1) {A}
Goods: [Slang]
good things vs. bad things ("I have the goods from the
warehouse robbery, but I'm worried the police have the goods on me.") {T}
Hysterical: Being
overwhelmed with fear [in some cases] vs. Being funny (1)
Incorporate:
When a village is incorporated, it is formed, but when it is incorporated into
a city, the village is destroyed {O}
Inflammable [a pseudo-antagonym!]: Burns easily vs. [the incorrect assumption by
many that the prefix in- makes it mean:] Does not burn [Only the first
definition is correct; the risk of confusion has removed this word from
gasoline trucks!] (4) {J}
Last: Just
prior vs. final (My last book will be my last publication) {Y}
Lease, Let, Rent:
[in essence] To loan out for money vs. To "borrow" for
money (1) {K}
Left: To remain
vs. to have gone (Of all who came, only Fred's left. [Does it
mean he's the only one who still remains or that he's the first to depart?])
{AB}
Let: [Archaic]
To hinder vs. To allow (1) {K}
License: Liberty
or permission to do something vs. Undue or excessive freedom or
liberty (1) {K}
Literally:
Precisely vs. often corruptly used to mean
"figuratively" (As in: "There were literally millions of people
at that party."). Our correspondent writes: Many people think this is an
error, albeit a common one; but I think "Literally millions of
people" isn't so much error as a form of hyperbole; the trouble is that
the literal meaning of "literally" is, among other things, "not
hyperbolically." {AF}
Livid: Pale,
ashen vs. dark gray-blue (and sometimes corrupted to mean bright
red!) (1) {AW}
Mad: carried
away by enthusiasm or desire vs. carried away by hatred or anger
(3) {AK}
Moot: [a slight
stretch here] A moot point is one that is debatable, yet is also of no
significance or has been previously decided, so why debate it? (1) {K}
Overlook:
to pay attention to, to inspect ("We had time to overlook the
contract.") vs. to ignore (1) {AN}
Oversight: Watchful and responsible care vs.
An omission or error due to carelessness (1) {E}
Peruse: Read in a
casual way, skim (To peruse the Sunday paper) vs. to read with
great attention to detail or to study carefully (To peruse a report on financial
conditions). {AR}
Policy: Required
activity without exception (University policy) vs. An optional
course of action (our government's policy regarding the economy) {K}
Populate:
To decimate the population (obsolete use) vs. to increase the
population {AP}
Practiced:
Experienced, expert (I am practiced in my work) vs. Inexperienced
effort (The child practiced coloring.) (1)
Prescribe:
To lay down a rule vs. To become unenforceable (3) {D}
Presently:
Now vs. after some time {BB}
Quite: Completely
vs. Not completely (e.g., quite empty [totally empty]; quite full
[not completely full, just nearly so]) (3) {M}
Ravel: to
disentangle or unravel vs. to tangle or entangle (1) {X}
Recover: hide away
(cover again) vs. bring out [hyphenated] (The dinosaur bones were
exposed by the flood but then re-covered with dirt, hiding them again;
centuries later, the paleontologists recovered them by removing the dirt.) {T}
Refrain: In song,
meaning to repeat a certain part vs. To stop (Please refrain from
using bad language) {AO}
Release: let go vs.
hold on (lease the property again) [hyphenated as re-lease] {T}
Replace: Take away
(replace the worn carpet) vs. Put back (replace the papers in the
file) {T}
Repress: hold
back vs. put forth (press again) [hyphenated] {T}
Reprove: rebuke
(reprove a colleague's work) vs. support (re-prove a scientist's
theory) {T}
Reservation:
what you make when you know where you want to go vs. what you
have when you're not sure if you want to go
Reside: to stay
put vs. [Slang] to change places (change teams) [hyphenated as
re-side] [N.B.: This is also a heteronym!]
{T}
Resign: to quit a
contract vs. to sign the contract again [hyphenated as re-sign]
{T} [N.B.: This is also a heteronym!]
Restive: refusing
to move (forward) (a restive horse) vs. Restless (moving around)
(1) {M}
Restore [in the
following use]: The painting was said to be a fake, so the museum re-stored it
in the warehouse. When it was later found to be real, the museum restored it to
its place in the gallery. {T}
Riot: Violent
disorder vs. Revelry {Consider what is meant when one says,
"It was a riot!") (1)
Rival: An
opponent vs. (Archaic) A companion or associate (3) {O}
Rocky: Firm,
steadfast vs. tending to sway (e.g., a rocky shelf) {S}
Root: To
establish (The seed took root.) vs. To remove entirely (usually
used with "out", e.g., to root out dissenters) {AG}
Sanction: Support
for an action (They sanctioned our efforts.) vs. A penalty for an
action (The Congressman was sanctioned for inappropriate behavior.) (1) {D} {O}
Sanguine:
(Now poetic) Causing or delighting in bloodshed [according to
contributor, also describes a person worked up into a bloody rage] vs.
A person hopeful or confident of success [essentially someone calm about
something] (2) {B}
Scan: to
examine closely vs. to look over hastily (1) {S} {AI}
Screwed: [Slang,
vulgar] Had a good experience (We screwed around all night.) vs.
To have a bad experience (I was screwed by that cheater.) {T}
Secreted: Having
put out, released vs. Placed out of sight (1) [N.B.: This word
is also a heteronym!]
Shank: (Informal)
The early part of a period of time (It was just the shank of the evening when
the party began.) vs. (Informal) The latter part of a
period of time (It was the shank of the evening when the party ended.) (1)
Shop: To search
with the intent to buy ("I shopped for a book at several stores.") vs.
To search with the intent to sell ("I shopped my manuscript to several
publishers.") {R}
Sick: unpleasant
(A sick joke) vs. wonderful (Slang: That sportscar is really
sick!) {AE}
Skin: to cover
with a skin vs. to remove outer covering or skin (1) {I} {P}
Strike out:
An ending, as in "The batter struck out." vs. A
beginning, as in "I thought it was time to strike out on my own." (1)
{L} Also, a strike in bowling occurs when there is complete contact
between ball and wood (of the pins), whereas a strike in baseball occurs
when there is complete absence of contact between ball and wood (of the bat).
{W} Also, to strike causes stoppage of work whereas in the theater to strike
is to work on the set, lighting, etc. {AX}
Terrific:
(Informal) Extra ordinarily good vs. Causing terror (1)
Transparent:
Easily seen ("His motives were transparent.") invisible {AL}
Trim: To add
things to (trim a Christmas tree) vs. or take pieces off (trim
hair) {AT}{AU}
Antagonistic phrases, usually informal
These are phrases that (probably through corruption) have
come to mean the opposite of what they should mean if taken literally.
All downhill from here: Things
are going to get better vs. things are going to get worse
{AU}{AV}
Could care less: (Used
as if it were synonymous with "could not care less.") One has
no interest at all {G}
Fought with: Fought
on the same or opposite sides (The Finns fought with the Germans in WW II.)
{AW}
Like never before:
totally amateurish vs. with great skill (She's dancing like she's
never danced before.) {F}
Look out for:
see Watch out for
Take care of: Look out for and nurture vs.
get rid of or kill (As heard on NPR by commentator Diane Roberts discussing the
meaning of saying "we're going to take care of Timothy McVeigh [convicted
bomber]) {contributed by A}
Near miss: A
hit close enough to achieve the effect vs. narrowly falling short
of the objective {X}
Restrict access to:
("To restrict access to adult movies, please contact the front
desk.") To allow access only to vs.
to disallow access to {AM}
Steep learning curve:
To most, this means "difficult to learn" or "taking a long time
to learn," but can also mean "easy to learn, taking a short
time." (I think some workers mean the former when they refer to a process
that has a steep learning curve, and to the latter when referring to a person
who masters the process with a steep learning curve. This antagonym may be controversial.)
{AP}
Tell me about it:
I want to know more vs. I already know. {AY}
Watch out for:
A positive statement meaning try to find or partake of vs. A
negative statement meaning avoid (Watch out for this movie.)
Here's an interesting phrasing: Football coach Lloyd Carr of the #1-ranked University of
Michigan Wolverines, after finishing undefeated (11-0) with a victory over Ohio
State, explaining his preseason view of the team's schedule: "There wasn't
one game that we knew we couldn't win, but we also realized there wasn't one we
couldn't lose." [The Ann Arbor News, November 23, 1997, p. D1.] [In the
Detroit Free Press the next day (p. D4), the last phrase is quoted as
"…there wasn't one we could lose."] Coach, don't think we don't know
what you mean (!), and your multiple double-negatives rate a place on our
webpage!
Opposonyms? Pseudopposites? Pairs of phrases, usually
informal, -- how can they mean the same?
Burned up, Burned down: (Both
mean destroyed.) {BA}
Fat chance; slim chance: (Both
mean "not too likely") {N}
Cool; hot:
(Both mean wonderful [Slang], e.g., when applied to a car)
Confusing words (should we call them
"confusonyms"?)
Biweekly (Bimonthly, Biyearly): twice a week (month, year) vs. every two
weeks (month, years) (According to reference 1, the former is used
"loosely") {Y} {AJ}
Daily: 5 days a
week vs. 6 days a week vs. 7 days a week (for
example, the "daily" newspaper) {Q}
Every day:
As in "daily" above, one often hears on the radio "Listen to our
morning show every day" to mean Monday through Friday
To have or to have not
These terms are confusing and have opposite meanings
depending on usage.
Seeded: Clouds are
seeded (something is added) to produce rain vs. grapes which are
seeded (the seeds are removed). {AA}. Also, if one removes the seeds from
cherries they are pitted but if one sows grass seed in the yard, the yard is
seeded. {AC}
Shelled: Having
the shell removed (shelled pecans) vs. Enclosed in a shell (tiny,
shelled marine animals) (1) {V}
Skinned: See skin,
above.
Pitted? Pitted
olives are olives with the pits taken out, but pitted skin is skin with pits in
it! {BC}
copied from E.C site
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