Contronym Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

A contronym, sometimes spelled contranym (occasionally antagonym or autoantonym), is a word that is its own opposite. For example, the word "fast" can mean "moving quickly" as in "what a fast runner," or it can mean "unable to move" as in "stuck fast." It is a special kind of an antonym, where the two words are homonyms or homophones.

There are two ways a word becomes a contronym:

1. Two different words have the same spelling, as with cleave
2. The word changes meaning to the contrary, but the original meaning stays alive, as with awful

Table of contents

1 List of contronyms 2 See also 3 External link:

List of contronyms

• Awful - "extremely unpleasant, ugly" versus "awe-inspiring"
• Bolt - "leave quickly" versus "fixed in place, as in bolted to the floor"
• Cleave - "to stick to, adhere" versus "to split"
• "Decadent" - "in a state of decay or disrepair" versus "immaculate or gluttonous (due to moral decay)"
• Fast - "moving rapidly" versus "unmoving, as in stuck fast"
• Sanction - "to permit, allow" versus "to punish, impose a penalty on"

See also

• -onym
• antonym

External link:

• Antagonyms
• List of autoantonyms

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