TYPES Of ANTONYM

You may be interested to know that there are three different kinds of antonyms. Let's take a look at each one:

Complementary: Complementary antonyms have no middle ground. Examples include:

• boy - girl, off - on, night - day, entrance - exit, exterior - interior, true - false, dead - alive, push - pull, pass - fail

Relational: These are similar to complementary antonyms, except that both must exist for them to be antonyms of each other. Check out these examples:

• above - below, doctor - patient, husband - wife, servant - master, borrow - lend, give - receive, predator - prey, buy - sell, instructor - pupil

Graded: These antonyms deal with levels of comparison and they can be two words on a scale. Many are relative terms, which can be interpreted differently by different people. Examples include:

• young - elderly, hard - easy, happy - wistful, wise - foolish, fat - slim, warm - cool, early - late, fast - slow, dark - pale

Add a Prefix to Create an Antonym

Sometimes, you don't need to search for another word entirely. It's possible to create an antonym simply by adding a prefix to the word.

Some examples of antonyms created by adding the prefix dis- are:

• Agree → disagree
• Appear → disappear
• Belief → disbelief
• Honest → dishonest

Adding the prefix in- can make the following opposites:

• Tolerant → intolerant
• Decent → indecent
• Discreet → indiscreet
• Excusable → inexcusable

Using the prefix mis- create antonyms like:

• Behave → misbehave
• Interpret → misinterpret
• Lead → mislead
• Trust → mistrust

Examples of antonyms made by adding the prefix un- are:

• Likely → unlikely
• Able → unable
• Fortunate → unfortunate
• Forgiving → unforgiving

By adding the prefix non- you can make these antonyms:

• Entity → nonentity
• Conformist → nonconformist
• Payment → nonpayment
• Sense → nonsense