# Common words with uncommon opposites **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 8, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-with-uncommon-opposites/602306 "2011-11-08T18:52:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-with-uncommon-opposites/602306/1 "2011-11-08T18:52:23Z")
It occurred to me today that I had no word for the opposite of ‘nocturnal.’ I had to look it up. Since nocturnal is a very common word that most people learn in elementary school science, I found it weird that the word ‘diurnal’\* (awake/active in the day) is so rare - I can’t recall hearing it before, at least. Now I’m interested to see if there are many other examples of words like this. \*also interesting: crepuscular, which means active at twilight. ---
**Author:** ![Staggering\_Genius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@Staggering\_Genius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggering_Genius)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-with-uncommon-opposites/602306/2 "2011-11-08T19:14:50Z")
hibernation - estivation intrepid - trepid kosher - tref Firefox is telling me all three of those opposites are misspelled. Shows what it knows. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-with-uncommon-opposites/602306/3 "2011-11-08T19:40:39Z")
Defenestration, while not a common word, does have an opposite, fenestration, but I’ve only seen it used in a medical context. It means to cut a hole in someone. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-with-uncommon-opposites/602306/4 "2011-11-08T19:43:13Z")
> [@Staggering\_Genius](#): > > intrepid - trepid As in trepidation? ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-with-uncommon-opposites/602306/5 "2011-11-08T21:05:07Z")
If the opposite of first is ultimate, then you can say the opposite of second is penultimate and the opposite of third is antepenultimate. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-with-uncommon-opposites/602306/6 "2011-11-09T00:49:25Z")
Somewhat the inverse, but the negative _disgruntled_ is far more common than the positive _gruntled_. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-with-uncommon-opposites/602306/7 "2011-11-09T08:00:35Z")
I suspect there will be quite a list of words that have built-in negation, where removal of the negation prefix doesntbrender the modern English opposite. For example, _disappoint_. ‘Appoint’ is a common word, but doesn’t mean the opposite, and in this case, there are probably at least a few possible inexact opposites, depending on context. Satisfy, excite, surprise are all valid antonyms (none of them uncommon, so I fail to properly answer the GQ in this instance) ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-with-uncommon-opposites/602306/8 "2011-11-09T09:21:54Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I suspect there will be quite a list of words that have built-in negation, where removal of the negation prefix doesntbrender the modern English opposite. > > For example, _disappoint_. ‘Appoint’ is a common word, but doesn’t mean the opposite, and in this case, there are probably at least a few possible inexact opposites, depending on context. Satisfy, excite, surprise are all valid antonyms (none of them uncommon, so I fail to properly answer the GQ in this instance) Apparently “disappoint” once meant “to fail to keep an appointment” and its meaning morphed from there. It’s still true that if you don’t show up for an appointment with me, you’ve disappointed me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-with-uncommon-opposites/602306/9 "2011-11-09T10:33:34Z")
Indeed (that’s why I specified modern English). I expect there will be quite a few of these, not limited to negation prefixes either. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-with-uncommon-opposites/602306/10 "2011-11-10T17:07:59Z")
> [@Staggering\_Genius](#): > > kosher - tref I’ve always seen it spelled _trayf_. [Dictonary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tref) says both are acceptable.