# Lost unnegated words **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014 "2011-11-15T16:18:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/1 "2011-11-15T16:18:02Z")
I’ve recently noticed words that are negations, but the corresponding unnegated words have fallen out of common use. Words like: ruthless reckless feckless heedless inept incorrigible It’s rare to see their opposites. What are some more words like this? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/2 "2011-11-15T16:31:17Z")
I would say defenestrate, but fenestrate is a word. It doesn’t mean the opposite, though. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/3 "2011-11-15T17:11:35Z")
I think _heed_ is still quite common, at least as a verb: He did not heed the warning signs. Even as a noun, it’s not that rare: He took heed of the warnings. ---
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/4 "2011-11-15T18:27:16Z")
Disgruntled. I’ve heard people use ‘gruntled’, but only as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/5 "2011-11-15T18:35:40Z")
Ditto uncouth. Couth is a joke word. You can be overwhelmed or underwhelmed, but few are simply whelmed. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/6 "2011-11-15T18:41:14Z")
[QUOTE=The Society for the Preservation of Tithesis] The Society for the Preservation of Tithesis commends your ebriated and scrutable use of delible and defatigable tithesis, which are gainly, sipid and couth. We are gruntled and consolate that you have the ertia and eptitidue to choose such putably pensible tithesis, which we parage. [/QUOTE] Also, programmers sometimes use “underflow” as the opposite of “overflow”, especially in relation to stacks. An underflow occurs when you attempt to take something out of something that is empty. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/7 "2011-11-15T18:43:24Z")
I overstand. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/8 "2011-11-15T19:02:31Z")
Uncanny. Canny is another of the joke words. ---
**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 15, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/9 "2011-11-15T19:08:43Z")
I regularly use _gruntled_, usually after a meal. _Feck_ is often used as an alternative to _fuck_, usually to indicate that the utterer is Irish. And isn’t an antithesis of inept _apt_? The observant reader will have noted that _tithesis_ is an incorrect formulation: _antithesis_ is _anti_ + _thesis_. So the antithesis of _antithesis_ is _thesis_. ---
**Author:** ![Kuboydal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@Kuboydal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kuboydal)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/10 "2011-11-15T19:49:45Z")
These are known as lost positives. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/11 "2011-11-15T19:50:09Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Uncanny. Canny is another of the joke words. [Not really](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/canny) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/12 "2011-11-15T19:58:07Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Uncanny. Canny is another of the joke words. I’m from the North-East of England. Canny is often used. It is a multi-purpose wonder of a word and it does (or can) get used as the opposite of “uncanny” ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/13 "2011-11-15T20:36:45Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m from the North-East of England. Canny is often used. It is a multi-purpose wonder of a word and it does (or can) get used as the opposite of “uncanny” Thanks for the reply. According to the online dictionary Canny means cagey or shrewd, Uncanny means eerie or mysterious. So (just to nitpick) I don’t think they are opposites. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/14 "2011-11-15T20:52:33Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Uncanny. Canny is another of the joke words. Canny is unusual, but still used. ---
**Author:** ![Bilbo1967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bilbo1967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bilbo1967)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/15 "2011-11-15T21:50:48Z")
Inert? Never heard of anything described as “ert”. With regard to “ruthless”, there’s a Milton poem that includes the line,’ “Look homeward Angel and melt with ruth”, so “ruth” as a word meaning compassion was in use at one time. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/16 "2011-11-15T22:10:10Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Thanks for the reply. > > According to the online dictionary Canny means cagey or shrewd, Uncanny means eerie or mysterious. So (just to nitpick) I don’t think they are opposites. In the north-eastern dialect, “Canny” can also mean “good” or “fine”, normal or even superb, depending on context. That’s the usage I’d see as being opposite. And as well as your above definition, it can also mean miserly. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/17 "2011-11-15T22:57:02Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I’ve recently noticed words that are negations, but the corresponding unnegated words have fallen out of common use. Words like: > > ruthless > reckless > feckless > heedless > inept > incorrigible > > It’s rare to see their opposites. What are some more words like this? The opposite of ruthless is _ruthful_ The opposite of heedless is _heedful_ Both fairly common words. Take care looking for the opposite of _flammable_. ---
**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 15, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/18 "2011-11-15T23:18:16Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > The opposite of ruthless is _ruthful_ > The opposite of heedless is _heedful_ > > Both fairly common words. _Heedful_ is pretty common (Chrome’s dictionary recognises it for a start!), usually as _heedful of X_; I cannot say the same for _ruthful_ - I don’t recall ever seeing it in print. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/19 "2011-11-15T23:25:26Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > The opposite of ruthless is _ruthful_ > The opposite of heedless is _heedful_ > > Both fairly common words. I’ve never seen “ruthful” used before your post. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014/20 "2011-11-15T23:31:03Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Take care looking for the opposite of _flammable_. noninflammable 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-unnegated-words/603014.md?page=2)