# What about ravel and unravel?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-ravel-and-unravel/377973>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [October 26, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-ravel-and-unravel/377973 "2006-10-26T14:01:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-ravel-and-unravel/377973/1 "2006-10-26T14:01:18Z")

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I wish the master had addressed those in his [column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_245a.html).

For what it’s worth,  
Rob

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**Author:** ![Fourthletter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@Fourthletter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fourthletter)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-ravel-and-unravel/377973/2 "2006-10-29T01:22:24Z")

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[QUOTE=sweeteviljesus]  
I wish the master had addressed those in his [column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_245a.html).

For what it’s worth,  
Rob  
[/QUOTE]

Oh dear ! a simple google and

RAVEL  
Definition:

1. [noun] French composer and exponent of Impressionsim (1875-1937)  
Synonyms: Ravel, Maurice Ravel

2. [noun] a row of unravelled stitches; “she got a run in her stocking”  
Synonyms: run, ladder

3. [verb] disentangle; “can you unravel the mystery?”; “unravel the ball or yarn”  
Synonyms: un out

4. [verb] tangle or complicate; “a ravelled story”  
Synonyms: tangle, knot

It would seem that ravel does mean quite the opposite of unravel 😉

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-ravel-and-unravel/377973/3 "2006-10-29T01:29:41Z")

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There are lots of words that are their own antonyms. They’re called contronyms. See a list [here](http://www.rinkworks.com/words/contronyms.shtml)

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**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-ravel-and-unravel/377973/4 "2006-10-29T17:00:45Z")

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Thanks, I was looking for some good contronyms for the he/pronoun thread.