# What is the opposite of .... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 30, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277 "2008-03-30T15:27:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/1 "2008-03-30T15:27:01Z")
… exceed? And what are some other words that don’t have opposites? ---
**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:** [March 30, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/2 "2008-03-30T15:32:48Z")
underachieve? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/3 "2008-03-30T15:38:00Z")
That doesn’t cover “hitting it right on the money” though. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/4 "2008-03-30T19:11:54Z")
fall short of? A word with no opposite: blue. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/5 "2008-03-30T19:22:04Z")
Technically speaking, the exact opposite of “exceed” is “not exceed”. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/6 "2008-03-30T19:34:08Z")
[QUOTE=brujaja] fall short of? A word with no opposite: blue. 😃 [/QUOTE] Unless you’re hooked on the notion of the _color wheel_ where the complimentary (as opposed to _opposite_) color is **orange** … Now, if you’re into **blue** as an emotion, i suppose the issue gets clouded further by “what’s the opposite of not so hot?” This whole notion reminds me of how when the temp has gone from 40 degrees to 80 how some people tend to think it’s “twice as hot.” What’s the opposite of now? ---
**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:** [March 30, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/7 "2008-03-30T19:36:44Z")
not now ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/8 "2008-03-30T20:25:19Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] What’s the opposite of now? [/QUOTE] Then. Much more succinct than ‘not now’. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/9 "2008-03-30T20:25:36Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] What’s the opposite of now? [/QUOTE] Then eta: never mind ---
**Author:** ![Marienee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Marienee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marienee)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/10 "2008-03-30T21:13:12Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] … exceed? [/QUOTE] To trail? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/11 "2008-03-31T05:43:24Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] And what are some other words that don’t have opposites? [/QUOTE] uncouth intrepid There’s underwhelmed and overwhelmed. What ever happened to regular whelmed? ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/12 "2008-03-31T08:55:42Z")
[QUOTE=Tapioca Dextrin] uncouth intrepid There’s underwhelmed and overwhelmed. What ever happened to regular whelmed? [/QUOTE] Couth That’s all I got ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/13 "2008-03-31T09:05:19Z")
“Trepid” is also a word (at least in an unabridged dictionary). Or you could go with timid, fearful, cowardly, etc. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2008, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/14 "2008-03-31T09:27:25Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] That doesn’t cover “hitting it right on the money” though. [/QUOTE] Well, in that sense, left isn’t the opposite of right, because it doesn’t cover ‘middle’. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/15 "2008-03-31T11:39:04Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] … exceed? [/QUOTE] Recede? Hardy har har. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/16 "2008-03-31T12:43:51Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Well, in that sense, left isn’t the opposite of right, because it doesn’t cover ‘middle’. [/QUOTE] No, that’s why left _is_ the opposite of right. “Opposite” doesn’t mean “everything except”; it means, well, opposite; as far in the other direction; the negative of the quantity, not zero. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/17 "2008-03-31T14:32:55Z")
In addition to “the opposite of” something, there’s the equally daunting concept of “the absence of” something else. When one of my kids, at an early age, asked me to define “cold” in an easy to understand way, I went into the “cold is the absence of heat” spiel and thought I was making the point when the other kids chimed in with things like “dark is the absence of light” and “death is the absence of life” and quite a few others, until one of them came up with “Fixed is the absence of broke.” Ever since then, whenever possible, I go with “the absence of” in preference to “the opposite of” purely for the giggles. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/18 "2008-03-31T14:38:16Z")
“Couth” does get used occasionally. It’s a good word. Be a little more couth, why doncha? ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/19 "2008-03-31T14:42:57Z")
Fail. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277/20 "2008-03-31T14:44:45Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] Unless you’re hooked on the notion of the _color wheel_ where the complimentary (as opposed to _opposite_) color is **orange** … [/QUOTE] Well, originally, I was going to **say** “orange”…but then I thought, no, that’s a secondary color; and once you make the 3 primaries into 6 secondaries, that’s an even number, and then you have “opposites”. So I said blue, because I thought as one of **three** things it would be **indisputably unopposed**. Musta forgot where I was posting. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of/443277.md?page=2)