# Words that are their own opposites **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 22, 2021, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331 "2021-08-22T22:53:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331/41 "2022-06-10T08:37:51Z")
Does “deliberate” qualify? As in “to consider slowly and carefully” and “to reach a conclusion quickly and intentionally”? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331/42 "2022-06-10T09:35:14Z")
> [@Roger\_That](#): > > Does “deliberate” qualify? I think “deliberate” is just the opposite of “liberate”. Like, if you are a free man, you are at liberty. If you get thrown in jail, you are getting deliberated. When they let you out, you are getting liberated. Or reliberated. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331/43 "2022-06-10T22:46:22Z")
Poor, poor “semiweekly”. No one ever remembers him… Perfectly cromulent word, but he sits in the dust in the back of the word shed. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2022, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331/44 "2022-08-28T00:41:29Z")
I’ve thought of one that is sometimes its own opposite: _romance_. Now, the majority of the time people use it in accordance with its roots: anything involving passion can be romantic (be it passion for the outdoors, passion for one’s country, passion for an idea, or passion for a person). Now, passion can be destructive as well as edifying, so it is not surprising that the _results_ of these types of romantic things can seem to have opposite effects. However, sometimes when people refer to something being “romantic”, they mean little refined displays of love that if anything tamper any underlying passion. And if you describe someone as a “romantic partner” you are more likely to be describing someone with whom you are past the initial throes of sexual passion and are in a steadier relationship. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2022, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331/45 "2022-08-28T02:55:39Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > _romance_. Now, the majority of the time people use it in accordance with its roots: Huh? Since when do people think you have to be Roman to engage in romance? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2022, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331/46 "2022-08-28T10:42:03Z")
nervy ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331/47 "2022-10-28T12:42:38Z")
**barked** = covered with bark **barked** = stripped of its bark ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331/48 "2022-10-30T02:54:17Z")
Dropped. Can mean released: _the new album just dropped_. Or it could mean canceled: _Google just dropped just another product_. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331/49 "2022-10-30T03:39:44Z")
“Shelled” is similar to “barked” in that way. It can mean “having a shell”, or “having had its shell removed”. I have sometimes been confused by references to “shelled peanuts”. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331/50 "2023-03-28T15:20:05Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > “Fair”, when used to describe a woman’s appearance, can mean either “beautiful” or “average”. In a similar vein, ‘fine’ can mean outstandingly good: “fine dining” Or just barely ok: “How was school?” “Fine.” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331/51 "2023-03-28T15:57:52Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Sorry, I couldn’t wresist. Ha, thanks for the memories. I didn’t notice your post right away because as it turns out, quoting me from another older thread does not send me a notification, so I just happened to skim through this thread and notice it. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331/52 "2026-10-21T03:52:19Z")
**to sling** (to throw something, or stow it) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-their-own-opposites/949331.md?page=2)