They’re called antonyms. Hamsters love 'em.
[scroll down for OP]
Do you mean words like ‘cleave’ which means ‘split’ but also ‘bind’?
(also, but less impressively: ‘fast’ - to ‘move fast’ and to be ‘stuck fast’)
NASCAR sanctioned (approved) the Michigan WC race. NASCAR sanctioned (penalized) Jimmy Spencer for post-race assault.
www.dictionary.com 's definition of an antonym is,
But surely you’re not looking for pairs like hard and soft; long and short. What you’re looking for are words that are their own antonyms, right? A few more on this page (Link).
I found a word with two pairs of opposite meanings; scale.
As a verb, it can mean to remove layers from something (like scaling a fish) or to become encrusted with layers.
As a noun, it can mean a sequence (a musician will play a particular scale) or a specific amount (as an actor being paid scale).
I like slang words like Wicked and Bad which are opposite in meaning to their normal use.
This is probably a different phenomenon though.
AARGH. I just realise the board screwed my post and it didn’t come up at all. Sorry. Here’s my full post:
Are there any words that have many definitions, at least 2 of which that directly contradict each other?
I can think of 2 off the top of my head:
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Cleave (to adhere vs. to tear apart)
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Moot (irrelevant/having previously been settled vs. controversial/debatable)
Are there any more of these?
>> ‘fast’ - to ‘move fast’ and to be ‘stuck fast’
In nautical terminology to “make fast” is a very common expression meaning to tie or secure. Then, of course, you have “to fasten” meaning “to attach, especially by pinning, tying, or nailing”, “fastener”, etc.
I believe the original use of “sanction” was “approve, confirm” and the meaning “penalize” evolved fom that: The penalty was sanctioned, i.e.: after review and consideration the authority sanctioned (confirmed) the penalty.
Also the verb “dust”, which can mean “to coat with dust”, as in when you dust a cake with icing sugar, or “to remove dust from” as in when you dust a shelf.
The specific term for words which are their own antonyms is contranym. Cleave does not belong to this category; the two meanings derive from two separate words that just happen to be spelled the same in Modern English. The infinitives in Old English were cleofian and cleofan. They’re no more the same word than are polish and Polish.
Oh. That was already on green_bladder’s link. Sorry.
I guess it doesn’t matter to me whether they have the same origin or not; just if they have opposite meanings.
For example, i hate it if someone used the phrase “it’s a moot point”, because that has 2 meanings - either it’s irrelevant, or it’s a salient point for discussion. It’s very irritating to have to have to decipher a layer of ambiguity.
To me, fast and dust don’t count. E.g. dust means to add or remove dust; but it still has to do with ‘dust’.
I’m looking for words with more direct opposite meanings, that have different connotations. No matter how one uses dust, or seed, the same connotation ie. the noun dust or seed still remains.
In this case, are there words with different meaning with different connotations?
It’s hardly uncommon for a word to have more than one meaning and more than one connotations.
The terms indicate different things – the meaning is the definition, the connotation is the implication between two words of similar definitions. Knowing the connotations of a word is an important skill in writing. For instance, there’s a world of difference calling someone “thrifty” or calling him a “cheap.”
Richard Lederer had a chapter on these words in Crazy English. If you’re interested in this sort of thing, I highly recommend his works. He called them Janus-face words. He gave about 12 or 16 examples, including most of the ones here so far.
His first example was out, meaning visible and invisible, respectively:
The moon is out tonight.
The lights in the house are out.
My favorite was oversight, meaning close attention and lapse of attention:
The project is in good hands due to the foreman’s oversight.
The project was ruined due to an oversight on the foreman’s part.
How about the word impregnable?
In one sense, it means “able to withstand attack.” In another sense, it means “capable of being impregnated.”
Not exactly opposite meanings, but close…
Barry
Raze and Raise are spelled differently but pronounced the same and are opposites. Raze means to tear down and raise can mean to erect.
Examples:
The Amish family had all the neighbors over last weekend to raise a barn.
vs.
The Amish family had all the neighbors over last weekend to raze a barn.
The meanings of the two sentences are opposite.
One that I’ve been hearing a lot lately is the contradictory use of the verb to table regarding motions or bills in a legislature. Commentators will often say that Representative or MP So-and-so “tabled” a motion, meaning that he submitted it to the legislative body for its consideration. However, in strict parliamentary procedure, to “table” a motion means to set it aside, to remove it from immediate consideration.
This is an especially odd contranym, in that it involves not only a word that is used to mean completely opposite things, but is so used within the same context!