Antonym Examples

A word that means the opposite of a given word is called an antonym. The opposite of an antonym is a synonym-a word that means the same thing as the given word.

Here is an example of a word with a synonym and an antonym:

Word: Large

Synonym: Gigantic

Antonym: Small

There are many pairs of antonyms in the English language, and we can see evidence of antonyms all around us. For example, think about a stop light-green is "go" and red is "stop." "Go" and "stop" are antonyms-opposites.

Examples of Antonym Pairs

1. Stop and go
2. Large and small
3. Fat and thin
4. Long and short
5. Awake and asleep
6. Alive and dead
7. Black and white
8. Hard and soft
9. Rough and smooth
10. Boy and girl
11. Many and few
12. Man and woman
13. Old and young
14. Day and night
15. Light and Dark
16. Up and Down
17. Wet and Dry
18. Happy and Sad
19. Hot and Cold
20. Rich and poor
21. Boss and Employee
22. Teacher and Student
23. Predator and Prey
24. Sink and Swim
25. Above and Below
26. In and Out
27. On and Off

Antonyms can also be formed by adding a word part to an existing word. For example, adding a prefix can sometimes make a word with the opposite meaning.

1. Agree and disagree
2. Done and undone
3. Kind and unkind
4. Trust and distrust
5. Sense and nonsense
6. Information and misinformation
7. Capable and incapable
8. Appear and disappear
9. Perfect and imperfect
10. Make and unmake
11. Conformity and nonconformity
12. Flexible and Inflexible
13. Understand and misunderstand
14. Do and Undo
15. Formed and Unformed
16. Fold and Unfold
17. Passive and impassive