List of auto-antonyms in English

This is a list of self-contradicting English words -- that is, words which in and of themselves have two or more generally accepted meanings in the English language that directly or generally contradict each other. Such words are also known as auto-antonyms, antagonyms, contronyms, and words having contradefinitions. Many such contradefinitions arise from slang usage. Others develop as a result of their frequent use in sarcasm.

A similar concept, where a commonly used phrase contains two words which have or can be construed to have definitions in opposition to each other is known as an oxymoron. See list of oxymora for a list of examples.

There are two forms of contranyms: homographic, where two words with the same spelling can have opposing definitions; and homophonic, where two words with the same pronunciation can have opposing definitions. In general, the terms below are both homographic and homophonic contranyms.

Richard Lederer included a list of self-contradicting words in a chapter on Janus-faced words in his book Crazy English.

A

Adumbrate

To clarify or to cast a shadow over.

Awesome

The strict definition of this adjective is "fearsome, mighty"; but the now generally accepted slang usage roughly equates to "enjoyable, fun".

Against

Depending on context, this word can mean "towards" or "close to" ("against the wall"); otherwise it means "opposing" ("against the wind").

Act

To pretend or feign as in "act interested even if you're bored", or to actually do something

Aught

Anything or nothing.

B

Bad

American urban slang, chiefly in the 1970s and 1980s, reassigned bad to mean "good".

Before

Earlier or sooner than; or in the future of; awaiting as in "the golden age is before us"

Bill

Bills (in American English) can be either monetary notes, indicating money possessed, or (in both American and British) they can refer to statements of debt, indicating money owed.

Blunt

In common use, when this adjective is applied to an object, it means "dull, not sharp"; but when applied to a statement, it generally means "straight to the point, direct".

Bolt

As a transitive verb, it means "to secure something in place (with a bolt)". But as an intransitive verb, it means "to leave or run away from (quickly)".

Bound

In the construction bound for, it means "moving towards someplace"; as an adjective by itself, it means "tied up, secure", in other words "unable to move".

Buckle

As a verb construction of the noun buckle, which is a device for clasping a belt together, it means "to secure, tighten, hold"; otherwise, it means "to weaken, collapse".

C

Check (cheque)

Like bill, this can either refer to a bank check, having a positive monetary value; or to a restaurant check, which is a statement of money owed.

Chuffed

In British slang this has come to mean "pleased", synonymous to "puffed up"; the strict definition is "displeased, upset".

Cleave

To cleave means both to separate and to cling together.

Clip

When referring to the noun clip, this verb means "to attach together". Otherwise, as applied to part of a larger corpus (e.g. "clipping an article"), it means "to cut apart from".

Commencement

As a noun form of the verb commence, this should mean "the start"; however the most popular use of the term is for university graduation ceremonies, at the end of schooling. (It should be noted that the intent of the term is to mean "the start of professional life", but this is not the primary perception of the event.)

Contingent

The adjective contingent describes a known dependency or result; but the noun form contingency usually refers to an unexpected event.

Continue

The verb continue means "to keep doing"; however the noun form continuation, in legal usage, means "to pick up later".

Cool

In commonly accepted slang, cool means happy, pleasant, agreeable; but when referring to a personal interaction, especially in politics, it usually means "less than agreeable" or "polite but strained".

Custom

As a noun, this means "usual, conventional"; but as an adjective, it means "specially designed".

D

Dispose

As a past tense verb, disposed means "removed" or "gotten rid of"; as an adjective; disposed means "available".

Derivation

Derivation means both "something derived; a derivative" and the "source from which something is derived; an origin."

Downhill

When referring to difficulty, it means "progressively easier"; but when referring to status or condition, it means "progressively worse".

Dusting

When dusting furniture, this means "to remove dust from"; but when "dusting for fingerprints", or when used as a noun ("a dusting of snow"), it means respectively "to apply dust" or "the application of dust".

Dense

A person who is dense is not smart; a written document that is dense is packed with intelligent statements

E

Enjoin

A verb meaning either "to require" or "to forbid," as in a judicial order

Execute

To execute a person is to end their life; to execute a program is to start it

F

Fast

as an adverb, it means "to move or do quickly"; as an adjective, as in "holding fast", it means "to not move".

G

Garnish

With food, the verb means "to add to"; with wages, it means "to take from". (Strictly speaking, though, the intention of the latter is to mean something added to the charges against the wages, alongside insurance, taxes, etc.)

H

Hardly

This adverb can mean either "lightly" or "harshly"; the phrase "The boots were hardly worn" may mean " The boots were lightly worn", but can also mean "The boots were harshly (or heavily) worn", depending upon context. In the "harshly" case, it is correct, and clearer, to say "The boots were worn hardly".

Handicap

Advantage (e.g. in sport) or disadvantage/disability

L

Lease

To lend or to borrow.

Left

As a past tense verb, it means "to have gone"; as an adjective; it means "remaining".

Literally

Originally "in the literal sense", it has come to mean "in effect, or virtually". The newer use is widely criticized by proscriptive speakers.

N

Natty

Fashionable or unkempt.

O

Off

Generally, something being off means it is not operating; however when an alarm goes off, it means it has started operating (or when a person goes off, it means they have become very agitated).

Original

Original either means plain, or unchanged (as in original flavour), or it could mean something creative or new (an original idea).

Out

Similar to off, to take something out means to remove it; but to bring something out is to exhibit it prominently.

Oversight

When used as a general concept, this word is the noun form of oversee, which means "to manage and be in charge of". But when used to refer to a specific incident, it becomes the noun form of overlook, meaning "error" or lapse in proper management.

P

Par

In all cases, par means "average". Below par should then mean "below average". However, in golf, since a lower score means a better showing, below par means "better than average".

Peer

Strictly, a peer is someone on the same social level as you; but in chiefly British usage, a peerage is a title of nobility (a higher social level than the general populace).

Peruse

Although considered an error by most usage experts, the word peruse is commonly understood to mean "to skim over" or "to glance at." The accepted definition is "to examine closely."

Practiced/practised

As a past tense verb, this word means "attempted something" in order to improve ability; but as an adjective it means "expert". (Arguably, however, having had lots of practice will generally lead to expertise.)

Public

As a noun, it refers to the common people of a society; however as an adjective, it normally refers to things operated by the government. (Of course, such government operations are maintained for public use. Furthermore, under democracy the people and the government are considered one in the same by definition.)

Q

Quantum

Very small (e.g. in Physics) or very large (e.g. "quantum leap").

R

Reservation

as a concrete noun, this can be "a confirmation" of availability; as an abstract noun, it is "a fear or uncertainty".

Riot

A riot is usually a chaotic spree of violence and destruction; but in more casual use it can refer to a funny story or a good party. (Outside observers may argue that this last definition often resembles the first.)

Root

Root can mean "to take root", i.e. to situate tenaciously; but it can also mean "to remove roots" i.e. to unseat and dispose.

S

Sanction

The verb sanction means "to permit"; the noun sanctions normally means "restrictions".

Scan

Originally, this word meant "to examine closely," but has come to mean "to look over hastily".

Screen

Conceal with or as if with a screen; or "to display prominently" as in screening a film.

Secreted

Usually obvious due to context; but this can mean either "hidden" (secreted away), or "exposed" (secreted from a wound).

seed

to plant a field, or to clean seeds from a fruit

Several

Originally meaning "separate, single, or individual", (as in "the several states" referred to in the US Constitution) it is now understood to mean "plural, more than two".

Shelled

Shelled can describe either the result of removing a shelled (e.g., we shelled the hazelnuts) or describe something that has a shell (e.g., turtles are like shelled snakes with legs).

Show-stopper

In the standard usage, this means "something that is strikingly attractive or has great popular appeal". Recent usage particularly in the computer industry has "A bug that makes an implementation effectively unusable".

Sick

Used with a standard definition, this word can mean "disgusted; revolted," but used colloquially, it can mean "very pleasant; agreeable".

Skin

To add skin, or to remove it. "Skin that deer" "Skin that kayak".

Smell

Means both to emit an odor ("My foot smells") and to perceive an odor ("My nose smells").

Stain

To stain fabric is to intentionally add a desired color; but to stain clothes is to accidentally add an undesired color.

Strike

Normally meaning "to hit", in baseball it means "to miss", and an extension of this usage has led to the meaning "to make a mistake". Further adding to the contradiction, in bowling it refers to the best possible play. Another contradiction results with the phrase strike out: the baseball lineage leads to the meaning "to run out of hope"; but the original lineage also leads to the meaning "to start pursuing a desire"

T

Table

Generally, the phrase put on the table means "to present something for consideration"; however, in parliamentary procedure, the verb table means to put off discussion of a topic.

Temper

As a verb, it can either mean to soften or mollify, or to strengthen (e.g. a metal).

Terrific

Originally and still used to mean "inducing terror", but has now come to have a positive connotation as well, meaning "fantastic" or "amazing"

Trim

Similar to clip: it can mean "to add decoration to" (trim the (Christmas) tree), or "to remove from" (trim the bushes).

Trying

As an adjective, 'hard to endure'. As a verb, 'to make an effort'. A teacher's report may say, "Your child is trying".

W

Weather

Weathering a storm means "to endure" the storm; but generally weathering means "to decay".

Wicked

Similar to awesome above, the strict definition of the adjective is "evil"; the now generally accepted slang usage (barring regional quirks) is roughly equivalent to "very good".