antonym

Definition

A word which has the opposite meaning of another word.

Etymology

From French antonyme (1840s and 1850s), which was modeled on earlier synonyme and influenced by the etymons of Ancient Greek ἀντωνυμία (antōnumía, “pronoun”); credit for popularization of the French loanword's naturalization into English is given principally to Charles John Smith and his 1867 book Synonyms and Antonyms: Or, Kindred Words and Their Opposites. Collected and Contrasted. By surface analysis, ant- + -onym.

Example Sentences

• "“Rich” is an antonym of “poor”; “full” is an antonym of “empty”."
• "All four lines of the pattern are required to establish that hot and cold are antonyms. The water is hot entails The water is not cold. The water is cold entails The water is not hot. The water is not hot does not entail The water is cold. The water is not cold does not entail The water is hot."
• ""The word 'boom' always makes me uneasy because the antonym of it is bust," said Patrick Jankowski, vice president of research at the Greater Houston Partnership. "Houston is not in a boom -- it is on a new path.""