antonym

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Word that is opposite in meaning to another word. The following are antonyms: good and evil; slow and fast; hot and cold.

There are three different types of antonym: gradable, complementary, and converse.

Gradable antonyms
These describe something which can be measured and compared with something else. For example, if one car is travelling at 120 km/75 mi per hour and one at 60 km/37 mi per hour, one is fast and the other is slow. Other examples are small and big; hot and cold; dry and wet; clean and dirty.

Complementary antonyms
Here there is no comparison or scale; it is a matter of being either one thing or another. Examples are alive and dead: you are either alive or dead, not somewhere in-between. Other examples are single and married; male and female.

Converse antonyms
These antonyms depend on each other. For example, buy and sell. You cannot buy something without someone else selling it to you. Other examples are borrow and lend; wife and husband.

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