29

I am looking for a list of all English words that are their own antonyms. Off the top of my head, I can only think of "either", "fast", "to dust" and "to lease", but there must be dozens more. Can you provide a link to a comprehensive list, if such exists?

Also, what are such words most commonly called? I like the term "Janus word" I once heard, but is that widely understood?

Edited by popular demand to make it absolutely clear that this is not a community wiki poll.

Improve this question
5
  • @RegDwight: BTW, the Wikipedia list can also lose entries over time, or get deleted. :-) There are some people who go around on Wikipedia trying to get such lists deleted as "unencyclopedic" (mostly unsuccessfully so far).
    – ShreevatsaR
    Commented Aug 27, 2010 at 5:14
  • 1
    Is Contradictanym synonym to Auto-antonym? Can the term self-antonym be used?
    – Gennady Vanin Геннадий Ванин
    Commented Feb 7, 2011 at 13:33
  • 1
    I'm not sure if "ciao" and "aloha" have been noted yet, so I just wanted to make sure that they were. Each can be used both in greeting and farewell.
    – Hexagon Tiling
    Commented Feb 29, 2012 at 21:14
  • 1
    "cleave" is the first one that comes to mind, coming up in the text of certain wedding ceremonies.
    – cmcf
    Commented Nov 25, 2014 at 23:10
  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because 1. It asks for a list. 2. It should be split into multiple questions- (of course the list part would still be off topic, but the "what is the name for this type of word" part is perfectly valid.)
    – Jim
    Commented Mar 14, 2016 at 0:58

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
27

I think you're referring to Auto-antonyms. They are not the same word but a homograph (a word of the same spelling) that is also an antonym. I guess, Janus word is also acceptable.

There was a list on Wikipedia (List of Auto-antonyms in English), since moved to Wiktionary's Appendix of English contranyms.

Improve this answer
8
  • Yet another piece of weirdness on Wikipedia, apparently "bolt" means "fixed", etc.
    – delete
    Commented Aug 26, 2010 at 13:15
  • 5
    "Bolt" as a verb can mean "to run away" or "to fix in place (using a bolt)".
    – AlexC
    Commented Oct 31, 2010 at 0:41
  • 2
    And I just came across this nice cartoon featuring candid dinosaurs.
    – Alain Pannetier Φ
    Commented Apr 3, 2011 at 9:30
  • @Alexc I recall a photo (in Mad Magazine?) many decades ago, of a guy being told "Don't bolt your food!" - He was, of course, doing it with a wrench.
    – user597
    Commented Sep 13, 2011 at 14:22
  • Also in the list of auto-antonyms, they forgot to include the dash, which can mean "add" (e.g., the shopping list note, "buy candy - chocolate bars, and suckers") or "subtract" (e.g., "5 - 3 = 2").
    – Hexagon Tiling
    Commented Mar 13, 2012 at 3:50
5

There are several names for these. "Contradictanym" is one you see in a few places. There's another list of several examples here: http://toothycat.net/wiki/wiki.pl?Contradictanym

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    What is the opposite of a Contradictanym? A word that doesn't contradict itself?
    – Jared Updike
    Commented Oct 28, 2010 at 22:28
3

Another word for it is ‘contranym’. Two types can be distinguished. There are those known as doublets, which have a common etymology, such as ‘fast’. Then there are those which are quite separate words that happen to be spelt the same way, such as ‘cleave’.

Improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.