EARTH HOUSE

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ANTONYMY
BIYAN AJI K.
DEFINITION
Antonymy is a semantic relationship between
words that have opposite meanings. that is
used to describe the relationship between
two words that have opposite meanings

he term antonymy comes from the Greek

words "anti" and "onym," which mean
"opposite" and "name," Antonyms can be
used to add contrast and variety to writing.
 TYPE OF ANTONYM

COMPLEMENTARY RELATIONAL/CONVERSE GRADABLE

ANTONYMS ANTONYMS ANTONYMS
COMPLEMENTARY ANTONYMS
Definition These are pairs of words that have an either-or
relationship, where the positive use of one means the
negative use of the other. Complementary antonyms
offer no middle ground, meaning something can be
one or the other, but not both. Complementary
antonyms are also known as binary or contradictory
antonyms.

off/on Example
night/day
entrance/exit
exterior/interior
true/false
dead/alive
push/pull
 RELATIONAL/CONVERSE
ANTONYMS
Definition These are pairs of words that describe a
relationship between two things, where one word
describes the opposite of the other. These
antonyms show a dependent relationship
between opposite words, where a word from the
pair cannot exist without the other

husband/wife Example
borrow/lend
parent/child
teacher/student
doctor/patient
policeman/criminal
plug/socket
 GRADABLE ANTONYMS
Definition These are pairs of words that have opposite meanings
but also have degrees of comparison. Gradable
antonyms are pairs of adjectives that can be
qualified by adverbs such as very, quite, extremely,
etc. They are typically pairs of adjectives that have
opposite meanings but also have degrees of
comparison.

Big/small Example
Fast/slow
Happy/sad
Light/heavy
Rich/poor
Thick/thin
Young/old