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A contronym, sometimes spelled contranym (occasionally antagonym or autoantonym), is a word that is its own opposite. For example, the word "fast" can mean "moving quickly" as in "what a fast runner," or it can mean "unable to move" as in "stuck fast." It is a special kind of an antonym, where the two words are homonyms or homophones.There are two ways a word becomes a contronym:
- Two different words have the same spelling, as with cleave
- The word changes meaning to the contrary, but the original meaning stays alive, as with awful
1 List of contronyms
- Awful - "extremely unpleasant, ugly" versus "awe-inspiring"
- Bolt - "leave quickly" versus "fixed in place, as in bolted to the floor"
- Cleave - "to stick to, adhere" versus "to split"
- "Decadent" - "in a state of decay or disrepair" versus "immaculate or gluttonous (due to moral decay)"
- Fast - "moving rapidly" versus "unmoving, as in stuck fast"
- Sanction - "to permit, allow" versus "to punish, impose a penalty on"
1 See also
2 External link:
