Antonym

Definition of Antonym
An antonym is a semantic time period for words that have opposite meanings or definitions. To certainly positioned it, an antonym is an opposite of another phrase. The time period “antonym” has been derived from a Greek word antonumia, which means counter name.

It is, in fact, a sense relation or binary dating between phrases that have contrary or contradictory meanings. For instance, in the sentence, “You forget what you want to take into account and you bear in mind what you want to neglect” (The Road, through Cormac McCarthy), the underlined words “forget about” and “bear in mind” are opposites to one another. In different words, they're antonyms of 1 another.

Difference Between Antonym and Synonym
Antonyms are pairs of phrases that have opposite meanings, inclusive of: night-day, bright-dull, and wet-dry. Synonyms, on the other hand, are a collection of phrases having similar meanings. Most phrases have synonyms. Verbs, nouns, prepositions, adjectives, and adverbs have synonyms, supplied they belong to the identical elements of speech.

Types of Antonym
There are three varieties of antonym, which are:

Graded Antonyms – Graded antonyms use words having variations among two opposites. For instance, the words “big” and “little” are opposite; however, they can use a lot of different words with opposite meanings together with:
Big, bulky, full-size, huge / petite, slight, and little
Smart, clever, canny, bright / stupid, dim, obtuse, foolish, unwise
Happy, pleased, joyful, ecstatic / sad, gloomy, dejected, miserable
Healthy, vigorous, fit, strong / sick, unwell, ill, ailing
Relational or Converse Antonyms – Relational antonyms use word pairs having a near dating in which every phrase can't exist with out the opposite, or one word has most effective a single relational contrary. For instance:
Front-back
Open-near
Husband-wife
Hello-goodbye
Complimentary Antonyms – Complimentary antonyms use phrase pairs which are absolute opposites. They can independently exist without every different, consisting of a daughter isn't always the complimentary contrary of a son in the family. Similarly ladies can exist without their complimentary opposites, boys. Some of these are given below:
True-fake
Dead-alive
Male-female
On-off
Daughter-son
Yes-no
Examples of Antonyms in Literature
Example #1: The Plain Man and His Wife (by means of Arnold Bennett)
“If you inquire from me whom I mean by means of the plain man, my reply is that I imply almost every man. I mean you. I absolutely mean me. I imply… the successful and the unsuccessful, the idle and the diligent, the pricey and the austere.”

This is a great instance of graded antonyms, as “successful” is contrary to “unsuccessful,” while “idle” is opposite to “diligent,” and “luxurious” is precisely contrary to “austere.”

Example #2: The World As I See It (by Albert Einstein)
“Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based totally at the labors of other men, dwelling and dead, and that I should exert myself which will give within the same degree as I have acquired and am nevertheless receiving.”

The above example has used the graded antonyms “inner” and “outer,” “give” and “obtained,” and complimentary antonyms “residing” and “dead.”

Example #3: Hamlet (by William Shakespeare)
“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it should follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst now not then be fake to any man.”

In this excerpt, Shakespeare has used graded antonyms “night” and “day,” and absolute or complimentary antonyms “living” and “dead.”

Example #4: A Tale of Two Cities (through Charles Dickens)
“It become the quality of times, it become the worst of times, it became the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it become the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it become the season of Darkness, it become the spring of hope, it became the iciness of despair…”

Dickens has superbly used antonyms in this passage. “Best” is opposite to “worst,” “wisdom” is contrary to “foolishness,” and likewise “belief” and “incredulity,” “light” and “darkness,” “hope” and “despair” are all graded antonyms.

Function of Antonym
The feature of antonyms, in both speech and writing, is critical because they spotlight or emphasize the main concept of a text or speech. In literature, antonyms are used in unique literary gadgets which includes in synecdoche and paradox. These devices make some features of a character, or some pleasant in someone prominent. Antonyms also are useful tools in narration, argumentation, description, and explanation. Antonyms additionally play an important role in language acquisition.

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