I was reading something the other day and one word stood out on the page: “distressed,” and I realized something about the word “stressed.”
With regard to the word “stressed” : It antonym is also its synonym.
Word: stressed; antonym; dis-stressed.
(IE: word: respect; antonym: dis-respect.)
However, the word “distressed” is also used to mean “stressed.”
I was wondering: Are there any other words, in the English language whose antonym is also its synonym?
2006-09-14 09:48:37 · 7 answers · asked by pinduck85 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
You are mistaken about "distressed".
It is NOT an antonym to "stressed" and never has been. For that to be the case it would have to have meant "not stressed" at some point. It never did.
In fact, the prefix "di(s)-", though frequently used to make words mean the opposite of the root word that follows, does not precisely mean "not". It originated from "di" meaning "two", and so developed to mean "apart, away from" and the like. In MANY cases adding that idea does reverse the meaning, but not always. It can in certain cases end up making something more INTENSIVE instead. For example, "disgruntle(d)" is not the opposite of "gruntle(d)". The root already refers to grumbling and being dissatisfied; the addtion of "dis" simply makes it stronger. The same is true for "disannul"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dis-
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19980618
So "distressed" is not both antonym and synonym to "stressed".
The same is true for a case like "inflammable". It has alwasy been synonymous with "flammable". It may LOOK like it should mean the opposite --since "in" often (but not always!!) means "not" -- but it has never had this meaning. (The negative is "nonflammable".)
So maybe what you are after is just words that LOOK like they should mean the opposite of what they actually mean??
For that Nikki H gave you a couple of good examples -- the opposite of "valuable" is "nonvaluable"; "invaluable" (with the sens of 'wrrth so much you cannot place a value/price on it' [cf. incalculable) is actually stronger than "valuable".
Otherwise, for your idea to work, you would need to find a word used in two opposite senses. There ARE such words --often from two different words that ended up as homonyms (and so usually given separate listings in the dictionary). Good example is "cleave"(1) meaning "split apart" and "cleave"(2) meaning "cling to".
2006-09-16 02:31:09 · answer #1 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Respect Antonym
2016-09-29 21:43:04 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
just because a word has a prefix that would normally suggest that it was an antonym of the root word, like dis-, does not mean it IS an antonym. yes, there are others. famous and infamous are not opposites. they kind of mean the same thing but in different ways. valuable and invaluable.
2006-09-14 09:58:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The example isn't really true. Using stressed to mean distressed is a misuse of the word.
2006-09-14 09:52:40 · answer #4 · answered by irartist 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
UP / DOWN
These adverbs are antonyms but synonyms in this sentence:
Did the house burn up or did the house burn down?
2006-09-14 20:13:29 · answer #5 · answered by tichur 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
People use "irregardless" the same way as "regardless," but I don't really think that's correct.
2006-09-14 09:58:18 · answer #6 · answered by Elaura 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
flammable : Inflammable is an example... sort of...
2006-09-14 09:56:33 · answer #7 · answered by decodoppler 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋