Definition of ANTONYM

antonym

Meanings

Plural: antonyms

Noun

  • a word that expresses a meaning opposed to the meaning of another word, in which case the two words are antonyms of each other
    • "to him the antonym of `gay' was `depressed'"
  • A word which has the opposite meaning of another word.
  • A word which has the opposite meaning of another word.
  • A word that describes one end of a scale, while its opposite describes the other end, such as large versus small; a gradable antonym.

Origin / Etymology

From French antonyme (1840s and 1850s), which was modeled on earlier synonyme and influenced by the etymons of Ancient Greek ἀντωνυμία (antōnumía, “pronoun”); credit for popularization of the French loanword's naturalization into English is given principally to Charles John Smith and his 1867 book Synonyms and Antonyms: Or, Kindred Words and Their Opposites. Collected and Contrasted. By surface analysis, ant- + -onym.

Synonyms

counterterm, opposite, opposite word

Antonyms

synonym

Scrabble Score: 12

antonym is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
antonym is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
antonym is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

antonym is a valid Words With Friends word