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zomgomgomgomgomgomg
Location: Fauxenix, Azerona
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Originally Posted by essendoubleop
How many homonyms in the English language have near opposite meanings? I'm guessing it's the only one.
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You guessed wrong, and discreet vs discrete is are so vaguely opposite that they aren't even included in most lists.
There is a whole category of words called contronyms, which means that through some fluke of language, a word is its own opposite.
Here's a (probably incomplete) list from http://www.rinkworks.com/words/contronyms.shtml:
Quote:
anabasis - military advance, military retreat
apology - admission of fault in what you think, say, or do; formal defense of what you think, say, or do
aught - all, nothing
bolt - secure, run away
by - multiplication (e.g., a three by five matrix), division (e.g., dividing eight by four)
chuffed - pleased, annoyed
cleave - separate, adhere
clip - fasten, detach
consult - ask for advice, give advice
copemate - partner, antagonist
custom - usual, special
deceptively smart - smarter than one appears, dumber than one appears
dike - wall, ditch
discursive - proceeding coherently from topic to topic, moving aimlessly from topic to topic
dollop - a large amount, a small amount
dust - add fine particles, remove fine particles
enjoin - prescribe, prohibit
fast - quick, unmoving
first degree - most severe (e.g., murder), least severe (e.g., burn)
fix - restore, castrate
flog - criticize harshly, promote aggressively
garnish - enhance (e.g., food), curtail (e.g., wages)
give out - produce, stop production
grade - incline, level
handicap - advantage, disadvantage
help - assist, prevent (e.g., "I can't help it if...")
left - remaining, departed from
liege - sovereign lord, loyal subject
mean - average, excellent (e.g., "plays a mean game")
off - off, on (e.g., "the alarm went off")
out - visible (e.g., stars), invisible (e.g., lights)
out of - outside, inside (e.g., "work out of one's home")
oversight - error, care
pitted - with the pit in, with the pit removed
put out - extinguish, generate (e.g., something putting out light)
quiddity - essence, trifling point
quite - rather, completely
ravel - tangle, disentangle
rent - buy use of, sell use of
rinky-dink - insignificant, one who frequents RinkWorks
sanction - approve, boycott
sanguine - hopeful, murderous (obsolete synonym for "sanguinary")
screen - show, hide
seed - add seeds (e.g., "to seed a field"), remove seeds (e.g., "to seed a tomato")
skinned - with the skin on, with the skin removed
strike - hit, miss (in baseball)
table - propose (in the United Kingdom), set aside (in the United States)
transparent - invisible, obvious
unbending - rigid, relaxing
variety - one type (e.g., "this variety"), many types (e.g., "a variety")
wear - endure through use, decay through use
weather - withstand, wear away
wind up - end, start up (e.g., a watch)
with - alongside, against
Finding such idiosyncrasies in slang is much easier. The word "bad" can be used as slang to mean "good." The word "bomb" has two slang meanings: "failure" (as usually used in the United States) and "success" (as usually used in the United Kingdom).
Some noteworthy antonyms aren't homographs (words that are spelled the same) but homophones (words that are pronounced the same). Some of these include:
aural, oral - heard, spoken
erupt, irrupt - burst out, burst in
petalless, petalous - lacking petals, having petals
raise, raze - erect, tear down
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