#contranym

[writerystuff]

CONTRANYMS

Sanction. Cleave. Oversight. Outstanding.

Each of these words is a contranym, which means that it has two meanings that are almost opposite. Sanction can mean to authorize, and also to penalize. Cleave can mean to cling to or remain faithful to, and also to split apart. Oversight can mean to supervise, and also to omit or err. Outstanding can mean excellent, and also not yet paid or submitted.

I believe that cleave is actually two different verbs that happen to be spelled the same in the infinitive and present tense. In the meaning “remain faithful,” the past tense is “cleaved”:

Through all adversity their hearts cleaved more strongly together.

In the meaning “split,” the past tense is “cleft”:

The cleft logs were further split into firewood.

[postersbykeith]

[jazzeria]

TIL that "worst" is also a verb, which means to defeat.  

So if you beat someone in a game, you can say you "worsted" them.  

But you could also say that you "bested" them.  

[thehallusocracy]

ok you know how english is full of janus words that are their own antonyms like how cleave means ‘to stick to something’ or ‘to split apart’ and sanction means both ‘approve’ & ‘disapprove’ and you think: how the hell?

then you realise the most widespread online sense of to look respectfully at a man is literally to perv on him?

the more things change the more things are the same i love language

[springtidepress]

Taking a close look, or just skimming? #woodtypewednesday #palimpsest #contranym https://www.instagram.com/p/CPXEBqoBoVA/?utm_medium=tumblr

[crescentplanet]

#65 같은 단어, 반대 뜻

[writinginnorthnorfolk]

Lying Awake in the Small Hours

Lying Awake in the Small Hours

Awake and drenched in moonlight,

When sleep has become an oversight,

I weather the wizened words of day,

Grey ash on my ravelled retinae –

All that’s left of a discursive dream,

A sanguine, repetitive refrain

Tempered by transparent shadows,

Models of monochrome lightshows

That seem to be the custom

In the science known as quantum.

  © Kim M. Russell, 2016

My response to Mindlovemisery’s…

View On WordPress

[theyuniversity]

What’s up with contronyms?

A word that has opposite meanings is called a contronym (also spelled contranym), an auto-antonym, or a Janus word.

Here are some contronyms:

To see a longer version of the above list (from fun-with-words), click here.

When you use an contronym in your writing, make sure that you provide your reader with enough context clues to figure out which of the two contradictory meanings you mean.

Otherwise, you’ll be like this scumbag:

Peruse can mean either “to examine carefully” or “to browse casually,” but the above sentence gives no indication of which definition is intended.

Therefore, provide enough context clues so that your intended meaning is clear:

In the second example, we can infer that someone who has set aside six hours to peruse an essay plans “to examine it carefully.” There is no longer any ambiguity.

Context is key. (Right, Jake?) 😧

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