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List of self-contradicting words in English
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This is a list of self-contradicting English
words -- that is, words which in and of themselves
have two or more generally accepted meanings in the English
language that directly or generally contradict each other.
Such words are also known as auto-antonyms, antagonyms, contronyms,
and words having contradefinitions. Many such contradefinitions
arise from slang usage. Others develop as a result of their
frequent use in sarcasm.
A similar concept, where a commonly used phrase contains
two words which have or can be construed to have definitions
in opposition to each other is known as an oxymoron. See list
of oxymora for a list of examples.
There are two forms of contranyms: homographic, where two
words with the same spelling can have opposing definitions;
and homophonic, where two words with the same pronunciation
can have opposing definitions. In general, the terms below
are both homographic and homophonic contranyms.
Richard Lederer included a list of self-contradicting words
in a chapter on Janus-faced words in his book Crazy English.
T-Rex in the November 2nd, 2007 edition of Dinosaur Comics
describes this class of words as homographic homophonic
autantonyms.
A
[ top ]
Adumbrate "To outline or sketch,
to disclose partially", but also "to hide or obscure."
Awesome The strict definition of this
adjective is "fearsome, mighty"; but the now generally
accepted slang usage roughly equates to "enjoyable, fun."
Awful As with awesome above, this can mean
"inspiring" or, more commonly, "revolting."
Against Depending on context, this
word can mean "towards" or "close to"
("against the wall"); otherwise it means "opposing"
("against the wind").
B
[ top ]
Bad American urban slang, chiefly
in the 1970s and 1980s, reassigned bad to mean "good".
This is believed to have been introduced by Afro-Americans
based on a similar feature in a west African language.
Before Earlier or sooner than; or
in the future of; awaiting as in "the golden age is before
us". This arises from "before" representing
"in front of," while time can be conceived of from
the perspective of a person in the timeline ("the future
is before us") or from an observer standing outside time
("the past is before the present").
Blunt In common use, when this adjective
is applied to an object, it means "dull, not sharp";
but when applied to a statement, it generally means
"straight to the point, direct".
Bolt As a transitive verb, it means
"to secure something in place (with a bolt)". But
as an intransitive verb, it means "to leave or run away
from (quickly)". The expression "you're bolting
the stable door after the horse has bolted" means that
one is acting to prevent something that has already happened.
Boned To contain bones, to remove
bones, or be in the state of having had bones removed.
Borrow American slang. Usually means
to be on the receiving end of a loan, as in, "Bob, may
I borrow your rake?" It is often also used as slang to
describe the act of lending, as in, "Bob, will you borrow
me your rake?"
Bound In the construction bound
for, it means "moving towards someplace"; as
an adjective by itself, it means "tied up, secure",
in other words "unable to move".
Buckle As a verb construction of the
noun buckle, which is a device for clasping a belt
together, it means "to secure, tighten, hold"; otherwise,
it means "to weaken, collapse".
C
[ top ]
Certain can refer either to an indeterminate
quality ("she has a certain air about her") as well
as to an established fact (a certainty).
Check (cheque) Like bill,
this can either refer to a bank check, having a positive monetary
value; or to a restaurant check, which is a statement of money
owed.
Chuffed In British slang this has
come to mean "pleased", synonymous to "puffed
up"; the strict definition is "displeased, upset".
Cleave To cleave means both to separate
and to cling together.
Clip When referring to the noun clip,
this verb means "to attach together". Otherwise,
as applied to part of a larger corpus (e.g. "clipping
an article"), it means "to cut apart from".
Commencement As a noun form of the
verb commence, this should mean "the start";
however the most popular use of the term is for university
graduation ceremonies, at the end of schooling.
(It should be noted that the intent of the term is to mean
"the start of professional life", but this is not
the primary perception of the event.)
Comprise means "to consist of"
(The nation comprises fifty states) but is also commonly
used to mean "to constitute" (Fifty states comprise
the nation).
Constrain can mean both "to force
to" and "to repress".
Contingent The adjective contingent
describes a known dependency or result; but the noun form
contingency usually refers to an unexpected event.
Continue The verb continue
means "to keep doing"; however the noun form continuation,
in legal usage, means "to pick up later".
Cool In commonly accepted slang, cool
means happy, pleasant, agreeable; but when referring to a
personal interaction, especially in politics, it usually means
"less than agreeable" or "polite but strained".
Critical Can mean "vital to success"
(a critical component), or "disparaging"
(a critical comment).
Custom As a noun, this means "conventional
behavior"; but as an adjective, it means "specially
designed".
D
[ top ]
Derivation Derivation means
both "something derived; a derivative" and the "source
from which something is derived; an origin."
Dispose As a past tense verb, disposed
means "removed" or "gotten rid of"; as
an adjective; disposed means "available".
Downhill When referring to difficulty,
it means "progressively easier"; but when referring
to status or condition, it means "progressively worse".
Dusting When dusting furniture,
this means "to remove dust from"; but when "dusting
for fingerprints", or when used as a noun ("a dusting
of snow"), it means respectively "to apply dust"
or "the application of dust".
E
[ top ]
Either As an adjective, it can mean
"one or the other of two," as in "you either
passed or failed your test". It can also mean "each
of two; the one and the other" as in "there are
trees on either side of the river."
Enduring Can mean either "long
lasting" or "suffering through". In some context
this can lead to antonymic word play, as Noam Chomsky pointed
out in connection with George W. Bush's name for the war in
Afghanistan: "Enduring Freedom".
Enjoin A verb meaning either "to
require" or "to forbid," as in a judicial order
Execute To execute a person is to
end their life; to execute a program is to start
it [Note: This contradiction arises from a shift in meaning
of execution in the sense of capital punishment; what is being
executed is technically the sentence of death (i.e. it is
being started, just like starting a program), but the usage
has shifted away from the sentence and to the prisoner]. [RLC
19 July 2007]
F
[ top ]
Fast Fast can mean either "to move
or do quickly" or it can mean "to not
move," as in "holding fast". As an adjective,
it can also convey both meanings: "The rabbit is fast;"
"The door is fast." G
[ top ]
Garnish With food, the verb means
"to add to"; with wages, it means "to take
from". (Strictly speaking, though, the intention of the
latter is to mean something added to the charges against the
wages, alongside insurance, taxes, etc.)
Generally usually true, but also subject
to exception. The meaning "all-inclusive, without exception"
is now obsolete.
H
[ top ]
Handicap Advantage (e.g. in sport)
or disadvantage/disability
Hew "To separate" as well
as "to stick (to)" (when used with "to");
cf. "cleave" above.
I
[ top ]
Incomparable The most common meaning
of this adjective is "eminent beyond comparison, matchless":
something is incomparable if it is far greater than anything
else in its class. However, in mathematics, two objects are
incomparable if neither is greater than the other.
L
[ top ]
Lease To lend or to borrow.
Left As a past tense verb, it means
"to have gone"; as an adjective; it means "remaining".
Let As a verb usually means "allow";
in an older (but not obsolete) sense it means "prevent".
Literally Originally "in the
literal sense", it has come to mean "in effect,
or virtually". The newer use is widely criticized by
proscriptive speakers, as the original use enables one to
make a useful distinction between the face value of words
and their use in a metaphoric sense.
Lurid Can mean either pale or glowing
with color.
M
[ top ]
Moot Formerly and more acceptably meaning
"open for discussion, debatable," it is now more commonly
used to mean "irrelevant to discussion or debate."
N
[ top ]
Natty Fashionable or unkempt.
O
[ top ]
Off Generally, something being off
means it is not operating; however when an alarm goes
off, it means it has started operating
(or when a person goes off, it means they have become
very agitated).
Original Original either means plain,
or unchanged (as in original flavour), or it could mean something
creative or new (an original idea).
Out Similar to off, to take
something out means to remove it; but to bring something
out is to exhibit it prominently.
Oversight When used as a general concept,
this word is the noun form of oversee, which means
"to manage and be in charge of". But when used to
refer to a specific incident, it becomes the noun form of
overlook, meaning "error" or lapse in proper
management.
P
[ top ]
Par In all cases, par means
"average". Below par should then mean "below
average", and the phrase "to feel below par",
meaning "to feel unwell" has this sense. However,
in golf, since a lower score means a better showing, below
par means "better than average".
Peer Strictly, a peer is
someone on the same social level as you; but in chiefly British
usage, a peer is a person having a title of nobility
(and so at a higher social level than the general populace).
Periodic Means to occur both at regular
intervals and at irregular intervals
Peruse Although considered an error
by most usage experts, the word peruse is commonly understood
to mean "to skim over" or "to glance at."
The accepted definition is "to examine closely."
Prove Originally, it meant "test",
but the meaning has shifted to "verify". It is the
original meaning that is intended in such phrases as "50
proof", "the proof is in the pudding", and
"the exception proves the rule".
Public As a noun, it refers to the
common people of a society; however as an adjective, it normally
refers to things operated by the government. (Of course, such
government operations are maintained for public use. Furthermore,
under representative democracy, the people and the government
are considered one and the same by definition.)
Q
[ top ]
Qualified Can mean "limited"
(as in "qualified success") or "skilled, skilful"
(as in "a qualified expert").
Quiddity Can mean either the essence
of a thing or a quibble.
R
[ top ]
Raveling means both to entangle and to
untangle
Rent can be used to mean paying to
use something, as in "I'm renting an apartment",
or used to mean taking money to let someone else something
of yours, as in "We rent cars to anyone, no questions
asked"
Reservation as a concrete noun, this
can be "a confirmation" of availability; as an abstract
noun, it is "a fear or uncertainty".
Resign when someone resigns a contract
(transitive) he commits to continuing his involvement in some
activity. On the other hand, when he resigns (intransitive)
he relieves himself of that commitment. The former is sometimes
hyphenated (i.e. re-sign) to emphasize its pronunciation
and differentiate the pair.
Riot A riot is usually a chaotic spree
of violence and destruction; but in more casual use it can
refer to a funny story or a good party. (Outside observers
may argue that this last definition often resembles the first.)
S
[ top ]
Sanction The verb sanction
means "to permit"; the noun sanctions normally
means "restrictions".
Scan Originally, this word meant "to
examine closely," but has come to mean "to look
over hastily".
Screen Conceal with or as if with
a screen; or "to display prominently" as in screening
a film.
Secreted Usually obvious due to context;
but this can mean either "hidden" (secreted
away), or "exposed" (secreted from a wound).
The former is the verb form of "secret", and is
pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable. The latter
is the past tense of "secrete" and is pronounced
with the emphasis on the second syllable.
Seed to plant a field, or to clean
seeds from a fruit
Several Originally meaning "separate,
single, or individual", (as in "the several states"
referred to in the US Constitution) it is now understood to
mean "plural, more than two".
Shelled Shelled can describe either
the result of removing a shelled (e.g., we shelled the hazelnuts)
or describe something that has a shell (e.g., turtles are
like shelled snakes with legs).
Show-stopper In the standard usage,
this means "something that is strikingly attractive or
has great popular appeal". Recent usage particularly
in the computer industry has "A bug that makes an implementation
effectively unusable".
Sick Used with a standard definition,
this word can mean "disgusted; revolted," but used
colloquially, it can mean "very pleasant; agreeable".
Skin To add skin, or to remove it.
"Skin that deer" "Skin that kayak".
Smell Means both to emit an odor ("My
foot smells") and to perceive an odor ("My nose
smells"). The former is a rare example of the use of
ergativity in English , which occurs when what is typically
a direct object of a transitive verb is re-processed as an
intransitive verb — "My foot smells" is in
essence a re-processing of "[unknown subject] smells
my foot."
Strike Normally meaning "to hit",
in baseball it means "to miss", and an extension
of this usage has led to the meaning "to make a mistake".
Further adding to the contradiction, in bowling it refers
to the best possible play. Another contradiction results with
the phrase strike out: the baseball lineage leads
to the meaning "to run out of hope"; but the original
lineage also leads to the meaning "to start pursuing
a desire"
Suspicious Can mean that a person
is acting in a way that suggests wrong-doing, i.e. "He
seems very suspicious." or can mean that the person in
question suspects wrong doing in others, i.e. "He was
suspicious of her motives."
T
[ top ]
Table Generally, the phrase put
on the table means "to present something for consideration";
however, in American parliamentary procedure, the verb table
means to put off discussion of a topic.
Temper As a verb, it can either mean
to soften or mollify, or to strengthen (e.g. a metal).
Terrific Originally and still used
to mean "inducing terror", but has now come to have
a positive connotation as well, meaning "fantastic"
or "amazing"
Trim Similar to clip: it
can mean "to add decoration to" (trim the (Christmas)
tree), or "to remove from" (trim the bushes).
Trying As an adjective, 'hard to endure'.
As a verb, 'to make an effort'. A teacher's report may say,
"Your child is trying".
U
[ top ]
Unbending Rigid, inflexible, refusing
to yield or compromise, as in "his stance against reform
was unbending": or becoming less tense, relaxing, as
in "unbending a little, she confided ..."
Unshelled Not removed from their shells
(adjective) or having been removed from their shells (the
past tense and past participle of "to unshell").
The ambiguity therefore arises when in the adjective is used
predicatively, as in "The eggs were unshelled",
which can mean "The eggs had not been removed from their
shells" or "The eggs were removed from their shells"
(someone unshelled them).
Utopia A system of government regarded
as perfect, often without war, poverty, hunger and the like,
as in "It would be great if we could live in a utopia" :
or a system of government bound to fall into a dystopia due
to imperfect humans, or carelessness in design, or other factors,
as in "His idea is naively utopian!"
W
[ top ]
Weather Weathering a storm
means "to endure" the storm; but generally weathering
means "to decay".
Wicked Similar to awesome
above, the strict definition of the adjective is "evil";
the now generally accepted slang usage (barring regional quirks)
is roughly equivalent to "very good".
With Can mean together/accompanying,
"I am with you"; also can mean against
as in "I fought with my brother" .
This
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of the GNU Free Documentation
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