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I love words – they’re fun, fascinating, and can make you feel super smart when you pick just the right one! The 17 words below are a special type of word called ‘contronyms‘ – words that are their own antonyms – and that makes them pretty sweet, if you ask me!
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#17. Dust
You can apply dust or remove dust, depending on the context – are you dusting crops or furniture?
#16. Weather
It can mean “to withstand or come safely through,” as with a storm, or conversely, “to be worn away.”
#15. Continue
We generally use it to mean to persist in doing something, though in the legal system, it means to stop a proceeding, if only temporarily.
#14. Out
It means both visible (the moon was out) and invisible (the lights are out).
#13. Screen
It means both “to show” (a film) or “to hide” (something unsightly).
#12. Sanction
You can use it to “give official permission or approval for an action” or “impose a penalty on.”
#11. Cleave
“To cling to or adhere” or “to split or sever,” depending on how you use it.
#10. Help
Most often used as “assist” but can also be used to mean “prevent” – I couldn’t help myself.
#9. Go
“To proceed,” of course, but it can also mean “to give out or fail.”
#8. Toss out
“To suggest” and also “to discard.”
#7. Oversight
“Supervise” or “to fail to see or observe; to pass over without noticing; to disregard, ignore” – true opposites!
#6. Fast
It can mean both “moving rapidly” and “fixed, unmoving,” as in holding fast.
#5. Clip
You can use a clip to “bind things together” or you can “separate” coupons from the paper by clipping them.
#4. Hold up
This phrase can mean “to support” or “to hinder.”
#3. Out of
“I hardly get out of the house anymore since I work out of my home” You’re referring to both “outside” and “inside” with the same phrase.
#2. Left
What’s left or we have left? One means “remaining” and the other “departed.”
#1. Off
You can turn something off (deactivated) or an alarm can go off (activated) without changing a thing!
Go forth and sound smarter, people!
