Did you by any chance mean contrary?
Definitions
Wiktionary
- n. A word that has two opposing meanings, such as cleave (“come together” or “split apart”).
Etymologies
- contra- + -onym, coined 1962 by Jack Herring as contronym. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“But as I read about these contentious beasts, the thing that interested me the most was the great variety of synonyms for the word contranym itself.”
Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » Self-contradictory words
“So a contranym is a word which means its opposite.”
“Incredible does not even function as a viable contranym, although nowadays there are plenty of people who seem to feel that it does.”
“A contranym, sometimes called a “Janus word,” can take on either of two opposite meanings.”
Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » Self-contradictory words
“Since then, I've been pondering the contranym that silence is and the distinctions among its meanings.”
“In honor of Old Twoface, today’s special word is “contranym.””
Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » Self-contradictory words
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘contranym’.
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Word Words
This used to be my nym list, but there are so many words about words, I think it's time to expand and open.
acronym, antonym, aptronym, autoantonym, autonym, bacronym, capitonym, contranym, contronym, eponym, exonym, heteronym and 120 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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New words
new words or spelling issues
voluble, Metagrobolize, salubrious, calumny, fugacity, withdrawal, bourse, hypertrophy, leitmotif, argot, improvident, damask and 234 more...
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Wordplay & Pun
wordplay, pound, conceit, clinch, joke, quibble, equivoque, double-entendre, quillet, calembour, carriwitchet, paranomasia and 90 more...
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Words about Words
backronym, contranym, haplology, enallage, paronomasia, scripturient, ambigram, idioglossia, dysphemism, tmesis, panvocalic, caconym and 10 more...
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Miscellaneous
‽, ☤, mandelbrot, angora rabbit, psychrolutes marc..., vampyroteuthis in..., basking shark, mano de desierto, underwater sculpt..., surgical dining, gyroscope, Derinkuyu and 161 more...
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Worthy Wordie
words learnt from the Internet
unthink, meme, logophile, netiquette, onomatopoeia, singularity, oed, johnson's dictionary, man friday, lewis carroll, ontology, pro bono and 143 more...
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[Open] Words about Words
Pachysandra also has an open “Words about Words” list.* (There are over a dozen other identically named lists, but they’re all closed.)
* Dear Wordnik: Please alert users when they’r... -
Marginilia
intertextuality, queer, serendipity, eerie, semiotics, schadenfreude, calliope, logophile, marginalia, reductio ad absurdum, dabble, minutia and 141 more...
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Vocabulary
My ever expanding vocabulary...
feuterer, abattoir, kibosh, sequin, shiftless, scrimshanker, sic, moniker, dogsbody, contranym, autoantonym, exhortation and 306 more...
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Grammar
Terms that would be good to know.
homonym, womonym, aptronym, autoantonym, bacronym, capitonym, exonym, heteronym, oronym, patronym, pseudonym, retronym and 62 more...
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Useful Words
Words that I both like and feel could have use in writing.
confabulate, Albion, lugubrious, placability, aberration, acquiesce, ambiguous, succint, phototoxic, alacrity, indolent, perfunctory and 56 more...
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-nym words
contranym, retronym, acronym, toponym, eponym, homonym, synonym, antonym, metonym, aptonym, euonym, caconym and 13 more...
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List of onyms
womonym, typonym, troponym, trionym, toponym, tetronym, teknonym, taxonym, tautonym, Synonym, sideronym, retronym and 78 more...
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lingo:Lit
Words of the literary profession
spondee, allusion, contranym, autoantonym, trochee, iamb, anapest, dactyl, prosody, scansion, pyrrhic, caesura and 10 more...
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pheiticeira's Words
querulous, erudite, opulent, infanticide, studious, inimical, plenipotentiary, nebbish, triskaidekaphobia, desideratum, polyglot, quaff and 42 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for contranym.
vitrhi a word that can mean the opposite of itself such as
clip - attach to
clip - cut off from Jun 9, 2009
mialuthien Same as autoantonym. Jul 18, 2008
whichbe A contranym, sometimes called a "Janus word," can take on either of two opposite meanings. I made a list of my 'favorrite' ones here. May 14, 2008
cathari What, you mean "transparent" used to mean "someone can easily see how this works"? I would say it has a toehold on contranymity, as a non-opaque item would be harder to see and understand than an opaque one. Oct 30, 2007
slumry And what about transparent, as in user transparent? Not quite a contranym, yet peculiar to me, a non-technical person. (I am, however, technically a person) Jun 20, 2007
slumry cleave
sanction Jun 20, 2007