Opposite words

[dharanija35]

1. What is the opposite of word "King"
2. what is the opposite of word "Safe"
3. What is the opposite of word "ready"

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by dharanija35

1. What is the opposite of word "King"
2. what is the opposite of word "Safe"
3. What is the opposite of word "ready"

Many words have several meanings; therefore they have many synonyms and many antonyms. Other words have synonyms but no antonyms.

1. There is no natural opposite for King. A Queen is a female counterpart but is not really an opposite. A peasant is at the other end of a the ruling scale, but is not an opposite.

2. out (baseball)
imperiled, endangered, unsafe,
risky, unreliable

3. unprepared
unwilling
slow
unavailable

[qwertyuiop]

The word "king" does not have an opposite/antonym because it is a noun... Only composed nouns that include adjectives can have an opposite...

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by qwertyuiop

The word "king" does not have an opposite/antonym because is a noun... Only composed nouns that include adjectives can have an opposite...

What do you mean by composed nouns that include adjectives?

[curmudgeon]

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

[qwertyuiop]

I didn't express my idea eloquently enough. I intended to say that only nouns that are related to adjectives can have an opposite:
e.g.: happiness (derived from happy) - sadness (derived from sad)
the good (conversion from adjective to noun) - the evil
young man - old man
and so on...

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by qwertyuiop

I didn't express my idea eloquently enough. I intended to say that only nouns that are related to adjectives can have an opposite:
e.g.: happiness (derived from happy) - sadness (derived from sad)
the good (conversion from adjective to noun) - the evil
young man - old man
and so on...

That's a little better. Strength, for example, has an opposite, and it is not derived from an adjective.

[mykwyner]

To me, these are not so simple. Is the opposite of old man young man or is it old woman, or young woman?

[curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by mykwyner

To me, these are not so simple. Is the opposite of old man young man or is it old woman, or young woman?

The 'yin' and the 'yang'

[qwertyuiop]

Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

That's a little better. Strength, for example, has an opposite, and it is not derived from an adjective.

Actually strength-weakness are derived from strong-weak, which are adjectives.

And no, woman is not the opposite of man; you can say they are complementary notions, but not opposites. We are discussing language problems here, not philosophy; and from this point of view, the opposite of young man is old man.