Opposite words

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dharanija35

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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

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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
 
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qwertyuiop

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

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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

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"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

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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

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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

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

curmudgeon

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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

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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.
 
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curmudgeon

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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.

By your thinking then, male is not opposite to female?
 

Tdol

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

Or baby? Or neonate? ;-)
 

MikeNewYork

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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.

Weakness obviously comes from "weak", but I'm not so sure that strength comes from strong.
 

WordWise

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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.

In Arabian terms the opposite of "Woman" is "Property Owner" but in English, Man and Woman are opposites.

Opposite in this sense is not negative. Just like opposing forces, they create a balance.

The opposite of a "King" is a "Peasant"
The opposite of "Safe" is "Endangered"
The opposite of "Ready" is "Unprepared"

These are very simple concepts. They balance, they neutralize, they are opposites.

Philosophy comes in when we are upset that a man and a woman are opposites; but without both, neither is complete.

Also, don't confuse the man/woman opposition with other terms like dominate, intelligent, covered, property. These have no place in relation to people, although political misuse has happened throughout history and continues, big-time today.
 

Tdol

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The opposite of a "King" is a "Peasant"

How does this work with contemporary monarchies? I also feel that the opposite would have to be more inclusive- everybody else and not just those at the lower end of the hierarchy.
 

WordWise

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How does this work with contemporary monarchies? I also feel that the opposite would have to be more inclusive- everybody else and not just those at the lower end of the hierarchy.

The opposite is just the equal reverse; Hot is to Cold, not Hot is to Warm.
So we don't have to include everyone 'not the king.'

But, there are various uses for one word which include several opposite words.
Hot vs Ugly
Hot vs Safe

so

King vs Homeless
King vs Slave
King vs Peasant

In a deck of cards, the King is the opposite of the 3 card. The ace is opposite of the 2 card, etc..

As to contemporary monarchies, common usage doesn't negate the correctness of the concept. A homeless person is a modern day peasant.

One problem in arguing the concept of correctness is the robust variety in the beauty of language. If we only accept one version to be correct, then it puts the rest as meaningless. They are not meaningless; they are nuance. A term to research for this thread is disambiguation.
 
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