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 autoantonyms, antagonyms, contranyms, 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.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Contents:	Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[edit] A

Awesome: The strict definition of this adjective is "fearsome, mighty"; but the now generally accepted slang usage roughly equates to "enjoyable, fun".
Against: Depending on context, this word can mean "towards" or "close to" ("against the wall"); otherwise it means "opposing" ("against the wind").

[edit] B

Bad: American urban slang, chiefly in the 1970s and 1980s, reassigned bad to mean "good".
Bill: Bills can be either monetary notes, indicating money possessed, or they can refer to statements of debt, indicating money owed.
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)".
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".

[edit] C

Check (cheque): Like bill, this can either refer to a bank cheque, having a positive monetary value; or to a restaurant cheque, 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 bring 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.)
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".
Custom: As a noun, this means "usual, conventional"; but as an adjective, it means "specially designed".

[edit] D

Dispose: As a past tense verb, disposed means "removed" or "gotten rid of"; as an adjective; disposed means "available".
Derivation: Derivation means both "something derived; a derivative" and the "source from which something is derived; an origin."
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".

[edit] E

[edit] F

Fast: as an adverb, it means "to move or do quickly"; as an adjective, as in "holding fast", it means "to not move". And as a noun, it means "the state of not eating".

[edit] G

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.)

[edit] H

happy hopping hairy

[edit] I

Inflammable: "Flammable" means able to catch on fire; the prefix in- normally indicates negation, but "inflammable" is actually synonymous with "flammable". The "in-" prefix in this case is actually derived from the prefix en-. [1]

[edit] J

[edit] K

[edit] L

Left: As a past tense verb, it means "to have gone"; as an adjective; it means "remaining".

[edit] M

[edit] N

[edit] O

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).
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.

[edit] P

Par: In all cases, par means "average". Below par should then mean "below average". 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 peerage is a title of nobility (a higher social level than the general populace).
Peruse: Although considered an error by most usage experts, the word peruse is commonly understood to mean "to skim over" or "to glace at." The accepted definition is "to examine closely."
Practiced: As a past tense verb, this word means "attempted something" in order to improve ability; but as an adjective it means "expert". (Arguably, however, having had lots of practice will generally lead to expertise.)
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 democracy the people and the government are considered one in the same by definition.)

[edit] Q

Quantum: As an adjective, this can be very small (e.g. in Physics) or very large (e.g. "quantum leap").

[edit] R

Reservation: as a concrete noun, this can be "a confirmation" of availability; as an abstract noun, it is "a fear or uncertainty".
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.)
Root: Root can mean "to take root", i.e. to situate tenaciously; but it can also mean "to remove roots" i.e. to unseat and dispose.

[edit] S

Sanction: The verb sanction means "to permit"; the noun sanctions normally means "restrictions".
Scan: Originally, this word ment "to examine closely," but has come to mean "to look over hastily".
Screen: This can mean "to temporarily hold from display" (screening applicants), 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).
Sick: Used with a standard definition, this word can mean "disgusted; revolted," but used colloquially, it can mean "very pleasent; agreeable".
Stain: To stain fabric is to intentionally add a desired color; but to stain clothes is to accidentally add an undesired color.
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".

[edit] T

Table: Generally, the phrase put on the table means "to present something for consideration"; however, in 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).
Trim: Similar to clip: it can mean "to add decoration to" (trim the (Christmas) tree), or "to remove from" (trim the bushes).

[edit] U

[edit] V

[edit] W

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".