List of 380 Words and Their Opposites


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Many words in the English language have an inverse concept, a word that means the precise inverse. Looking for relevant terms? Here's a list of words and their opposites.
Word Opposite
abate increase
abortive successful
above below
abridge expand
absence presence
absent present
abundance lack
abundant scarce
accept decline
accept refuse
accidental intentional
accurate inaccurate
achieve fail
active lazy
add subtract
adjacent distant
admire detest
admit deny
admit reject
adore abhor
adult child
advance retreat
advanced elementary
advantage disadvantage
affirmative negative
afraid fearless
after before
against for
agree disagree
alike different
alive dead
all nothing
all none
allow forbid
ally enemy
alone together
always never
amateur professional
amuse bore
ancestor descendant
ancient modern
angel devil
annoy soothe
answer question
antonym synonym
apart together
apparent obscure
appear vanish
appear disappear
approve disapprove
approximately exactly
arrest discharge
arrival departure
arrive depart
arrive leave
arrogant humble
artificial natural
ascend descend
asleep awake
attack defence
attack defend
attractive repulsive
autumn spring
awful nice
awkward graceful
back front
background foreground
backward forward
bad good
bare covered
beautiful ugly
beauty ugliness
begin end
begin finish
beginning ending
bent straight
best worst
better worse
big little
big small
bitter sweet
black white
blame praise
bless curse
blunt sharp
bold timid
boring exciting
boring interesting
borrow lend
bottom top
bound free
bound unbound
boundless limited
boy girl
brave cowardly
break mend
break repair
brief long
bright dim
bright dull
brighten darken
broad narrow
build destroy
busy idle
buy sell
calm excited
calm windy
can cannot
capable incapable
captive free
capture release
careful careless
catch miss
cautious careless
cease continue
center edge
change remain
changeable constant
cheap expensive
cheerful dreary
cheerful gloomy
cheerful sad
chilly warm
clean dirty
clear opaque
clear cloudy
clever stupid
clockwise counterclockwise
close far
closed open
cloudy sunny
clumsy graceful
cold hot
cold heat
combine separate
come go
comfort discomfort
common rare
complete incomplete
complex simple
complicated simple
compliment insult
compulsory voluntary
conceal reveal
consonant vowel
construction destruction
contract expand
cool warm
correct wrong
correct incorrect
countryman foreigner
courage cowardice
courageous cowardly
courteous discourteous
courteous rude
crazy sane
create destroy
crooked straight
cruel kind
damage fix
danger security
danger safety
dangerous safe
dark bright
dark light
dawn dusk
day night
daytime nighttime
death life
decrease increase
deep shallow
defeat victory
definite indefinite
demand supply
despair hope
desperate hopeful
different same
difficult easy
disease health
diseased healthy
distant near
divide unite
division unity
divorce marriage
divorced married
doctor patient
domestic foreign
doubt trust
down up
downstairs upstairs
downward upward
drunk sober
dry moist
dry humid
dry wet
dull interesting
dull shiny
early late
east west
easy hard
emigrate immigrate
empty full
encourage discourage
end start
enemy friend
enter exit
entrance exit
even odd
evening morning
everybody nobody
everything nothing
fast slow
float sink
fold unfold
foolish wise
forbid permit
fore aft
foreigner native
forget remember
fortunate unfortunate
fortune misfortune
found lost
frequent seldom
frequently occasionally
fresh stale
front rear
future past
generous stingy
gentle rough
giant dwarf
give take
give receive
glad sad
go stop
good evil
good bad
grant deny
great small
grow shrink
guilty innocent
happy sad
hard soft
harmful harmless
harsh mild
healthy ill
healthy sick
heaven hell
heavy light
help hinder
here there
high low
honest dishonest
horizontal vertical
huge tiny
humble proud
immense tiny
important trivial
in out
include exclude
inferior superior
inhale exhale
inner outer
inside outside
intelligent stupid
intelligent unintelligent
interesting uninteresting
interior exterior
internal external
join separate
joy sorrow
junior senior
just unjust
justice injustice
knowledge ignorance
known unknown
landlord tenant
large small
lawful unlawful
lawful illegal
lead follow
leader follower
left right
lengthen shorten
lenient strict
less more
lethargy vigor
like dislike
likely unlikely
long short
loose tight
lose win
loss gain
loss victory
loud quiet
love hate
loyal disloyal
mad sane
major minor
majority minority
many few
mature immature
maximum minimum
melt freeze
merry sad
messy neat
miser spendthrift
misunderstand understand
nadir zenith
narrow wide
near far
neat untidy
new old
new secondhand
noisy quiet
north south
obedient disobedient
occupied vacant
offer refuse
old young
on off
open shut
optimist pessimist
over under
past present
patient impatient
peace war
permanent temporary
plentiful scarce
poetry prose
polite impolite
polite rude
poor rich
possible impossible
poverty affluence
poverty wealth
powerful weak
pretty ugly
private public
prudent imprudent
pure contaminated
pure impure
push pull
qualified unqualified
raise lower
rapid slow
real fake
regular irregular
right wrong
rough smooth
safe unsafe
satisfactory unsatisfactory
scatter collect
secure insecure
separate together
serious light
short tall
slim fat
start finish
start stop
strong weak
success failure
tame wild
thick thin
tight slack
tough easy
tough tender
transparent opaque
true false
truth falsehood
truth lie
truth untruth
useful useless
vast tiny
virtue vice
visible invisible
wax wane
wisdom folly
wisdom stupidity
within without
yes no