Meaning of near-antonym | Babel Free

Definitions

A word that is nearly an antonym, when an antonym is defined strictly by complete negation or polar oppositeness. (Many reference works use a looser definition of antonym that lumps these words into the single category of antonyms; some make the more rigorous distinction.)

Examples

“[…] Near-antonyms may be treated in a similar fashion.”

“Among the most common antonyms or near antonyms are the following. Make⟳ sure that you know⟳ their meanings.”

“[…] near antonyms (sinking/swelling; vast/faint) gives way to a set⟳ of near synonyms (weird/appealing; suggestive/wild); what starts out as opposition proves complementary instead. And all of the adjectives that testify […]”

“This is a revised edition of a thesaurus first published in 1980 (BRD 1981). The work⟳ uses a dictionary format, with words and numbered definitions on the left column of a page, and corresponding numbered synonyms, near-synonyms, antonyms, and near-antonyms on the right column.”

“As a basic editing tool, Legacy has most of the usual features characteristic of Windows products. It will do columnar cut⟳ and paste, perform⟳ search⟳ and replace⟳ effectively, and maintain⟳ capitalization […] complete⟳ thesaurus with synonyms, near-synonyms, antonyms, near-antonyms, definitions, parts of speech, and references to alternative words. The speller catches double⟳ words, capitalization errors, and simple punctuation errors, such as double⟳ periods. The program⟳ does not have⟳ user dictionaries. However, it will support⟳ small exception lists — NBI suggests the lists be 50 words or fewer — for proper names and other special terms.”

“An antonym is a word whose meaning is directly opposite to another word's meaning. […] Words that are only opposite in some aspect of their meaning cannot be said to be true antonyms. For example, sad […] funny […] Near antonyms are words that do not qualify⟳ as antonyms under the strict definition used for this thesaurus but which are clearly in marked contrast with the members of a synonym group.”

CEFR level