Although it can sometimes be difficult to say with certainty that a particular pair of words are really opposites, I think most teachers would agree that using the word “opposites” or “antonyms” to describe pairs like “dark”/ “fair” and “right”/ “wrong” helps makes language both memorable and easy to explain. Explaining language this way also avoids the need for translation and often makes the meaning clearer than a translation would. This article gives some particularly effective ways to present and use such language, and includes some very extensive lists of opposites that you can choose from when planning your classes. We also have an article on Classroom Activities for Teaching Opposites with ideas to use in the practice and production stages of your lesson.
Opposites are most often used to teach adjectives. Types of adjectives which have lots of opposites include:
- Adjectives for describing people (appearance, character, feelings, etc)
- Adjectives for describing objects (age, price, desirability, colour, size, dimensions, measurements, good points and bad points, etc)
- Adjectives for describing places (size, location, good and bad points, etc)
- Adjectives for describing experiences (holidays, meals in a restaurant, festivals and celebrations, etc)
The idea of teaching opposites can also be stretched beyond simple adjective opposite pairs like “big” and “little”. Within adjectives, extensions of the use of opposites include:
A lesson with comparative adjectives with opposites meanings like “more expensive” and “cheaper” can be a great way of presenting and/ or practising “-er” and “more…”.
Teaching that the opposite of “massive” is “tiny” but the opposite of “large/ big” is “small/ little” can be a good introduction to gradable and extreme adjectives.
A lesson on negative prefixes in opposites like “unpunctual” and “imprecise” can be a good start to the more general topic of affixes with particular meanings, some of which, like “pre-”/ “post-” and “macro-”/ “micro-”, also have pairs with opposite meanings.
You can use opposites as a way into positive and negative connotations if you look at different opposites of words, such as “funny/ amusing/ humorous” and “silly/ idiotic” being opposites of “serious” with positive and negative connotations.
You can also go beyond adjectives. Other kinds of opposites that you might want to introduce in class include:
- Verbs like “close”/ “open” and “take”/ “bring”
- Phrasal verbs like “bring forward” and “put off”/ “put back”
- Positions and directions like “up”/ “down”, “on”/ “under”, “in”/ “out” and “in front”/ “behind”
- Times such as “winter”/ “summer”, “before”/ “after” and “in”/ “ago”
- Other prepositions like “with” and “without”
- Nouns like “poverty” and “wealth” and relationship words
- Positive and negative forms such as “yes”/ “no”, “can”/ “can’t” and “some”/ “not any”
- Functional language like “I’m glad to hear that”/ “I’m sorry to hear that” and “Hello”/ “Goodbye”
You could also say that words used to talk about different genders like “her”/ “his” and “bride”/ “groom” are kinds of opposites.
Presenting opposites
One of the nicest things about teaching opposites is that there are symbols which are perfect to show synonyms and antonyms. Students might already know the symbols from school, and if not they are easy to introduce and explain, and incredibly useful in every class from then on. An equals mark (“=”) between two words or expressions obviously means they have the same meaning, and a two-ended arrow (like “ßà”) between two words or expressions means that they have opposite meanings. On my initial TEFL course I was taught to use an equals mark with a vertical line through it to show opposites instead, but this crossed out equals mark is much more useful with its original mathematical meaning of “not equal”, for example to show that “enormous” is not quite the same as “big”. I therefore strongly suggest sticking to the two ended arrow to show two things with opposite meanings.
If students already know the two-ended arrow symbol, then you can easily explain that in English we call that relationship “opposites” and/ or “antonyms”, and that is basically your grammar presentation done! You can also illustrate the meaning of the words “opposite”/ “antonym” with simple example words and/ or drawings of “tall”/ “short”, “fat”/ “thin”, etc on either end of that arrow.
Perhaps the most common way of presenting opposites in context is in a dialogue that has two people with very different views on something such as something they want to buy together, the best person for a job, or a holiday, e.g. “I thought it was lovely” “Lovely? Are you kidding? I thought it was really horrible”. Similar dialogues include someone criticising some else for doing everything the opposite of how they were told, two people remembering something like a school trip when they were young differently from each other, and two people contrasting their experiences.
If you find or make such a dialogue, it is simplest to start with some comprehension questions, for example on what topic the two people are talking about and who feels more positive or negative about that thing. Alternatively, you can cut up the dialogue and ask students to put it back into order (= a jigsaw text). After the initial comprehension check, students can find and match up the words with opposite meanings in the text, and then perhaps label them as positive and negative if you have chosen ones with clear connotations.
These kinds of dialogues are fun and students usually also enjoy writing or taking part in similar dialogues in the practice stage, but to present all the opposites that you need for the class tends to make such dialogues rather long and unrealistic. Luckily there are plenty of other ways of giving enough context so that students can match up pairs of words even if they didn’t know them (well) before the lesson.
The easiest matching task is for students to match up pairs of words which have accompanying pictures, e.g. matching up a card with a picture of an igloo and the word “cold” and a picture of a desert and the written word “hot”. This is a bit too easy for most classes and some students may avoid reading the words at all. However, you can do something similar with sentences to give context instead of pictures, e.g. sentences for students to match like “The South Pole is cold” and “The Sahara Desert is hot”. They can then underline and match the actual opposite words.
Another kind of context is providing some words that they already know. For example, if they already know some synonyms and antonyms of words that you want to present, you can just get them to label the synonyms and antonyms on each line of the worksheet, starting with the one they know each time and then guessing that the one they didn’t know must be the other kind of word. For example, if they already know that “huge” is a “synonym” of “gigantic”, they should easily be able to label “gigantic/ huge/ tiny” with the words “synonym/ synonym/ antonym” or “the same/ the same/ opposite”. You can then test their memory with a more challenging task where they match up the same antonyms and synonyms.
Quite a few of the practice activities described in the accompanying article Classroom Activities for Teaching Opposites can also work as preparation for a presentation stage. For example, action songs and picture books work well even ifthe learners know few of the words before starting the activity.
Alternatively, you could give students opposites pairs that are already matched up to use during a speaking activity, then test them on their memory of that language afterwards (an approach that I often use and call Use Recall Analyse). For example, you could give them a worksheet with pairs of words like “nice ßà horrible” to use during a personalised discussion activity where they find out views that they share. When they finish, ask them to remember and match up the same words without looking back at that worksheet.
The big list of opposites
Note that words divided by a slash (/) often don’t have exactly the same meaning, they are just different opposites of the words on the other side of the dash. Many words below are also possible with different parts of speech, e.g. “poverty/ wealthy” as well as “poor/ wealthy”.
Describing people opposites list
Appearance opposites list
a big nose – a little nose
a curved nose/ a hooked nose – a straight nose
a flat stomach – a bulging stomach/ a beer belly
a fringe – a parting
a rough chin – a smooth chin
a round chin – a square chin
a smooth face/ a wrinkle-free face – a lined face/ a wrinkly face
bald/ hairless – hairy
bearded/ hairy – clean shaven
beautiful/ good looking/ gorgeous/ handsome/ pretty/ stunning – ugly/ hideous
big eyes/ round eyes – narrow eyes
big/ large…– little/ small…
broad shoulders – narrow shoulders
bulging… – flat…
bushy eyebrows/ thick eyebrows – thin eyebrows
busty/ buxom – flat-chested
chubby/ fat/ obese/ overweight – bony/ skinny/ slim/ thin
curly hair – straight hair
dark – fair/ pale
dark skin – light skin/ pale skin
feminine – macho
lanky/ long-limbed – stocky/ short-limbed
light blue eyes – dark brown eyes
long hair – short hair/ skinhead
long legs – short legs
long limbed – short limbed
long…– short…
old – young
plucked eyebrows – natural eyebrows
scruffy – smart
short – tall
thick…– thin…
List of personality opposites
active/ dynamic/ pushy – passive
adaptable – unadaptable
adult/ grown up/ mature – babyish/ immature/ juvenile
adventurous/ radical – conservative/ traditional/ unadventurous
affectionate/ warm – cold/ cold blooded/ unaffectionate
ambitious/ driven – unambitious
approachable – aloof/ unapproachable
arrogant/ big-headed/ boastful/ immodest/ proud – humble/ modest
badly behaved/ naughty – well behaved
bold/ brave/ courageous – cautious/ cowardly/ timid
boring/ dull/ uninteresting – fascinating/ interesting
brainy/ clever/ intelligent/ smart – dumb/ stupid/ thick
broadminded/ open-minded – narrow-minded
careful – careless/ clumsy
caring/ kind – cruel/ heartless/ uncaring/ unkind
cautious – impetuous/ impulsive
chaotic/ disorganised – organised
cheeky/ disrespectful – respectful
cheerful – grumpy
clumsy – graceful
comfortable in your skin/ unselfconscious – neurotic/ self-conscious
competent – incompetent
considerate – inconsiderate
consistent – inconsistent
constant – changeable
conventional/ normal – eccentric/ odd/ strange/ unconventional/ weird
crazy/ insane/ mad – sane
creative – uncreative
cynical/ paranoid/ suspicious – gullible/ trusting
dependent – independent/ self-reliant
diligent – slack
diplomatic/ tactful – straightforward/ tactless/ undiplomatic
discreet/ secretive – frank/ open
downbeat – upbeat
driven/ motivated – unmotivated
easy-going/ indulgent/ lenient/ relaxed – strict
efficient – inefficient
egotistical/ selfish/ self-centred – generous/ selfless
energetic/ hard working/ industrious – lazy/ slothful
extraverted/ outgoing – introverted/ shy
feeble/ weak – powerful/ strong
feminine/ girly – macho/ manly/ masculine
flexible – inflexible/ rigid
foolish/ silly – sensible/ serious/ wise
generous – mean/ stingy
gentle – rough/ violent
helpful – unhelpful
honest – dishonest
ignorant – knowledgeable
laidback/ relaxed – stressed/ uptight
logical/ systematic – illogical/ instinctive/ unsystematic
loud/ noisy/ talkative – quiet/ silent/ softly spoken
loyal – disloyal
messy/ untidy – neat/ tidy
moderate – extreme/ extremist
negative – positive
obedient – disobedient/ rebellious
optimistic – pessimistic
patient – impatient
polite – impolite/ rude
practical – impractical
prudent – imprudent
punctual – unpunctual
reliable – unreliable
sensitive/ thin-skinned – insensitive/ thick-skinned
strong-willed – weak-willed
sympathetic – unsympathetic
trustworthy – untrustworthy
List of feelings opposites
afraid/ scared – unafraid
amused – unamused
angry/ upset – calm
ashamed/ embarrassed – proud/ unashamed/ unembarrassed
attracted – repelled
boiling/ roasting – freezing/ frozen
bored/ uninterested – entertained/ excited/ interested
calm/ relaxed/ soothed – flustered/ stressed/ worried
certain/ sure – uncertain/ unsure
cold – hot
comforted – disturbed/ perturbed/ upset
convinced – unconvinced
cool – warm
disappointed/ underwhelmed/ unimpressed – impressed
distracted – focused
drunk/ tipsy/ wasted – sober
empowered – disempowered
encouraged/ heartened – discouraged/ disheartened
energetic/ energised/ invigorated/ refreshed – sleepy/ tired
fit – unfit
flattered – insulted/ wounded
fulfilled – unfulfilled
full – hungry
guilty – innocent
happy – sad/ unhappy
ill/ sick/ unhealthy – healthy/ well
inspired – uninspired
miserable – overjoyed
motivated – demotivated/ unmotivated
pleased – displeased
safe – unsafe
satisfied – dissatisfied
secure – insecure/ neurotic
shocked/ surprised – unsurprised
starving – stuffed
willing – reluctant/ unwilling
Other opposites for describing people
absent – present
alive – dead
amateur – professional
aristocratic/ upper class – lower class/ working class
asleep – awake
capable – incapable
divided – united
divorced/ single – married
for – against
junior – senior
lucky – unlucky
male – female
qualified – unqualified
Adjectives for describing objects opposites
abundant/ common – scarce/ rare
ancient/ antique – brand new/ cutting edge/ the latest
artificial/ man-made – natural
attractive/ gorgeous/ stunning – ugly/ hideous/ unattractive
automatic – manual
back to front/ inside out/ the wrong way round – the right way round
beautiful/ gorgeous/ stunning – hideous
bendy/ flexible – stiff
bent – straight
big/ bulky/ large – compact/ little/ small
bitter/ savoury/ sour – sweet
black – white
bland – pungent/ spicy
boiling – freezing
boundless/ limitless – limited
breakable/ fragile – hard-wearing/ hardy/ sturdy
bright/ light – dark/ dim
broad/ wide – narrow
broken/ out of order – fixed/ mended/ repaired/ working
bumpy/ dented/ rough/ bobbly – flat/ smooth
cheap/ reasonable – expensive/ pricey
clean/ spotless – dirty/ dusty/ filthy/ muddy
closed/ shut – open
cold – hot
common/ popular – rare/ exclusive
complex/ complicated/ difficult/ hard – easy/ simple/ user friendly
conducting – insulating
cool – warm
crooked – straight
crucial/ essential/ vital – pointless
custom-made/ tailor-made – off-the-shelf/ standard
deep – shallow
deflated/ flat/ burst – inflated
different – alike/ equal/ similar/ the same
disposable – reusable
domestic/ tame – wild
dry – moist/ wet
efficient – inefficient
empty – full
enormous/ huge/ massive – tiny/ minuscule/ microscopic
exotic – ordinary
fast/ quick/ rapid – slow
firm/ hard/ solid – soft/ spongy/ squashy
flat/ horizontal – pointing up/ vertical
fresh – rotten/ stale
good value for money/ reasonable – exorbitant
hard – soft
harmful – harmless
harsh – mild
heat sensitive – heat resistant/ heatproof
heavy – light/ feather-light
high-tech – low-tech
horizontal/ lying down/ lying flat – vertical/ sticking up
important – trivial/ unimportant
indoor – outdoor
inferior – superior
inner – outer
lawful/ legal – illegal/ unlawful
loose/ slack – tight/ skin-tight
loud/ noisy/ ear splitting – quiet/ (nearly) silent
mobile/ portable – fixed/ immobile
moving/ portable – fixed/ stable/ steady/ stationary
neat/ tidy – messy/ untidy
new – old
opaque – see through/ transparent
plentiful – rare/ scarce
pointed/ pointy/ sharp – rounded/ blunt
pure – contaminated/ impure
reliable – unreliable
slippery – sticky
tender – tough
thick – thin
upside down – the right way up
useful – useless
visible – invisible
well designed – badly designed
Adjectives for describing places opposites
authentic – fake
central – isolated/ suburban
close/ near – distant/ far
cloudy/ rainy – clear/ sunny
cramped/ crowded – deserted/ empty
dark – light
desert – swamp/ wetlands
developed – undeveloped
downmarket/ poor – rich/ upmarket
dry – humid
exposed – covered/ sheltered
narrow – broad/ wide
occupied – vacant
rural – urban
Other adjective opposites
abstract – concrete
accidental – deliberate/ on purpose/ intentional
accurate – inaccurate
advanced – beginner/ elementary
apart – together
cheerful/ life affirming – depressing/ gloomy
compulsory – voluntary
correct/ right – incorrect/ wrong
definite – indefinite
domestic – international
even – odd
extreme – moderate
false – true
final/ last – first/ initial
fortunate – unfortunate
free – captive/ bound
frequent – rare
general – specific
humane – inhumane
imaginary – actual/ real
just – unjust
known – unknown
minor – major
native – foreign
out of date – up to date
partial – total
permanent – temporary
profitable – unprofitable
regular – irregular
satisfactory - unsatisfactory singular – plural
tame – wild
true – false/ lie
List of verb opposites
accelerate/ speed up – brake/ slow down
accept/ choose/ select – decline/ reject/ refuse/ turn down
add – remove/ subtract/ take away
admit – deny
adore/ love – despise/ detest/ hate/ loathe
allow/ let – ban/ forbid/ prevent
appear – disappear/ vanish
apply/ put on – remove/ strip off/ take off
approach – keep back/ keep away/ step back
approve – disapprove
arrange/ classify/ organise/ put into order/ sort/ sort out – mess up/ mix up
arrest – release
arrive – depart/ leave
ascend/ go up/ climb – descend/ drop/ fall/ go down
ask – answer
assemble/ put together – dismantle/ disassemble/ take apart
attach/ connect – detach/ disconnect/ take off
attack – defend/ protect
be born/ live – die
beckon – wave someone away
begin/ start/ undertake – bring to a close/ complete/ end/ finish
bend/ flex – flatten/ straighten
blame/ criticise – praise
bless – curse
block – unblock
blow – suck
blow up/ inflate – deflate/ let down
borrow – lend
break/ damage – fix/ mend/ repair
breathe in/ inhale – breathe out/ exhale
brighten – fade
bring – take
bring together/ gather/ collate/ collect – separate/ spread (out)
broadcast/ transmit – pick up/ receive
broaden/ widen – narrow
build/ construct – demolish/ destroy/ deconstruct
bury – dig up/ unearth
buy/ purchase – sell
catch – throw
change/ vary – maintain/ remain/ stay
close/ shut – open
coat/ cover/ wrap – strip/ uncover
collate/ collect/ combine/ put together – distribute/ disseminate
come out/ exit – enter/ go in
compliment/ flatter – insult
compress/ crush/ squeeze/ squash – pull/ stretch
conceal/ hide – reveal
condense – evaporate
contract/ shrink – expand/ grow
cool (down) – heat (up)
cough up/ spit out/ vomit – swallow
crash/ dive/ plummet/ plunge – rocket/ skyrocket/ soar/ take off
create/ make/ produce – destroy/ disassemble/ dismantle
cry – laugh
cut/ decrease/ lower/ reduce/ slash – boost/ increase/ raise
cut – paste
decrease/ drop/ fall – increase/ go up/ rise
discourage – encourage
dislike – like
dispose of/ throw away – keep/ store
divide/ share/ split – keep together/ put together
divorce – marry
do up/ fasten – undo/ unfasten
dread – look forward to
drop/ fall – rise
drop/ put down – lift/ pick up
dry – humidify/ moisten
emigrate – immigrate
empty – fill
enter/ go in – come out/ leave
erect – bring down/ pull down/ take down
exaggerate – underplay
exclude – include
export – import
extinguish/ put out – ignite/ light/ set fire to
fail – pass/ succeed
fall short – reach
fasten – unfasten
find/ locate/ reveal/ show – hide/ lose
float – sink
fold – unfold
follow – lead
forget – recall/ remember
freeze – melt
frown/ grimace – grin/ smile
get/ receive – give
give up – persevere
glance – stare
go to bed – get up
go to sleep – wake up
grant – refuse
grow – shrink
guffaw/ laugh out loud – snigger
harden – soften
harvest/ reap – plant/ sow
help – hinder
hit – miss
hold (in place) – let go/ release
ignore – notice/ pay attention (to)
improve – worsen
insert/ slot into/ plug in – pull out/ unplug
kneel/ lie down/ sit – stand up
knock back (in one) – sip
land – take off
learn – teach
lengthen – shorten
lie – tell the truth
lift/ raise – lower
lock – unlock
loosen – tighten
lose – win
misunderstand – understand
move – remain
nibble – wolf down
nod (your head) – shake your head
pack – unpack
press/ squeeze/ squash – stretch
progress – regress
pull – push/ press
put on/ wear – take off
relax – tense up
release – trap
save – spend/ waste
shout/ yell – whisper
slide/ slip – stick
slump/ stoop – stand up straight/ stand to attention
strengthen – weaken
tie – untie
unzip – zip
wane – wax
wind – unwind
List of multi-word verb opposites (phrasal verb opposites etc)
break in – break out
break up/ split up – get together
blow up – let down
bring forward – put back/ put off
bring up/ chuck up/ puke up – keep down
carry on/ keep on/ stick on – give in/ give up
catch up/ get ahead – drop back/ drop behind/ fall back/ fall behind
check in – check out
cheer up – get down
chill out – stress out
come down with – get over
come forward/ put yourself forward – hold back
cool down – warm up
dress down – dress up
drop someone off – pick someone off
eat in – take away/ take out
go out – stay in
hand out – take in
hang up – pick up
keep away/ keep out – let in
leave out/ take out – put in
look down on – look up to
mess around/ play around – settle down
mess up – sort out/ tidy up
pick up – put down
put away – take out
put on – take off
put up – take down
rub out – write down
run after/ run towards – run away
speed up – slow down
switch on/ turn on – switch off/ turn off
List of positions and directions opposites
above – below
away from – towards
backwards – forwards
by the sea/ on the coast – inland
city centre/ downtown/ town centre – outskirts/ suburbs
clockwise – anticlockwise/ counter-clockwise
close to/ near (to) – distant from/ far from
down – up
downstairs – upstairs
East – West
from – to
here – there
in – out
in front of – behind
indoors – outdoors
inside – outside
into – out of
island – mainland
left – right
North – South
Northeast – Southwest
Northwest – Southeast
off of – onto
on – under
on the right – on the left
List of nouns with opposite meanings
List of relationship opposites
ally/ friend/ supporter – enemy/ opponent
ancestor – descendant
big brother/ elder brother – little brother/ younger brother
boss – subordinate
brother – sister
child – parent
close friend – acquaintance/ stranger
coach/ instructor/ teacher – pupil/ student
customer – supplier
doctor/ nurse – patient
employee – employer
follower – leader
grandchild – grandparent
great-grandchild – great-grandparent
guest – host/ hostess
landlord/ landlady – tenant
master – servant
monarch – subject
Other nouns for describing people opposites
body – mind
boy – girl
comfort – discomfort
courage – cowardice
coward – hero
despair – hope
emigrant – immigrant
folly/ stupidity – wisdom
fortune – misfortune
insider – outsider
joy – sorrow
miser – spendthrift
native – foreigner
Nouns for describing places opposites
attic/ loft – basement/ cellar
entrance – exit
exterior – interior
floor – ceiling/ roof
foothills/ valley – peak
ground floor – top floor/ roof
Other noun opposites
advantage – disadvantage
antonym/ opposite – synonym
background – foreground
benefits – drawbacks
birth – death
blame/ criticism – praise
blessing – curse
boom – bust
bottom – top
comedy – tragedy
consonant – vowel
dawn – dusk
defeat – victory
demand – supply
democracy – dictatorship
diphthong – monophthong
failure – success
falsehood/ lie/ untruth – truth
front – back/ rear
gas/ liquid – solid
gloss – matt
hate – love
heaven – hell
help – hindrance
justice – injustice
knowledge – ignorance
loss – win
minimum – maximum
monarchy – republic
nadir – zenith
peace – war
poetry – prose
poverty – riches/ wealth
pros – cons
question – answer
sunrise – sunset
vice – virtue
List of adverbs with opposite meanings
about/ approximately – exactly/ precisely
fortunately – unfortunately
often – rarely
always – never
see adjectives for more
List of time expression opposites
…ago – in…
after/ later – before/ earlier
already – not yet
distant future – near future
early – late
from… – until…
in the morning – in the evening/ at night
last…– next…
summer – winter
the day after tomorrow – the day before yesterday
tomorrow – yesterday
midday/ noon – midnight
past – future
recent past – distant past
Other preposition opposites
against – for
from – to
with – without
Positive and negative forms opposites
all – none
always – never
can – can’t
do – don’t
everyone/ everybody – no one/ nobody
everything – nothing
everywhere – nowhere
must – mustn’t
some – not any
will – won’t
would – wouldn’t
yes – no
Functional language opposites
I’m glad to hear that – I’m sorry to hear that
bye/ goodbye – hello
good morning – good night
see you later – see you sometime
you are allowed to…/ you can…– you aren’t allowed to…/ you can’t…/ you mustn’t…
I’d love to – I would have loved to, but…