list of contronyms<\/a>.<\/p>\nCheck out this usage of the word:<\/p>\n
Sometimes, just to heighten the confusion, the same word ends up with contradictory meanings. This kind of word is called a\u00a0contronym<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0Sanction<\/em>, for instance, can either signify permission to do something or a measure forbidding it to be done.\u00a0Cleave<\/em>\u00a0can mean cut in half or stick together. A\u00a0sanguine<\/em>\u00a0person is either hotheaded and bloodthirsty or calm and cheerful. Something that is\u00a0fast<\/em>\u00a0is either stuck firmly or moving quickly.<\/span>\u2014 Bill Bryson<\/span>,\u00a0The Mother Tongue<\/em><\/span>,\u00a01990<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Have you ever thought about why fast means quick\u00a0and at the same time means to immobilize? When a word or phrase means its opposite as well, it is called a contronym. Slang employs this kind of inversion of meaning, take for instance the word \u2018sick\u2019 or \u2018wicked\u2019 now used to convey something awesome or cool. … Continue reading “That\u2019s the Word For It: Contronym”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[251],"tags":[272],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7vAZr-1bF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4886,"url":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/13\/thats-the-word-for-it-apricity\/","url_meta":{"origin":4567,"position":0},"title":"That's the Word for It: Apricity","date":"February 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Apricity is a word that the Pothi.com team stumbled upon on Twitter. It's a rare word, having appeared in 1623 when Henry Cockeram recorded or invented it it for his dictionary. The word never really took off. Here are some instances of this word used in literature: Apricity (n.) the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "That's the word for it"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/apricity.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4882,"url":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/05\/thats-the-word-for-it-braggadocio\/","url_meta":{"origin":4567,"position":1},"title":"That's the Word for It: Braggadocio","date":"February 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This flamboyant word was first used by the poet Edmund Spencer in the poem Faerie Queene. The word seems to be making a comeback in political circles. Even President Donald Trump attempted to use the word- \"I wrote the Art of the Deal. I say that not in a braggadocious\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "That's the word for it"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/braggadocio.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4516,"url":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/08\/thats-the-word-for-it-adjudicate\/","url_meta":{"origin":4567,"position":2},"title":"That's the Word for It: Adjudicate","date":"March 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The word adjudicate comes from the Latin root 'judex', the word for law. This word is part of legalese and is also used in terminology associated with construction, background investigations and emergency response. Here are some instances in literature where this verb has been used. \u201cTo me, the thing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "That's the word for it"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/instascribe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/adjudicate.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4846,"url":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/11\/thats-the-word-for-it-vexillology\/","url_meta":{"origin":4567,"position":3},"title":"That's the Word for It: Vexillology","date":"December 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The word vexillum is Latin for sqaure flag and so vexillology is the study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags- basically anything flag-related. Check out this link to see what Sheldon (from The Big Bang Theory) thinks about the study of flags.","rel":"","context":"In "That's the word for it"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Copy-of-sotto-voce.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4911,"url":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/20\/thats-the-word-for-it-xenobot\/","url_meta":{"origin":4567,"position":4},"title":"That's the Word for It: Xenobot","date":"March 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Xenobots are microbots that are created from the stem cells of the African clawed frog. These have been designed and programmed by an evolutionary algorithm. It's 0.039 inches and intended for medical purposes. wide, small enough to travel inside human bodies. The word hasn't entered the literary domain yet, has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "That's the word for it"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/xenobot.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4790,"url":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/23\/thats-the-word-for-it-luftmensch\/","url_meta":{"origin":4567,"position":5},"title":"That's the Word for It: Luftmensch","date":"October 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"You must have met dreamers with their heads in the clouds and who face trouble with the practical nitty-gritty of living. The Yiddish language has a word for such a person- luftmensch, where luft connotes air and mensch means human being. Found a quote featuring this word: \u201cLuftmensch\u2014the impractical individual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "That's the word for it"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/luftmensch-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4567"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4567"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4568,"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4567\/revisions\/4568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pothi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/instascribe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/contronym.png?resize=560%2C315&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n