Antonym

Antonyms are words that have opposite, inverse or contrary meanings to each other. They must belong (just like synonyms) to the same grammatical category. For example, antonyms of joy are: sadness, depression, melancholy...; Antonyms of big are small or small.

There are three kinds of antonyms:

• Graduates: The two words are gradually opposed; there are other words that mean the same with different degrees. Examples: white and Black There. Grey), cold and hot (there is temperate, gélido, ice cream, warm...).
• Complementary: The meaning of one eliminates that of the other, incompatible with each other. That is, the affirmation of one implies the denial of the other. For example: If anything is legal, it cannot be illegal.
• Reciprocal: Designate a relationship from the opposite point of view, one cannot be given without the other. Example: purchase and sell (so that someone sells one thing another has to buy it; if one does not buy, the other does not sell, but one cannot buy something if someone does not sell it).

There are dictionaries specialized in antonyms.

Examples of antonyms in Spanish

In Spanish, in many cases it is possible to form antonyms by means of a prefix: