Opposite Meanings facts

While investigating facts about Opposite Meaning and Opposite Meanings Of Words, I found out little known, but curios details like:

If a persons body odor smells good to you that means that they have an immune system basically opposite to yours. This happens so the chances of finding a mate with the opposite immune system is greater and the chances of any offspring you produce together will have a stringer immune system

how to move your eyes in opposite directions?

You can be "gruntled" (the opposite of disgruntled) and it means you are pleased, satisfied, and contented.

What is it called when a word has two opposite meanings?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what are three pairs of prefixes that have opposite meanings. Here are 50 of the best facts about Opposite Meanings Is Called and Opposite Meanings Of English Words I managed to collect.

what are words with opposite meanings called?

'mudita', a word meaning the joy of another person's joy, the opposite of envy.
The word "Peruse" actually means the opposite of how it's casually used. It means "to read or examine thoroughly."
Nodding your head to mean "yes" and shaking your head to mean "no" is common among people of every country in the entire world, except Bulgaria and southern Albania, where they mean the opposite.
A heteronym is the opposite of a homonym: two words that are spelled the same way (bass, entrance, dove) but different pronunciations have different meanings
The word ambisinistrous is the opposite of ambidextrous; it means ‘no good with either hand'
The Lost Generation' is a sad poem about society that ends with "all this will come true unless we choose to reverse it." If you read it backwards, each line has an opposite meaning, and it becomes happy.
Alexander the Great expressed in his last will and testament the desire to see "transplant of populations from Asia to Europe and in the opposite direction from Europe to Asia, in order to bring the largest continent to common unity and to friendship by means of intermarriage and family ties."
The phrase "Low Man on the Totem Pole" has come to mean the opposite of what it should; the "Low Man" on the totem pole was often the most talented and valuable part of the totem pole creation process.
Alexander the Great's will called for the "transplant of populations from Asia to Europe and in the opposite direction... to bring the largest continent to friendship by means of intermarriage and family ties"
The phrase blood is thinker than water, a phrase that promotes family ties over friendships, originally meant the opposite. The full phrase is “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” Meaning blood shed in battle bonds soldiers more strongly than genetics.

opposite meanings facts — What are words that have opposite meanings called?

Why does cleave have opposite meanings?

You can easily fact check why does cleave have two opposite meanings by examining the linked well-known sources.

The reason ketchup bottles are meant to be shaken is because ketchup is a shear thinning non newtonian fluid. This means at high velocity the ketchup turns into a less viscous fluid, the opposite of cornstarch and water which solidifies with force.

"Superstitious" comes from Latin's "super", meaning "over", and "stitio" meaning "to stand." meaning the opposite of superstitious is understanding. - source

The expression "blood is thicker than water" originally had the exact opposite meaning: "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." - source

A contronym is a word which means something but can also mean the opposite

Opposite of good is not evil. Rather, good is the 'mean' between two evils. One of excess and another that of a deficit. Courage for instance is the mean between excess of rashness and a deficit of cowardice. Its a brilliant idea that alters how you look at right and wrong - source

What is it called when a word has two opposite meanings?

The common interpretation of "blood is thicker than water" is backwards. The full quote, "the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb" has the opposite meaning. The family we choose means more than the family we are born into.

How to make your eyes go in opposite directions?

There is a word ('antigram') to describe words which are anagrams of each other and have opposite meanings (eg. fluster = restful)

The reason "cleave" has two opposite meanings (split vs bind) is because it comes to us from two *different* Germanic words.

'cleave' is a Contronym, a word that has 2 meanings that are the opposite of one another.

The verb "table" has opposite meanings in American and British speech, and was once the cause of a pointless and confused argument between Allied leaders in WWII

The verb "cleave" can have two practically opposite meanings: "to split" and "to stick together".

When a word has two opposite meanings?

On Uranus, each summer solstice lasts for 42 years. This also means that each winter solstice lasts the same amount of time for the opposite hemisphere.

There is a word that means the opposite of paranoia, that you think the world is trying to help you. Pronoia

Chimpanzees thumb is in opposition with other fingers which means that their thumb is not in the same line with other four fingers (just like in human hands). Specific shape of hands allows them to develop and use tools, to groom each other....

A "steep learning curve" does not mean an activity is difficult to learn. It means the opposite: rapid progress is made over time.

There is a complete opposite to White Coat Syndrome where you have high blood pressure everywhere else BUT the doctor's office. This means you could be at risk for all the complications despite having pristine blood pressure measurements at the doctor's office

How to make your eyes look in opposite directions?

"to table a motion" means the exact opposite thing in the U.S. and the rest of the English-speaking world

Thaw, dethaw, and unthaw all mean the same thing. Meanwhile freeze/unfreeze and frost/defrost are opposites.

Auto-antonyms' are words that have two opposite meanings that contradict each another

The common use of "steep learning curve" to describe something difficult is the opposite of its actual meaning. Since a learning curve is defined as the rate at which skill is acquired, a steep increase would mean a quick increment of skill.

The word "moot" means basically the opposite to Americans than it does to the rest of the English-speaking world.

The word "terrorism" was coined during the French Revolution. However, it referred to violence committed by the government against its people - the opposite meaning of today.

The phrase "willy-nilly" comes from "will he, nill he," with "nill" once meaning the opposite of "will."

Skunked Words, like nonplussed and decimate, whose meaning has come to be the opposite of its original definition.

In Bulgaria, the Yes/No nod and shake gesture is the opposite of the common standard. 'Up/Down' meaning 'No' and 'Side-to-Side' meaning 'Yes'.

The American idiom "to table an item" has the opposite meaning in British English. In the US, "to table an item" means let's postpone the proposal, discussion indefinitely. In Britain, it actually means the opposite. "to table an item" means you are setting things up for discussion.

The word "Humbug" not only means "fraud" or "lies," but also refers to a specific shape, a cylinder cut at two opposite sides

The "cis" in cisgender is the Latin opposite of "trans". Cis is a prefix meaning "this side of" and trans means "the other side of".

The word Antarctica comes from Greek and Latin infixes meaning "the opposite of a bear."

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