Page 360 - English Grammar - IX-X

WORD ANTONYMS WORD ANTONYMS

tedious lively, exciting virtue vice
tender hard, strong, harsh vulgar elegant, gracious, tasteful

tense relaxed, calm want abundance

theory fact, truth wealth poverty, depravation,
thrive decline, fade penury

transient endless, eternal, everlasting wearisome refreshing, interesting

transparent opaque yield defy, resist, retain,
uniform variable, changeable withhold
youth adulthood, maturity
urban rural, rustic, pastoral
zeal apathy, indifference
vigilant careless, inattentive
zenith nadir, bottom
violent gentle, non-violent

Using Prefixes to make Antonyms

Many antonyms can be formed by adding prefixes. A prefix is a letter or a group of letters
added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning. Consider the given prefixes and
how they are added to the beginning of words to give the opposite meaning.

Prefixes Antonyms / New Words
un unable, unconsciously, unauthorised, unfair, uncertain, unlikely, unavailable,
unprofessional
in incredible, inconvenient, inaudible, incomplete, incredible, indefinite, inexpensive,
incompetent, ineffective
ir irrational, irresistible, irreparable, irrelevant, irregular, irrecoverable, irresponsible

il illegal, illogical, illegible, illiterate

im impolite, impatient, improbable, immoral, immature, impure, immobile,
immovable
dis disadvantage, disagree, discontinue, disorder, disqualify, disability, dishonour,
dissatisfy
mis misinterpret, misbehave, miscalculate, mismanage, misdeed

non non-fiction, non-political, non-violent, non-profit-making, non-vegetarian, non-
committed
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