Questions tagged [antonyms]

Questions about two or more expressions with opposite meaning.

Normally the term "antonym" is understood as "opposite". Wikipedia offers a stricter definition:

Graded (or gradable) antonyms are word pairs whose meanings are opposite and which lie on a continuous spectrum (hot, cold).

Here it's not necessary to follow this stricter definition (though it's good to know it!). You can use this tag for questions about antonyms:

  • finding an antonym of a certain word or expression
  • asking whether two words or expressions are actually antonyms of each other
  • other questions that touch upon words with opposite meanings

To help others understand what kind of answer you expect, it might be useful to specify whether you are looking for an antonym in its stricter meaning (opposite on the same spectrum), or simply a word with opposite meaning.

If your question is about words with similar meaning, use instead.

If your question is about generic differences in usage or meaning, it might be better to use too or instead.

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Why is the antonym of 供不应求 not 求不应供?

The phrase 供不应求 = "supply does not meet demand"; its antonyms are 供过于求 = 供大于求 = "supply exceeds demand". I'm wondering why its antonym isn't 求不应供, formed by swapping 供 and 求 in 供不应求, with the intention of meaning "demand does not match supply". (I…
Becky 李蓓
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Why are 不由 and 無由 Private Polarity antonyms?

不 and 無 are negation particles. So why don't 不由 and 無由 mean the same thing? 不由 appears to be the snag, because its meaning isn't the negation of 由. If you 不由 Φ, you still do Φ,! ABC Chinese–English Comprehensive Dictionary (2003), p 74. Op. cit.…
user11787