Contronym

A contronym is a word with two meanings. These two meanings are the opposites of each other.

Examples

• bolt: secure, run away

He bolted the door, When he got scared, he bolted

• cleave - split, adhere

The bow of the boat cleaved the water cleanly,He cleaved to his principles in spite of persecution

• clip: fasten, detach

He clipped the pin to his shirt, She used scissors to clip her hair

• consult: seek information, refer information to

They consulted us about best practices," "They consulted us with best practices"

• dust - remove particles, lay down particles

He dusted the picture frames, She dusted the cookies with powdered sugar

• fast - quick, unmoving

He ran very fast, He pulled on the rope, but it held fast

• fix - restore, castrate

He fixed the broken table, They had their puppy fixed

• left - remaining, departed from

After taking an apple, there were two left, He opened the door and left

• off - off, on

He turned the lights off, When the window broke, the alarm went off

• rent - buy use of, sell use of

He rented a room to make extra money, She was looking for a house to rent

• transparent - invisible, obvious

The glass was transparent, His motives were transparent

• sanction - bless, punish

The priest sanctioned the marriage, The US government sanctioned Cuba

• seed - to plant seeds, to remove seeds

The children seeded the ground with pumpkin seeds, They seeded the watermelon before they served it

• variety - one type, many types

Granny Smith is a variety of apple, The store sells a variety of produce