They help you recognize the relationship between concepts and make writing more interesting. Using antonyms can help you expand your vocabulary by creating a mental hook. They play an important role in learning new words and phrases. They are also useful in argumentation, description, and explanation. Moreover, they are often used in literary texts to show the qualities of a person or an object. They are important for language acquisition and for highlighting the main idea in a piece of writing. A doctor and a patient are complementary antonyms.Īntonyms are a crucial part of language learning. For example, a shop owner must first open his shop before closing it. Complementary antonyms are not graded, as they are mutually exclusive. Graded antonyms are different from complementary antonyms. This will help you structure your sentences better and broaden your vocabulary. These types of words do not necessarily fit together in the same sentence, so it is important to learn the definition of a specific word when using it. There are graded antonyms, relationship antonyms, and complementary antonyms. While they both mean “pleasant”, they have different degrees of intensity. An example of a graded antonym is the word pleasant. They can be paired with the same prefix to show a difference in intensity. Graded antonyms are words that are related but have different meanings.

These are Graded, Relational, Polar, and Complementary antonyms. The same thing can be true of two other words. They’re basically opposites, but they don’t actually have to be.

When you have a sibling, you’ve likely been exposed to antonyms your entire life.

Graded antonyms Relational antonyms Complementary antonyms Gradable antonyms Enantiodromes

What is an antonym