Single words that have two contradictory meanings are known as contronyms. Terms like these are also sometimes called antagonyms, auto-antonyms, and words having self-contradictions, or Janus words, named after an ancient Italian deity, regarded as the doorkeeper of heaven and represented as having two faces, one on the back and one on the front of his head.
Here are some examples:
cut (1) get in, as in a line; or (2) get out, as in a class
- UsingEnglish.com
hysterical: (1) frightened and out of control; (2) funny
- Oxford Dictionary
finished: (1) completed; or (2) destroyed
model: (1)the original; perfect example; or (2) a copy
wear: (1) to endure; or (2) to deteriorate
- Mother Nature Network
liege: (1) a feudal lord; or (2) a vassal
puzzle: (1) a problem; or (2) to solve one
rock: (1) an immobile mass of stone or figuratively similar phenomenon; or (2) a shaking or unsettling movement or action
sanguine: (1) confidently cheerful; or (2) bloodthirsty
skinned: (1) covered with skin; or (2) with the skin removed
transparent: (1) invisible; or (2) obvious
trip: (1) journey; or (2) a stumble
variety: (1) particular type; or (2) many types
- DailyWritingTips.com
sanction: (via French, from Latin sanctio(n-), from sancire ‘ratify,’) can mean (1) give official permission or approval for (an action); or (2)impose a penalty on
oversight: the noun form of two verbs with contrary meanings, “oversee” and “overlook.” (1) Oversee, from Old English ofersēon (look at from above) means supervise (medieval Latin for the same thing: super-, "over" plus videre, "to see.") (2) Overlook usually means the opposite: to fail to see or observe; to pass over without noticing; to disregard, ignore.
help: means (1) assist; (2) unless you can’t help doing something, when it means to prevent
flog: meaning (1) to punish by caning or whipping, shows up in school slang of the 17th century; but now it can have the contrary meaning, (2) to promote persistently, as in “flogging a new book.” Perhaps that meaning arose from the sense "to urge (a horse, etc.) forward by whipping," which grew out of the earliest meaning.
go: means (2) to proceed; but also (2) give out or fail, i.e., “This car could really go until it started to go.”
bitch: can derisively refer to (1) a woman who is considered overly aggressive or domineering; or it can refer to (2) someone passive or submissive.
peer: is (1) a person of equal status (as in a jury of one’s peers), but some peers are more equal than others, like (2) the members of the peerage, the British or Irish nobility.
- Mental Floss
appropriate: can mean (1) to give (money or assets) to; or (2)to delegate to; as well as (3)to take something (for one’s own use)
biweekly: can mean (1) occurring every two weeks; or (2) occurring twice a week
demiurge: can refer either to (1) God as the creator; or to (2) the devil, depending on philosophical context
drop: can mean (1) to delete or eliminate (e.g., to drop a song from a playlist); but it is also (2) slang for releasing an artistic creation into the world (e.g., to drop a new song on a music streaming service)
draw: the curtains can mean either (1) to open them; or (2) to close them
earthbound: can mean either (1) unable to move from the earth; or (2) heading towards it
egregious: can mean (1) outstandingly bad; but (2) originally used to mean remarkably good. The word's roots mean simply "standing out from the rest of the group", a concept that can apply either in a good way or in a bad way.
inflammable: technically means (1) capable of burning ("in-" functioning as an intensifer); but (2) is commonly misunderstood to mean "unburnable".
nonplussed: can mean (1) baffled or perplexed; but in North America can also mean (2) not disconcerted or unperturbed
ok: can mean (1) yes or (2) no when it appears as part of the phrase "that's OK." ("Would you like a piece of cake"? "That's OK.")
refrain: can mean either (1) non-action; or (2) the repetition of an action (e.g. in musical notation)
restive: can mean (1) having difficulty staying still, restless; or (2) reluctant to move
Some English examples result from nouns being verbed in the patterns of "add <noun> to" and "remove <noun> from"; e.g. dust, seed, stone.
- Wikipedia
apology: (1) an admission of error accompanied by a plea for forgiveness; (2) a formal defense or justification (as in Plato's Apology), also referred to as an apologia
aught: (1) anything; (2) zero, nothing
awful: (1) originally used as a term to mean full of awe, even better than awesome; (2) now means something exceptionally bad
bad: (1) undesirable or unpleasant; (2) (informally) desirable or fashionable.
before: (1) in advance of ("the future is before us"); (2) at an earlier time, previously ("our forefathers came before us")
bill: (1) a medium of money (e.g. "a $10 bill"); (2) a medium of money owed (e.g. "a bill for $10")
bolt: (1) to fasten into a fixed position or place; (2) to leave one's current place rapidly, with great acceleration. Similar contrary meanings to 'bound', 'buckle', and 'fast'.
bomb: (1) success; (2) failure.
boned: (1) an adjective describing bones (as in "big-boned"); (2) an adjective, based on the past tense of the verb "bone", meaning that bones have been removed (as in a "boned chicken")
bound: not actually a case of a contronym, but a homonym. Webster's has six separate entries for "bound". The first is a synonym for "going", as in college-bound or hellbound, from Germanic buan. The fourth is based on the past tense of "bind", where one is held in place, and not going at all, from Germanic bintan. Note also: moving e.g. homeward bound and unable to move e.g. housebound.
break: (1) an opportunity; (2) a problem.
buckle: (1) to secure, tighten, hold (by fastening with a buckle); (2) to collapse after being acted upon by an external force, as in "to buckle under the strain"
citation: (1) a commendation; (2) a condemnation.
cleave: this is a homophone, where two words, spelled and pronounced alike, have different origins. (1) "To adhere firmly", from Old English clifian. (2) to split (as with a cleaver), from Old English cleofan
clip: This is a homophone. (1) "to clasp or fasten with a clip", is from Anglo-Saxon clyppan. (2) "to cut or cut off" (with clippers or scissors) is from Old Norse klippa.
commencement: (1) the beginning; (2) the end.
consequential: (1) following as an effect, result, or conclusion, consequent; (2) having important consequences; significant
consult: (1) to give advice; (2) to receive advice.
contemporary: (1) Contemporary alone means "modern", (2) but with a reference point it may also mean "at a specific time in the past"
cool: (1) in commonly accepted slang, cool means happy, pleasant, agreeable; (2) but when referring to a personal interaction, especially in politics, it usually means "less than agreeable" or "polite but strained" (he received a cool reception to his speech).
critical: (1) can mean "vital to success" (a critical component), or (2) "disparaging" (a critical comment)
custom: (1) as a noun, this means "conventional behavior"; (2) but as an adjective, it means "specially designed"
disposed: (1) as a past tense verb, disposed means "removed" or "gotten rid of"; (2) as an adjective; disposed means "available"
downhill: (1) when referring to difficulty, it means "progressively easier"; (2) but when referring to status or condition, it means "progressively worse"
dry: (1) having no water (such as alcohol); (2) having no alcohol
dust: (1) as a verb, "to dust" can mean either "to remove dust from" (as in "dusting furniture") or (2) "to add dust to" (as in "dusting a cake with powdered sugar"); also commonly used to refer to "dusting for fingerprints."
dike: (1) ditch dug for irrigation; or (2) flood defence built from material dug from ditch
either: as an adjective, it can either mean (1) "one or the other of two", as in "you either passed or failed your test" or (2) "each of two; the one and the other" as in "there are trees on either side of the river"
enduring: can mean either (1) "long lasting"; or (2) "suffering through". In some context this can lead to antonymic word play, as Noam Chomsky pointed out in connection with George W. Bush's name for the war in Afghanistan: "Enduring Freedom".
fast: can mean either (1) "to move or do quickly"; or it can mean (2) "to not move," as in "holding fast". As an adjective, it can also convey both meanings: "The rabbit is fast;" "The door is fast."
fine: can mean either (1) "of superior quality"; or (informally) (2) "acceptable or satisfactory".
fix: can mean either (1) "to mend"; or (2) it can mean "to break", as in "I'll fix you". (It can also mean to render an animal infertile, which relates to the latter.)
flank: can either mean (1) to protect the sides of something; or (2) to attack the flanks.
for: as seen on a shampoo bottle, (1) "For oily hair" meaning what you want to get away from; and (2) "For best results" meaning that which you want to get
garnish: with food, the verb (1) means to add to; (2) with wages, it means to take from (Strictly speaking, though, the intention of the latter is to mean something added to the charges against the wages, alongside insurance, taxes, etc.)
hack: can be (1) a clever, ingenious solution; or (2) an ugly, temporary one
handicap: (1) advantage (e.g. in sport); or (2) disadvantage/disability
lease: (1) to lend; (2) to borrow
left: (1) as a past tense verb, it means to have gone; (2) as an adjective; it means remaining.
literally: (1) in addition to the standard meaning of "word for word", "not figuratively", (2) this has long had an additional, informal usage as a general intensifier for figurative statements
livid: (1) discolored as from a bruise or ashen with shock or dull blue or grayish-blue; (2) reddish or flushed or enraged or furiously angry
lurid: (1) can mean either pale; or (2) glowing with color
mediocre: can mean (1) ordinary, neither good nor bad; (2) or rather poor or inferior
nerveless: can mean (1) fearful and lacking courage; or (2) calm and controlled
off: (1) generally, something being off means it is not operating; (2) however when an alarm goes off, it means it has started operating (or when a person goes off, it means they have become very agitated)
original: (1) means either plain, or unchanged (as in original flavor); or it could mean (2) something creative or new (an original idea)
out: similar to off, (1) to take something out means to remove it; (2) but to bring something out is to exhibit it prominently. For instance saying that "the lights are out" means they are not shining, but saying "the stars are out" means they are easily visible.
outstanding: (1) exceptional, prominent, excellent; (2) but also unsettled, unresolved, overdue
pitch: (1) [idiomatic] to discard; also, (2) to promote. A headline from the washingtonpost.com edition of January 6, 2009, reading "Obama Pitches Stimulus Plan" is ambiguous, though the "promote" meaning is intended.
pitted: (1) having pits; (2) having pits removed. Do "pitted olives" contain pits?
presently: (1) its older meaning is "immediately"; (2) its contemporary meaning is "in a while"
priceless: usually refers to (1) something so valuable that no price can be set; (2) can also mean worthless
public: (1) as a noun, it refers to the common people of a society; (2) however as an adjective, it normally refers to things operated by the government. (Of course, such government operations are maintained for public use. Furthermore, under representative democracy, the people and the government are considered one and the same by definition.)
qualified: can mean (1) limited (as in "qualified success"); or (2) skilled or skilful (as in "a qualified expert")
reflexive: can mean (1) marked by reflection; or (2) characterized by habitual, unthinking behavior
rent: can be used to mean (1) paying to use something, as in "I'm renting an apartment"; or used to mean (2) taking money to let someone else something of yours, as in "We rent cars to anyone, no questions asked."
replace: can mean (1) to restore to a former place or position (e.g. "I replaced the old rug after washing it"); or (2) to put something new in the place of (e.g. "I replaced the old rug with a new one")
reservation: (1) as a concrete noun, this can be a confirmation of availability; (2) as an abstract noun, it is a fear or uncertainty
resign: (1) when someone resigns a contract (transitive) he commits to continuing his involvement in some activity. (2) On the other hand, when he resigns (intransitive) he relieves himself of that commitment. The former is sometimes hyphenated (i.e. re-sign) to emphasize its pronunciation and differentiate the pair. For example, to resign from work is to end the work, while to resign oneself to work is to give up all hope of ending the work.
revolting: (1) as a participle, rebelling; (2) as an adjective, repulsive or disgusting
screen: (1) conceal with or as if with a screen; or (2) "to display prominently" as in screening a film
secreted: usually obvious due to context; but this can mean either (1)"hidden" (secreted away), or (2) "exposed" (secreted from a wound). The former is the verb form of "secret", and is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable. The latter is the past tense of "secrete" and is pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable. (This would not be a contronym, but a homograph, where two words from different roots are spelled the same, but pronounced differently.)
seed: (1) to plant a field; or (2) to clean seeds from a fruit
seeded: (1) with seeds; or (2) without seeds
several: (1) originally meaning "separate, single, or individual" (as in "the several states" referred to in the US Constitution); it is now understood to mean (2) "plural, more than two".
shed: (1) to put into a shed (as in "I'm going to shed the lawnmower for the winter"); or (2) to remove (as in "the snake shed its skin")
shelled: (1) shelled can describe either the result of removing a shell (e.g., we shelled the hazelnuts); or (2) describe something that has a shell (e.g., turtles are like shelled snakes with legs); or (3) describe the act of adding shells (the USS Nimitz shelled Baghdad)
sick: (1) used with a standard definition, this word can mean "disgusted; revolted"; (2) but used colloquially, it can mean "very pleasant; agreeable"
skin: (1) to add skin (e.g. "skin that kayak"); or (2) to remove it (e.g. "skin that deer")
slave: (1) to work like a slave; drudge; or (2) to engage in the slave trade; procure, transport, or sell slaves
stakeholder: (1) historically and legally means to hold (but not have an interest in) a stake; however, the term is now sometimes used, especially re: corporate governance, (2) to reference one who does have an interest in an issue
stay: (1) can mean stopping an action ("stay the execution"); or (2) to continue an action ("stay the course" - note: the original meaning of the phrase "stay the course" was in the first sense; that is, to stop the course of action)
strike: (1) normally meaning "to hit"; (2) in baseball it means "to miss", and an extension of this usage has led to the meaning "to make a mistake". Further adding to the contradiction, in bowling it refers to the best possible play. Another contradiction results with the phrase strike out: the baseball lineage leads to the meaning "to run out of hope"; but the original lineage also leads to the meaning "to start pursuing a desire"
suspicious: (1) can mean that a person is acting in a way that suggests wrongdoing (e.g. "He seems very suspicious"); (2) or can mean that the person in question suspects wrongdoing in others (e.g. "He was suspicious of her motives.")
targeted: as an adjective, it can mean either (1) "aimed at"; or (2) "being aimed at"
temper: (1) to soften or mollify; (2) to strengthen (e.g. a metal)
terrible: (1) formidable; (2) lousy
terrific: (1) originally and still used to mean "inducing terror"; but (2) has now come to have a positive connotation as well, meaning "fantastic" or "amazing"
trim: can mean (1) "to add decoration to" (trim the (Christmas) tree); or (2) "to remove from" (trim the bushes)
trying: (1) as an adjective, 'hard to endure'; (2) as a verb, 'to make an effort'. A teacher's report may say, "Your child is trying"
unbending: (1) rigid, inflexible, refusing to yield or compromise, as in "his stance against reform was unbending"; (2) or becoming less tense, relaxing, as in "unbending a little, she confided..."
unshelled: (1) not removed from their shells (adjective); (2) or having been removed from their shells (the past tense and past participle of "to unshell"). The ambiguity therefore arises when in the adjective is used predicatively, as in "The eggs were unshelled", which can mean "The eggs had not been removed from their shells" or "The eggs were removed from their shells" (someone unshelled them).
unthawed: (1) frozen (adjective), as in "you can't cut unthawed meat"; (2) to thaw, unfreeze (verb, North American English), as in "She unthawed the meat before cutting it"
vault: (1) a small locked box; (2) the expanse of the heavens
weather: (1) to weather a storm means "to endure" the storm; but generally (2) to weather means "to decay"
wicked: (1) the strict definition of the adjective is "evil"; (2) the now generally accepted slang usage (barring regional quirks) is roughly equivalent to "very good"
with: (1) can mean 'against' or 'in opposition to', e.g. The United States fought with Great Britain in the War of 1812. (2) Also denotes a close association between two or more participants, e.g. The United States fought with Great Britain against Germany in World War II
- Wiktionary
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