Is there a term for a words that are written as antonyms, but function as synonyms?
For example, the sci-fi terms “subspace” and “hyperspace”.
They should mean the opposite, but are clearly the same thing.
List some other examples.
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5 Answers
Flammable and inflammable ?
Unpealing an union.
You are actually pealing it.
@LuckyGuy Thanks for this example. I learned about this word when I was in High School in a radio broadcasting course. It is pretty damn clear what Flammable means—and Inflammable means the same thing—but some people confuse it with meaning “not-flammable” so the word is seldom if ever used. Getting this one wrong could lead to disastrous consequences.
Great question! :)
Here are a few:
caretaker and caregiver mean the same thing.
inhabitable and habitable (the antonym of both of these is uninhabitable)
deprivation and privation
An example from slang:
to be up for something is the same as being down for it
I don’t know of a specific term for this phenomenon, though.
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