Friday Freewrite: Words that are their own opposites

Black Sheep vs. White SheepImage by Leon Riskin

“Contronyms” are words that are their own “antonyms” or opposites. Pick one of the contronyms below and create a short story using the word both ways:

Left can mean either “remaining” or “departed.”

Weather can mean “to withstand or come safely through” or “to be worn away.”

Rock can mean either “immovable like a stone” or “moving back and forth.”

And here are even more contronym choices.

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4 Responses to “Friday Freewrite: Words that are their own opposites”

  1. Robin E says:

    Can I just say this freewrite topic excites me more than any I’ve seen in a long time? I’m going to use this next week with my teen! (We have a used book sale to go today.)

  2. Joyfulmomof6 says:

    I have never heard this term before! What fun and how inspiring! Thanks

  3. Deborah Alice says:

    Actually, I don’t believe that you can say that a word is its own antonym, if the two disparate meanings are different parts of speech. For example, “left” as in remaining is an adjective, whereas “left” as in departed is a verb. Of the examples, only “weather” is the same part of speech (verb) for both meanings.

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