Friday Freewrite: Words that are their own opposites
Image 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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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.)
I have never heard this term before! What fun and how inspiring! Thanks
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.
[…] using the Comic Life application. I started this project using one of your free write ideas – write a list of opposites. Then I had them use your funneling technique to narrow down the topic. Then I asked them to come […]