Word.ws English Dictionary

contranym

/ˈkɒn.tɹə.nɪm/US/ˈkɑn.tɹə.nɪm/

contranym is the alternative form of contronym.

Meaning of contronym

Noun

contronym (plural contronyms)

  1. A word that has two opposing meanings, such as cleave (“stick together” or “split apart”).
    • Near-synonym: enantioseme

Forms of contranym

pluralcontranyms

Origin of contranym

By surface analysis, contra- + -nym; diachronically, coined in 1962 by Jack Herring as contronym from contr(a)- + -onym.

Words formed from contranym

Questions about contranym

What is contranym the alternative form of?
Contranym is the alternative form of contronym.
How do you pronounce contranym?
Contranym is pronounced /ˈkɒn.tɹə.nɪm/ (UK).

Words near contranym in the dictionary

  1. contransfections
  2. contransporter
  3. contransporters
  4. contrantiscia
  5. contrantiscion
  6. contranym
  7. contranymic
  8. contranyms
  9. contranymy
  10. contraoctave
  11. contraoctaves

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: contranym (page history and authors); contronym (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-contranym.wav.

Cite this entry: “contranym.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/contranym. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.