Antonym List -- American English -- Page 1Level One

after - all - always - asleep - Beautiful, pretty -

001 002 003 004 005
before none never awake ugly
behind - below - best - black -
006 007 008 009 010 bright - dull
in front above worst white
city - clever - closed -
011 012 013 014 come - go 015 dark - light
country foolish open
day - dead - dirty -
016 017 018 019 dull - sharp 020 early - late
night alive clean
easy - easy - empty - fat -
021 022 023 024 025 few - many
difficult hard full skinny
find - front - give -
026 027 028 029 go - stay 030 happy - sad
lose back take
hard - healthy heavy -
031 032 033 034 high - low 035 husband - wife
soft - sick light
kind - king - last -
036 037 038 039 laugh - cry 040 least - most
mean queen first
little - lock - long -
041 left - right 042 043 044 045 man - woman
big unlock short
morning near - new - no one -
046 047 048 049 new - old 050
- night far used everybody
noisy - often -
051 052 off - on 053 054 out - in 055 poor - rich
quiet seldom
push - right - sick - simple -
056 057 058 059 060 slow - fast
pull wrong well complex
small - smart - son - son -
061 062 063 064 065 take - bring
large dumb father daughter
top - ugly - under -
066 067 068 069 up - down 070 wet - dry
bottom pretty over
work - young -
071 072
play old
 Antonym List -- American English -- Page 2 Level Two
absent - against - beneath - bitter - borrow -
001 002 003 004 005
present for above sweet lend
brave - careful - cheerful - complete -
006 007 buy - sell 008 009 010
scared careless sad incomplete
crooked - deep - different -
011 012 cruel - kind 013 death - life 014 015
straight shallow same
double - enemy - exciting - exit -
016 017 east - west 018 019 020
single friend dull entrance
expensive - fancy - floor - foolish -
021 022 023 finish - begin 024 025
cheap plain ceiling wise
forget - forward - graceful - guilty -
026 027 028 029 030 hide - show
remember backward clumsy innocent
increase - intelligent - length -
031 032 033 lead - follow 034 035 loose - tight
decrease stupid width
lower - outer - patient -
036 037 038 part - whole 039 040 polite - rude
raise inner impatient
question - quick - reward - rough - selfish -
041 042 043 044 045
answer slow punishment smooth unselfish
send - south -
046 047 sharp - dull 048 sink - float 049 050 stay - go
receive north
stranger - strong -
051 052 053 sweet - sour 054 tame - wild 055 thick - thin
friend weak
uncertain - war -
056 true - false 057 certain 058 wake - sleep 059 peace 060 warm - cool

whisper - wide - winter -

061 062 063
yell narrow summer
 Antonym List -- American English -- Page 3 Level Three
abundant - accidental - accurate -
001 scarce 002 accept - refuse 003 004
intentional incorrect
advance - antique - attack -
005 admit - deny 006 retreat 007 008
modern defend
Authentic - combine -
009 Imitation 010 beg - offer 011 cease - begin 012
separate
comedy - condemn - contract -
013 tragedy 014 015 conquer - fail 016
praise expand
dangerous - destroy - discourage -
017 safe 018 depart - arrive 019 020
create encourage
disgrace - Drunk
021 022 023 dwarf - giant 024 evil - good
honor - sober
exhibit - exterior - extinguish - fail -
025 026 027 028
conceal interior ignite succeed
famous - fertile - former -
029 030 031 fiction - fact 032
unknown barren latter
frequent - gather - generous - genuine -
033 034 035 036
infrequent scatter stingy fake
harmony -
037 grin - frown 038 039 harsh - mild 040 idle - busy
discord
illegal - imaginary - import - imprison -
041 042 043 044
lawful real export free
include - inferior - knowledge -
045 046 047 joy - grief 048
exclude superior ignorance
lazy - literal - majority - maximum -
049 050 051 052
industrious figurative minority minimum
merciful - miserable -
053 054 055 mix - sort 056 moist - dry
cruel happy
naked - necessary - nourish - obey -
057 058 059 060
clothed useless starve disobey
perfect - permit - positive - private -
061 062 063 064
faulty forbid negative public
prohibit - reluctant - sane - shrink -
065 066 067 068
allow enthusiastic insane expand
slavery - solid - spend -
069 070 solid - gas 071 072
freedom liquid save
stationary strengthen swift -
073 074 stiff - limp 075 076
- movable - weaken slow
 tardy - temporary - thaw - tough -
077 078 079 080
early permanent freeze tender
triumph - unbreakable - unique - useful -
081 082 083 084
fail fragile common useless
usually - vacant - vanish - victory -
085 086 087 088
rarely occupied appear defeat
villain - violent - wealth - worthless -
089 090 091 092
hero gentle poverty valuable
 Antonym List -- American English -- Page 4 Level Four
absurd - accuse - afoot - agile - agony -
001 002 003 004 005
sensible defend mounted awkward ecstasy
Alone,
alien - amuse - anger -
006 007 apart - 008 009 angel - devil 010
native bore kindness
together
apart - applaud - approve - approximate arrogant -
011 012 013 014 015
together boo reject - exact polite
ascend - ashamed assent - awful -
016 017 018 019 avoid - seek 020
descend - proud refuse wonderful
backhand baffle - bedlam - belief -
021 aye - nay 022 023 024 025
- forehand clarify order doubt
blunt - broad - bulge - calm -
026 027 born - die 028 029 030
sharp narrow shrink agitated
capture - cash - changed chaos - chill -
031 032 033 034 035
liberate credit - same order warm
civilian - cluster - clutter - coax - comic -
036 037 038 039 040
military scatter tidy coerce tragic
complain comply - concede concur - condone -
041 042 043 044 045
- approve resist - deny protest censure
confident confuse - consider convex - cordial -
046 047 048 049 050
- insecure clarify - ignore concave distant
corner - dainty - decent - defense -
051 052 053 054 defect - join 055
middle coarse rude offense
defer - desire - despair - dusk -
056 057 058 059 died - lived 060
hurry spurn hope dawn

Antonym List -- American English -- Page 5

Level Four
either - elder - emerge - enjoy -
061 062 053 elude - seek 064 065
neither younger submerge dislike
escape - eternal - exempt - exhale - exotic -
066 067 068 069 070
capture mortal accountable inhale ordinary
071 expert - 072 forgive - 073 funny - 074 hero - 075 hollow -
 amateur blame serious coward solid
humble - improve indoor - inflate - input -
076 077 078 079 deflate 080 output
arrogant - worsen outdoor
insist - invest - invite - inward - isolate -
081 082 083 084 085
request divest discourage outward include
jerky - luxury - miniature - nervous - optimist -
086 087 088 079 090
smooth squalor gigantic calm pessimist
order - original - perish -
091 or - nor 092 093 094 pass - fail 095
ask copy survive
petty - plain - portion - portly - precious -
096 097 098 099 100
significant ornate entirely thin worthless
prepaid - pride - prior - prompt - puny -
101 postpaid 102 103 104 105
humility subsequent late stout
random - rare - rebuke - reckless - reduce -
106 107 108 109 110
planned ordinary praise cautious gain
regain - rival - servant - soften - suave -
111 112 113 114 115
lose friend master harden clumsy
sudden - suffix -
116 117 347
gradual prefix

Antonyms List
Antonyms
abundant scarce joy Grief, Sorrow

accept refuse Knowledge ignorance

accidental intentional Lazy industrious Active

Busy
Accurate, Incorrect Literal figurative
correct
admit Deny Majority minority

advance Retreat Maximum Minimum

Antique modern Merciful Kind Cruel

Ancient
attack defend miserable happy

authentic imitation mix sort

beg offer Moist wet dry

cease begin naked clothed

combine separate Necessary useless

Useful
comedy tragedy Nourish starve

condemn praise obey disobey

conquer Fail defeat perfect faulty

contract expand permit forbid

dangerous safe positive negative

depart arrive private public

destroy create prohibit allow

discourage encourage reluctant enthusiastic

disgrace honor sane insane

drunk sober simple complicated

dwarf giant shrink expand

Evil Bad good slavery freedom

exhibit conceal solid liquid

exterior interior spend save

extinguish ignite stationary movable

fail Succeed stiff limp

pass
famous unknown strengthen weaken

fertile barren Swift Quick slow

fiction fact Tardy late early

former latter temporary permanent

frequent infrequent thaw freeze

Gather Scatter tough tender

Genuine Fake Triumph fail

Generous stingy . unbreakable fragile

Grin frown unique ordinary

Concord discord useful useless

Harmony
Harsh mild Usually rarely
 Idle busy Vacant occupied
imaginary real Vanish appear

import export Victory defeat

Imprison Free Villain hero

illegal lawful Violent gentle

include Exclude wealth poverty

interior Exterior, Worthless valuable

superior

Exterior superior

Common Opposites - Antonyms Vocabulary Word List

absent - present
abundant - scarce
accept - decline, refuse
accurate - inaccurate
admit - deny
advantage - disadvantage
against - for
agree - disagree
backward - forward
bad - good
beautiful - ugly
before - after
begin - end
below - above
bent - straight
best - worst
calm - windy, troubled
can - cannot, can't
capable - incapable
captive - free
careful - careless
cheap - expensive
cheerful - sad, discouraged,
dreary
clear - cloudy, opaque
clever - stupid
dangerous - safe
A
alive - dead appear - disappear, vanish
all - none, nothing approve - disapprove
ally - enemy arrive - depart
always - never artificial - natural
ancient - modern ascend - descend
answer - question attic - cellar
antonym - synonym attractive - repulsive
apart - together awake - asleep
B
better - worse, worst brave - cowardly
big - little, small build - destroy
black - white bold - meek, timid
blame - praise borrow - lend
bless - curse bound - unbound, free
bitter - sweet boundless - limited
borrow - lend bright - dim, dull
bottom - top brighten - fade
boy - girl broad - narrow
C
clockwise - conceal - reveal
counterclockwise contract - expand
close - far, distant cool - warm
closed - ajar, open correct - incorrect, wrong
clumsy - graceful courage - cowardice
cold - hot create - destroy
combine - separate crooked - straight
come - go cruel - kind
comfort - discomfort compulsory - voluntary
common - rare courteous - discourteous,
rude
D
deep - shallow diseased - healthy
 dark - light definite - indefinite down - up
day - night demand - supply downwards - upwards
daytime - nighttime despair - hope dreary - cheerful
dead - alive dim - bright dry - moist, wet
decline - accept, increase disappear - appear dull - bright, shiny
decrease - increase discourage - encourage dusk - dawn
E
early - late encourage - discourage expand - contract
east - west end - begin, start export - import
easy - hard, difficult enter - exit exterior - interior
empty - full even - odd external - internal
F
fade - brighten few - many forget - remember
fail - succeed find - lose found - lost
false - true first - last fresh - stale
famous - unknown float - sink frequent - seldom
far - near foolish - wise friend - enemy
fast - slow fore - aft for - against
fat - thin free - bound, captive fortunate - unfortunate
feeble - strong, powerful fold - unfold full - empty
G
generous - stingy give - receive, take grant - refuse
gentle - rough glad - sad, sorry great - tiny, small, unimportant
get - give gloomy - cheerful grow - shrink
giant - tiny, small, dwarf go - stop guest - host
girl - boy good - bad, evil guilty - innocent
H
happy - sad healthy - diseased, ill, sick hill - valley
hard - easy heaven - hell hinder - help
hard - soft heavy - light honest - dishonest
harmful - harmless help - hinder horizontal - vertical
harsh - mild here - there hot - cold
hate - love hero - coward humble - proud
haves - have-nots high - low
I
ill - healthy, well inferior - superior interesting - boring
immense - tiny, small inhale - exhale interior - exterior
important - trivial inner - outer interesting - dull, uninteresting
in - out inside - outside internal - external
include - exclude intelligent - stupid, unintelligent intentional - accidental
increase - decrease
J
join - separate junior - senior justice - injustice
just - unjust
K
knowledge - ignorance known - unknown
L
landlord - tenant lengthen - shorten long - short
large - small lenient - strict loose - tight
 last - first left - right lose - find
laugh - cry less - more loss - win
lawful - unlawful, illegal light - dark, heavy loud - quiet
lazy - industrious like - dislike, hate love - hate
leader - follower likely - unlikely low - high
left - right limited - boundless loyal - disloyal
lend -borrow little - big
M
mad - happy, sane melt - freeze minority - majority
major - minor merry - sad miser - spendthrift
many - few messy - neat misunderstand - understand
mature - immature minor - major more - less
maximum - minimum
N
nadir - zenith never - always no - yes
narrow - wide new - old noisy - quiet
near - far, distant night - day none - some
neat - messy, untidy nighttime - daytime north - south
O
obedient - disobedient old - new optimist - pessimist
odd - even on - off out - in
offer - refuse open - closed, shut outer - inner
old - young opposite- same, similar over - under
P
past - present poetry - prose pretty - ugly
patient - impatient polite - rude, impolite private - public
peace - war possible - impossible prudent - imprudent
permanent - temporary poverty - wealth, riches pure - impure, contaminated
plentiful - scarce powerful - weak push - pull
plural - singular
Q
qualified - unqualified question - answer quiet - loud, noisy
R
raise - lower real - fake right-side-up - upside-down
rapid - slow rich - poor rough - smooth
rare - common right - left, wrong rude - courteous
regular - irregular
S
safe - unsafe sick - healthy, ill sour - sweet
same - opposite simple - complex, hard sow -reap
satisfactory - unsatisfactory singular - plural straight - crooked
secure - insecure sink - float start - finish
scatter - collect slim - fat, thick stop - go
separate - join, together slow - fast strict - lenient
serious - trivial sober - drunk strong - weak
second-hand - new soft - hard success - failure
shallow - deep some - none sunny - cloudy
shrink - grow sorrow - joy synonym - antonym
sweet - sour
 T
take - give thick - thin tough - easy, tender
tall - short tight - loose, slack transparent - opaque
tame - wild tiny - big, huge true - false
them - us together - apart truth - flasehood, lie, untruth
there - here top - bottom
U
under - over unqualified - qualified upstairs - downstairs
unfold - fold unsafe - safe us - them
unknown - known up - down useful - useless
upside-down - right-side-up
V
vacant - occupied victory - defeat visible - invisible
vanish - appear virtue - vice voluntary - compulsory
vast - tiny
W
war - peace white - black wisdom - folly, stupidity
wax - wane wide - narrow within - outside
weak - strong win - lose wrong - right
wet - dry
Y
yes - no yin - yang young - old
Z
zip - unzip zenith - nadir

Antonym List
Looking over an antonym list should be the first step in building your English
vocabulary. Why? As stated on the previous page, the number of words we retain
increases as we learn antonyms. Also, antonyms are frequently tested items on the
Michigan Proficiency exams. It's also worthy to note that an antonym list is (generally)
easier to learn and remember than other non-related words due to the relationship the
words have. Studies (and practice) show that learning words in combination or in
relation to other words... improves our retention. The following antonym list (opposites)
is presented alphabetically, as groups. Each group generally goes from easier to more
difficult words. So, if you're looking for an antonym list for kids, they're the first words
of each letter. If you're looking for more proficient-level antonyms, they're towards the
end of each letter group. Good luck and good retention!

absence presence

accept refuse

accurate inaccurate

advantage disadvantage

alive dead
 always never

ancient modern

answer question, query

approval disapproval

approached receded, departed

abundant scarce

admit deny

advance retreat, retire

artificial natural

arrival departure

ascend descend

attack defense

attractive repulsive

attention inattention

asleep awake

ally enemy

agree disagree

bad good

backward forward, onward

bend straighten

beautiful ugly

beginning ending

below above

bent straight

big small, little

blunt sharp

better worse

best worst

blame praise
 bless curse

bitter sweet

borrow lend

bravery cowardice

build destroy, demolish

bold timid, meek

bright dull

broad narrow

clear vague, cloudy

careful rush, careless

calm troubled

capable incapable

captivity freedom, liberty

cellar attic

cheap dear, expensive

close distant

clever stupid

cold hot

combine separate

clockwise anti-clockwise

correct incorrect

conceal reveal

come go

common rare

comfort discomfort

courage cowardice

cruel kind

courteous discourteous, rude

cunning simple
 dainty clumsy

danger safety

dark light

deep shallow

decrease increase

definite indefinite

demand supply

despair hope

disappear appear

disease health

discourage encourage

dismal cheerful

doctor patient

dry wet

dull clear, bright

dusk dawn

early late

easy difficult

ebb flow

East West

economise waste

encourage discourage

entrance exit

employer employee

empty full

excited calm

end beginning

expand contract

expensive inexpensive, cheap

 export import

exterior interior

external internal

fail succeed

false true

feeble sturdy, strong, powerful

foolish wise

fast slow

few many

famous unknown

forelegs hind legs

fat thin

find lose

first last

freedom captivity

fold unfold

frequent seldom

forget remember

found lost

fresh stale

friend enemy

fortunate unfortunate

frank secretive

full empty

generous mean

gentle rough

gather distribute

glad sorry

gloomy cheerful
 giant dwarf, pygmy

granted refused

great minute, small, little

guardian ward

guest host

guilty innocent

happy sad, miserable

hard soft

harmful harmless

hasten dawdle

hate love

healthy unhealthy, ill, diseased

here there

heavy light

height depth

hero coward

hill valley

horizontal vertical

hinder aid, help

honest dishonest

humble proud

hunger thirst

imitation genuine

immense tiny, minute

imprison free

include exclude

increase decrease

inhabited uninhabited

inferior superior
 inside outside

intelligent unintelligent, stupid

inhale exhale

interior exterior, outside

interesting uninteresting, dull

internal external

intentional accidental

join separate

junior senior

justice injustice

king subject

knowledge ignorance

laugh cry

lawful unlawful

lazy industrious, energetic

land sea

landlord tenant

large little, small

last first

lawyer client

lecturer student

lender borrower

lengthen shorten

left right

less more

light dark, heavy

like dislike, unlike

likely unlikely

leader follower
 little large, much, big

lofty lowly

long short

loud soft

loss find, win

low high

loyal disloyal

mad sane

magnetize demagnetize

master servant

mature immature

maximum minimum

me you

merry mirthless, sad

minority majority

miser spendthrift

misunderstand understand

narrow wide

near far, distant

neat untidy

new old

night day

noisy quiet

North South

obedient disobedient

odd even

offer refuse

open shut

optimist pessimist
 out in

parent child

past present

patient impatient

peace war

permanent temporary

please displease

plentiful scarce

poetry prose

possible impossible

poverty wealth

powerful feeble, weak

polite impolite, rude

private public

prudent imprudent

pretty unsightly, ugly

pure impure

qualified unqualified

rapid slow

regularly irregularly

rich poor

right wrong, left

rigid pliable, soft

rough smooth

satisfactory unsatisfactory

security insecurity

scatter collect

serious trivial

second-hand new
 sense nonsense

shopkeeper customer

singular plural

simple complicated

slim thick, stout

solid liquid

sober drunk

speaker listener

sour sweet

sorrow joy

sow reap

stand lie

straight crooked

strong weak

success failure

sunny cloudy

take give

tall short

tame wild

teacher pupil

thick thin

tight slack, loose

top bottom

transparent opaque

truth untruth, lie

up down

vacant occupied

valuable valueless

victory defeat
 virtue vice

visible invisible

voluntary compulsory

vowel consonant

wax wane

wisdom folly

within without