Package 6 - Antonyms
Knowing the antonym(s) of a word helps you understand and remember the word itself. In certain cases, the meaning of the word is specified by its antonym.
Activity 1
Prefixes with negative meanings
After discussing roots and affixes earlier, you know that prefixes are often used to give words a negative meaning. The opposite of convenient, for example, is inconvenient, the opposite of agree is disagree and the opposite of lock is unlock. Unfortunately, there is no easy way of knowing which prefix a word will employ to form its opposite. When you learn a new word, note down whether it has an opposite formed with a prefix and, if so, what it is. Note, however, that the words formed in this way are not always exact opposites and may have a slightly different meaning.
The following is a list of prefixes which are useful in helping you to understand and record words. Pay attention to the fact that some of these words are not antonyms.
Prefixes | Meaning | Examples |
a | not, without | amoral atypically |
anti | against, opposed to | anti-war antisocial antibiotic |
mal | bad, badly | malnutrition maltreat malfunction |
counter | against | counteract countercurrent counteragent |
pseudo | false | pseudo-scientific pseudo-intellectual |
in im il ir |
not | inefficient ineffective inconsistent impossible immature impatient illegal illegible illiterate irregular irresponsible irreversible |
de | to remove, to make less | decentralise demotivate demoralise |
mis | bad, badly | misbehave miscalculation misunderstand |
non | not | nonsense nonstick nonsmoker |
un | not | unfair undress unblock |
under | too little | undercooked understated |
Activity 2
Complete the sentences by dragging the words below and dropping them in the correct gap in the sentences.