What does "contronym" mean?

A word that has two opposing meanings, such as cleave (“stick together” or “split apart”).

What is a synonym for "contronym"?

Common synonyms include: antagonym, autoantonym, enantioseme, janus word, self-antonym.

Contronym

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

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

Synonyms

All synonyms

antagonym autoantonym enantioseme janus word self-antonym

Etymology

From contr(a)- + -onym. Coined 1962 by Jack Herring. Note that the vowel of the suffix generally supersedes the vowel of the prefix, hence coined as contronym, rather than contranym.

More for "contronym"

Synonyms Sentences Pronunciation Translate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation Browse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.