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PhiNotPi's avatar

What are some adjectives that have no opposites?

Asked by PhiNotPi (12681points) May 18th, 2011

Most adjectives have opposites, like “happy” and “sad.” What are some adjectives that have no opposite?

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25 Answers

Sunny2's avatar

red, yellow, blue etc. They have complimentary colors, but not opposites; except black and white.

Blueroses's avatar

horny—- frigid

I can’t think of any except strict antonyms where removing the prefix doesn’t leave you with a usable opposite word. Ex. intact where tact doesn’t mean broken into pieces.

6rant6's avatar

Disgruntled of course.

jaytkay's avatar

Nonplused might have an opposite, but it’s not plused

Thirsty – Sated?

Blueroses's avatar

overwhelmed

Zaku's avatar

Chartreuse. Red.

Hobbes's avatar

@jaytkay

Nonplussed—- Excited?

@Zaku

Chartreuse. The only liquor so good they named a color after it.

Brian1946's avatar

Some nouns can serve as adjectives, and they usually don’t have direct or unhyphenated opposites.

E.g., paper and snow. Perhaps one could say non-paper or anti-snow, but those are more categorical exclusions than they are opposites.

janbb's avatar

soporific?

dxs's avatar

I think that any adjective has an opposite by adding a not to the beginning or just changing part of the word (like the prefix or suffix). So to the best of my mere knowledge, I don’t think there is one.
What about numbers? I suppose those have no direct/definite opposites.

Blueroses's avatar

Well, @dxs, by your language logic, which is fine (thirsty——not thirsty), I would postulate that any number’s opposite is simply adding a + or – in front of it.

dxs's avatar

@Blueroses there we go… knew there was a catch to the numer thing
What about the opposite of zero? beat that!

Blueroses's avatar

@dxs Zero is its own opposite. It’s a very powerful (not)number XD

Kardamom's avatar

Flippity-flappity

Examples of this word used in sentences:

When that hound dog was riding in the car, sticking his head out of the window, his ears went all flippity-flappity.

When Pamela Anderson went running down the beach in her skimpy little bikini, her boobies went all flippity-flappity.

dxs's avatar

@Sunny2 I think that that counts as an opposite.
@Blueroses I was figuring that, but I don’t know if that is completely true. it’s really late and I am too tired to do much, sorry :(

dxs's avatar

I think that everything has to have an opposite because without an opposite, there is nothing to compare to; it couldn’t be defined. Without evil there is no good; without Satan there is no God.

gailcalled's avatar

@janbb: soporific (n.) – stimulant?

Sunny2's avatar

Nine as in nine days. Or do numbers that modify have a different name than adjective?
@dsx I still think colors qualify. Black and white are opposites, but colors don’t have opposites. I think you can put an ‘un’ or non’ in front of a lot of adjectives and it is a challenge to find adjectives that do not have opposites.

flutherother's avatar

Uncouth? though we have the word ‘couthie’ in Scotland.

LostInParadise's avatar

numbers – two pencils, pi radians
angry, annoying, schizophrenic, compulsive, murderous
gaseous
floating, suspended

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