Opposites

Opposites (Antonyms)

English (Mridang) — stories about weather and seasons (hot/cold, day/night) naturally introduce opposite words.

Opposite words (antonyms) mean the reverse of another word.
Common opposite pairs used in everyday sentences: big/small, hot/cold, fast/slow.
How to pick the correct opposite word to complete a sentence.

Verbal: An opposite word means the exact reverse of another word — big means the reverse of small.

Symbolic: Word ↔ Opposite (big ↔ small, hot ↔ cold, fast ↔ slow).

Tall/short, heavy/light, fast/slow — describe how things differ.

'The soup is hot, but the ice cream is cold.'

Warm is close to hot but not its exact opposite — cold is the true opposite of hot.

Find the opposite of 'open' in: 'She left the door open, then she ___ it.'

Step 1 — Think of what "open" means.
Step 2 — The reverse action is to close it.
Step 3 — Opposite of open → shut/closed
Answer: shut

Mistake	Why	Fix
Picking a similar word	Similar is not opposite	Ask "what is the reverse?"
Mixing up big/tall	Both describe size differently	Big = size overall, tall = height
Wrong opposite pair	Guessing without checking meaning	Say both words in a sentence to check

Stretch: Write a sentence using two opposite words, like 'The box is empty, not full.'

Revision tip: Pick five words from today and say their opposites out loud.

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Opposites.