Chris Coyier

web craftsman, blogger, author, speaker

Words That Sounds Like They Have Opposites But They Don’t

02/28/2009

incorrigible
invincible
uncouth
innocent
disgruntled
inept

Know any others?

Comments

  1. richard says:
    02/28/2009 at 10:22 pm

    i don’t know about the rest, but i know uncouth and incorrigible do have opposites, namely couth and corrigible :P

  2. Chris Coyier says:
    02/28/2009 at 11:21 pm

    Hm. So they do. Obviously this wasn’t a scientific study. I can say I’ve never once heard either of those words used “raw”.

  3. Evan says:
    03/03/2009 at 3:36 pm

    There also is a gruntled:
    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gruntled

    Main Entry:
    grun·tle Listen to the pronunciation of gruntle
    Pronunciation:
    \ˈgrən-təl\
    Function:
    transitive verb
    Inflected Form(s):
    grun·tled; grun·tling Listen to the pronunciation of gruntling \ˈgrənt-liŋ, ˈgrən-təl-iŋ\
    Etymology:
    back-formation from disgruntle
    Date:
    1926

    : to put in a good humor

    Granted, it was created in 1926 because there was no opposite for disgruntled, but that is neither here nor there.

  4. Jillian says:
    03/04/2009 at 2:55 pm

    Haha, gruntled. Michael Scott from the Office is known to screw up his words a lot and has been known to assure Jan in the past that no one is disgruntled in the office, in fact everyone is very gruntled. Funny stuff. (PS, Firefox is underlining gruntled and telling me that it’s not a word. I trust Firefox.)

  5. David Link says:
    03/05/2009 at 4:30 am

    Inflammable and Flammable mean the exact same thing.

  6. jeff says:
    03/06/2009 at 6:00 am

    Inept’s opposite is adept.