Nonplussed
A few days ago, I was wanting to use the word "nonplussed" in a sentence I was writing, but then I remembered how this beautiful word actually has TWO different definitions and.... the two different definitions actually mean exact opposite of each other:
nonplussed - a) (of a person) surprised and confused so much that they are unsure how to react. but also b) (of a person) not disconcerted; unperturbed.
So, in order to use the word effectively, you have to be sure to couch its use with adequate context clues so that the reader would be steered in the correct direction for proper meaning.
But, in the greater scheme of things, this beautiful but strange word started me thinking more about how odd it is that a word can have two opposite meanings, and I started looking around a bit to see first if there was a name for this, and then also to see if there were any other words of this sort (with two, opposing definitions) since I could not really think of any others off the top of my head.
I found out that "nonplussed" is what is called a contronym: which is a type of synonym for a word that means the opposite of itself. In other words, the opposite of nonplussed is actually nonplussed.
Then I found a listing of other words that also were contronyms in some fashion. It is very interesting to me that I knew all of these words, and internally I knew the varied definitions, but the worry about the two opposing uses was never a real thought in my head because for these others, it is virtually a certainty that the context clues of the remainder of the sentence would guide the reader to the correct meaning of that usage of the word:
2. Bolt: To secure, or to flee
3. Bound: Heading to a destination, or restrained from movement
4. Buckle: To connect, or to break or collapse
5. Clip: To fasten, or detach
7. Handicap: An advantage provided to ensure equality, or a disadvantage
8. Nonplussed: to make curious or befuddle, OR to not be interested in or aware
10. Peer: A person of the nobility, or an equal
14. Screen: To present, or to conceal
16. Strike: To hit, or to miss in an attempt to hit
18. Transparent: Invisible, or obvious
20. Wear: To endure, or to deteriorate
So, the above lists quite a few of these contronyms. Probably there are others as well. It is actually very interesting to see and to think about. And, the new to me term, "contronym" is one I want to remember as well.
PipeTobacco
7 Comments:
A few more:
cleave, fast, garnish, left, trip
I was unaware of the second meaning. I always forget the word, contranym, but I usually remember the more colloquial "janus word."
The word I use that is opposite to many is "peruse." I use it in the scan lightly sense but others tend to use it in the pore over intensely sense.
I only use nonplussed in the first sense so I am nonplussed by that second definition. :)
Thank you for pointing out how terribly unhelpful that awful word is. Whenever I read it in a sentence I immediately stop reading because what's the point? The writer might know which meaning he or she intended but the reader sure doesn't.
Actually, I quite like the word….. I just have come to better realize how that word (nonplussed) really requires the writer to be especially careful in using said word with adequate and appropriate context clues. I also now realize how important it is for any word that is a contronym….. a term I never knew of before. :)
PipeTobacco
And don’t get me started on biweekly and bimonthly. This conversation reminds me that I can work up a lot of emotion over words.
Gosh, there are a lot. And many are obvious when you think about it. But we don't think about it.
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