antonym
/ˈæn.təˌnɪm/
"antonym" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“antonym” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A word which has the opposite meaning of another word.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | antonym |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæn.təˌnɪm/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “antonym” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for antonym is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæn.təˌnɪm/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for antonym in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French antonyme (1840s and 1850s), which was modeled on earlier synonyme and influenced by the etymons of Ancient Greek ἀντωνυμία (antōnumía, “pronoun”); credit for popularization of the French loanword's naturalization into English is given principall… The correct English form is antonym, spelled A-N-T-O-N-Y-M.
Definition
- 1A word which has the opposite meaning of another word.
- 2A word which has the opposite meaning of another word.
Etymology
From French antonyme (1840s and 1850s), which was modeled on earlier synonyme and influenced by the etymons of Ancient Greek ἀντωνυμία (antōnumía, “pronoun”); credit for popularization of the French loanword's naturalization into English is given principally to Charles John Smith and his 1867 book Synonyms and Antonyms: Or, Kindred Words and Their Opposites. Collected and Contrasted. By surface analysis, ant- + -onym.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “antonym”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-N-T-O-N-Y-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæn.təˌnɪm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.