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after — bower (on a ship)
ahead — afoot
backfire — backwater
canner — canter
catalog — dogwood
coffee — coffer
downfall — uprise
downright — upright
extinct — instinct
forgive — forget
formality — casualty
founder — loser
fraction — infraction
giveaway — getaway
hardly — softly
headlights — footlights
highball — lowball
implore — explore
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inception — exception
incite — excite
increment — excrement
intend — extend
invaluable — valuable
layoff — standoff
mistake — misgive
outstanding — outlying
overtake — undertake
pair — impair
pale — impale
startle — stopple
therefore — hereafter
treaty — tricky
undergo — overcome
understand — underlie
unique — bisque
visitor — auditor
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Then there are those words that seem to be sexually opposite.
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butter — buttress
mater — matrix
matter — mattress
hell — shell
hear — shear
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heath — sheath
heave — sheave
herring — hissing
matron — patron
mummy — puppy
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If input is the opposite of
output, then shouldn’t income be the opposite
of outcome? The opposites up-down, on-off,
and in-out provide many mock antonyms.
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backup — back down
breakdown — breakup
offset — onset
outcome — income
outgrown — ingrown
outhouse — in-house
outing — inning
outlaw — in-law
outlay — inlay
outtake — intake
put-on — put-off
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put-up — put-down
rundown — run-up
runoff — run-on
shutout — shut-in
sit-in — sit out
sit-up — sit down
standout — standin
takeoff — give off
takeoff — take on
turndown — turn up
without — within
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And now a list of pro and con
mock antonyms (forgetting for the moment that “con” as a prefix means
“with.” “Con” alone is a shortened form of the Latin
“contra” meaning “against.”)
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procession — concession
production — conduction
professional — confessional
profound — confound
profusion — confusion
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progress — congress
prostitution — constitution
protestant — contestant
protractor — contractor
provoke — convoke
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And a few hidden mock antonyms.
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scan — scant
shot — scold
bout — bin
doff — don
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gout — gin
spout — spin
shout — shin
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