In Latin, sacer has the double meaning 'sacred, holy' and 'accursed, infamous'. These are not usually classed as contronyms, but they share the theme of containing opposing meanings. Some words contain simultaneous opposing or competing meanings in the same context, rather than alternative meanings in different contexts examples include blend words such as coopetition (meaning a murky blend of cooperation and competition), frenemy (meaning a murky blend of friend and enemy), glocalization, etc.

To barrack, in Australian English, is to loudly demonstrate support, while in British English it is to express disapproval and contempt. For example, to table a bill means 'to put it up for debate' in British English, while it means 'to remove it from debate' in American English (where British English would have 'shelve', which in this sense has an identical meaning in American English). Some contronyms result from differences in varieties of English. Negative words such as bad and sick sometimes acquire ironic senses by antiphrasis referring to traits that are impressive and admired, if not necessarily positive ( that outfit is bad as hell lyrics full of sick burns). ' Literally' has had a literal meaning of 'word for word', but its increasing use as a intensifier in colloquial speech can make it express 'not literally but with emphasis'. An apocryphal story relates how Charles II (or sometimes Queen Anne) described St Paul's Cathedral (using contemporaneous English) as ' awful, pompous, and artificial,' with the meaning (rendered in modern English) of 'awe-inspiring, majestic, and ingeniously designed'. Denotations and connotations can drift or branch over centuries. Some English examples result from nouns being verbed in the patterns of 'add to' and 'remove from' e.g. For example, sanction-'permit' or ' penalize' bolt (originally from crossbows)-'leave quickly' or 'fix/immobilize' fast-'moving rapidly' or 'unmoving'. Other contronyms are a form of polysemy, but where a single word acquires different and ultimately opposite definitions. Michael Jackson's Bad ( a song and an album) popularized the slang meaning of 'bad' as 'good'.

What is the opposite of synonym