Word-lovers only: Ok, these paradoxes are a ''time suck'' but
I'm having fun. Here, from Wikipedia is a long list of examples
of words that can mean exactly opposite things:
''All but'' can mean ''except for'' or ''almost entirely''.
''Apparent'' can mean ''obvious'' or ''seeming, but in fact
not''.
''Awful'' can mean ''worthy of awe'' or ''very bad''.
''Back'' can mean ''regressive'' as in ''to go back in time'',
or it can mean ''progressive'' as in ''to push back a
deadline''.
''Buckle'' can mean ''fasten securely'' as in ''buckle your seat
belt'', or it can mean ''fall apart'' as in ''buckle under
pressure''.
''Catholic'' can mean ''wide-ranging, liberal'', as in
''catholic tastes'', or ''conservative'', as in ''Catholic
views'' (usually capitalized as this meaning is derived from the
Catholic Church).
''Chuffed'' can mean ''displeased; disgruntled'' or ''pleased;
satisfied.''
''Citation'' can mean ''commendation'' or a ''summons to appear
in court''.
''To cleave'' can mean ''to cling'' or ''to split''.
''To dust'' can mean to remove dust (cleaning a house) or to add
dust (dust a cake with powered sugar).
''Egregious'' can mean ''very bad'' or, in an archaic sense,
''very good''.
''To enjoin'' can mean ''to prohibit, issue injunction'' or ''to
order, command''.
''Eponym'' can mean ''name of a person that has given rise to
the name of something'' and ''word derived from a person's
name''.
''Fast'' can mean ''moving quickly'' as in ''running fast,'' or
it can mean ''not moving'' as in ''stuck fast''.
''To fight with someone'' can mean ''to fight against someone''
or ''to fight alongside someone''.
''Impregnable'' can mean ''able to be impregnated'' or
''incapable of being entered''.
''Literally'' can mean ''word for word, not metaphorically or
idiomatically'', but is also often used in non-standard language
as an intensifier for figurative statements, ending up roughly
synonymous with ''virtually, figuratively''.
''Moot'' can mean worthy of discussion or not worthy of
discussion.
''Nonplussed'' can mean surprised and confused, but has come to
mean unperturbed in North American English.
''To overlook'' can mean ''to inspect'' or ''to fail to
notice''.
''Oversight'' (uncountable) means ''supervision'', ''an
oversight'' (countable) means ''not noticing something''.
''Off'' can mean ''deactivated'' as in ''to turn off'', or it
can mean ''activated'' as in ''the alarm went off''.
''To peruse'' can mean ''to examine in detail'', or ''to look
over in a cursory manner''
''Ravel'' can mean to combine thread or to separate it.
''Redundant'' can mean ''useless'' or ''extra caution''.
''Refrain'' means both non-action and the repetition of an
action, e.g. in musical notation.
''To rent'' can mean ''to borrow from'' or ''to lend to''.
''Resign'' can mean ''give up or quit'' or ''continue''.
''To sanction'' can mean ''to permit'' or ''to punish''.
''Shelled'' can mean ''having a shell'' or ''has had the shell
removed'' (as in shelling).
''To skin'' means ''to cover with skin'' (as in to skin a drum)
as well as ''to strip or peel off'' (as in to skin an animal).
''To stay'' can mean ''to remain in a specific place, to
postpone'' or ''to guide direction, movement''.
''To stint'' means ''to stop'', but the noun ''stint'' refers to
the interval of work between stops.
''Strike'', in baseball terms, can mean ''to hit the ball'' or
''to miss the ball''.
''Terrific'' can mean ''very good'' or ''very bad''.
''Unpacked'' can refer to a container with objects still in it,
or a container with the objects removed.
''To weather'' can mean ''to endure'' (as in a storm) or ''to
erode'' (as in a rock).
''Weedy'' can mean ''overgrown'' (''The garden is weedy'') or
stunted (''The boy looks weedy'').
''Yield'' can mean ''to produce'' (as in a chemical equation) or
''to concede'' (as in driving).
