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Jan 24, 2022
This week’s theme
Anti-words

This week’s words
wrongous
eupnea
postposition
apocryphal
anergy

Previous week’s theme
Words borrowed from Hebrew
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

If an electron has a positron and matter has antimatter, then maybe each word has its anti-word. A wrongous for every righteous, a prequel to a sequel, and a dissensus for a consensus.

The linguistic universe stays in balance. Though sometimes for every wrongous there’s just more wrongous. (See backstab vs front-stab).

This week we’ll feature five anti-words, counterparts of everyday words. What are your favorite word/anti-word pairs? What anti-word would you like to see? Spin your own word accelerator and have charged words smash into one another and see what comes out?

Share below or email us at words@wordsmith.org (include your location). We eagerly anticipate what you discover, but please keep the word and its anti-word at a safe distance -- we do not want any annihilation to happen.

wrongous

PRONUNCIATION:
(RONG-uhs)

MEANING:
adjective: Unfair, lacking propriety, illegal, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:
From wrong, from Old English wrang + wise (manner). Earliest documented use: 1200.

USAGE:
“Partner Gerald Cunningham issued the following statement to The Times: ‘... medical evidence of physical and or psychological and or mental injury as a result of substantiated wrongous actions on the part of Nuns of the Order and staff ...’”
Anna Blundy; Holy Terrors; The Times (London, UK); Jan 24, 1998.

“As such, to reject or deny her right would be wrongous, it was decided.”
Nigel Tranter; Marchman; Hodder & Stoughton; 2012.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
As the pain that can be told is but half a pain, so the pity that questions has little healing in its touch. -Edith Wharton, novelist (24 Jan 1862-1937)

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