An ELT Glossary : Complementary Antonyms


  • Definition and examples :  "Opposites" which have an either/or relationship - eg child/adult; dead/alive; Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday (etc); push/pull  - you are either a child or an adult, and cannot be both at once. Similarly something cannot be both dead and alive at the same time,  if it is Monday today it cannot be any other day of the week, and if you are pushing something you cannot be pulling it at the same time.