- A gradable antonym is a type of "opposite" adjective or adverb where the words are on a scale with others before, after and/or in between and "extreme" antonyms beyond.
- Examples : On the scale of eg : freezing - cold -chilly - cool - warm - hot - boiling, the gradable adjectives are cold - chilly - cool - warm - hot while freezing and boiling are the extremes.
- Negating a gradable/ungradable adjective or adverb does not necessarily mean its opposite - eg "not hot" isn't necessarily "cold"; "not loudly" doesn't necessarily mean "softly". (Compare this against other types of antonym - eg dead/alive where negation does imply the opposite term.)
- Gradable adjectives/adverbs can be used in the comparative and superlative, whilst the extreme adjectives/adverbs cannot and can therefore be considered "ungradable" (or non-gradable):
Gradable : I think it's hotter today than yesterday but not ...
Ungradable : *I think it'smore boiling today than yesterday.
Ungradable : *I think it's
- Gradable adjectives/adverbs can be intensified by adverbs such as extremely, a bit, quite (which indicate intermediate degrees) but not by eg totally, completely, absolutely (which indicate ultimate degree). The extreme adjectives/adverbs at the end of the scale are the opposite and, again, for this reason they can be considered "ungradable" :
Extreme : It was absolutely freezing but not *It was
Further reading
Longman Advanced Learners’ Grammar (Foley & Hall) Unit 23
British Council, Learn English, Adjectives: Gradable and Non-Gradable
s
