Opposite Adjectives! In some situations you may be required to define the opposite of an adjective, for example in a sentence such as ‘The blue car is fast but the red car is slow.‘ There are a huge range of opposites and being able to pair them up in English will make you sound more like a native speaker as well as widening your overall vocabulary.
In this section, you will learn the opposite of a great selection of English adjectives which you can then apply to your day to day conversation.
Table of Contents
Opposite Adjectives
List of adjectives that are opposite with pictures and examples. Learn these opposite adjectives to enlarge your vocabulary in English.
Opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship, like the opposite pairs big – small, long – short, …
Opposite Adjectives List
- Slow – Fast
- Thick – Thin
- Straight – Curly
- Light – Heavy
- Loose – Tight
- Beautiful – Ugly
- Big – Small
- Strong – Weak
- Healthy – Sick
- Low – High
- Poor – Wealthy
- Short – Tall
- Thin – Fat
- Insane – Sane
- Bad – Good
- Straight – Crooked
- Deep – Shallow
- Dark – Light
- Lazy – Hard-working
- Brave – Cowardly
- Cheap – Expensive
- Distant – Near
- Modern – Ancient
- Delicious – Awful
- Wide – Narrow
- Talkative – Taciturn
- Healthy – Sick
- Careful – Careless
- Pessimistic – Optimistic
- Tidy – Messy
- Patient – Impatient
- Friendly – Unfriendly
- Cold – Hot
- Dishonest – Honest
- Happy – Unhappy
- Selfish – Generous
Common Opposite Adjectives with Pictures and Examples
Slow – Fast
– The car was travelling at a very slow speed.
– He’s one of the fastest runners in the world.
Thick – Thin
– He was wearing thick glasses.
– She’s only wearing a thin summer jacket.
Straight – Curly
– Terry has a long, straight black hair.
– She was young, with a round face and brown curly hair.
Light – Heavy
– You can carry this bag – it’s fairly light.
– The wardrobe was too heavy for me to move on my own.
Loose – Tight
– I’m very uncomfortable in this loose shirt.
– My shoes were so tight that I could hardly walk.
Beautiful – Ugly
– The bride looked beautiful in that dress.
– He was short, near-sighted, ugly and exceptionally awkward.
Big – Small
– The garage isn’t big enough for two cars.
– The T-shirt was too small for him.
Strong – Weak
– He picked her up in his big strong arms.
– She’s too weak to feed herself.
Healthy – Sick
– I’ve always been perfectly healthy until now.
– Maria can’t come in today because she’s sick.
Low – High
– The sun was low in the sky.
– The camp was surrounded by a high fence.
Poor – Wealthy
– Her family were so poor they couldn’t afford to buy her new clothes.
– He left as a poor, working class boy and returned as a wealthy man.
Short – Tall
– He’s a bit shorter than me.
– She’s a little taller than her sister.
Thin – Fat
– He was tall and thin, with short brown hair.
– You’ll get fat if you eat all that chocolate.
Insane – Sane
– The whole idea sounds absolutely insane to me.
– He seems perfectly sane to me.
Bad – Good
– I have some bad news for you.
– The train service is not very good.
Straight – Crooked
– She was looking straight at me.
– His lips curled into a crooked smile.
Deep – Shallow
– The castle is on an island surrounded by a deep lake.
– The lake is quite shallow.
Dark – Light
– The church was dark and quiet.
– The kitchen was light and spacious.
Lazy – Hard-working
– He felt too lazy to get out of bed.
– She is a hard-working teacher.
Brave – Cowardly
– It was brave of you to speak in front of all those people.
– He was very cowardly because he did not tell that truth.
Cheap – Expensive
– Property is cheaper in Spain than here.
– Petrol is becoming more and more expensive.
Distant – Near
– Stars are distant from our galaxy.
– She told the children not to go near the canal.
Modern – Ancient
– They are the youngest children in modern times to face murder charges.
– So according to history it has been found from the most ancient times, and so it is to our own day.
Delicious – Awful
– The pear is a delicious fruit and I like it very much.
– There’s an awful smell in here.
Wide – Narrow
– The boat was nearly as wide as the canal.
– This is a long narrow road.
Talkative – Taciturn
– He’s a talkative guy, and I struck up a conversation with him.
– He’s a reserved, taciturn person.
Healthy – Sick
– I’ve always been perfectly healthy until now.
– Maria can’t come in today because she’s sick.
Careful – Careless
– Could you be more careful in future?
– He was very careless in his work
Pessimistic – Optimistic
– He remains deeply pessimistic about the peace process.
– Bankers are cautiously optimistic about the country’s economic future.
Tidy – Messy
– His clothes were always tidy and clean.
– The place is so messy, I haven’t had time to clear up.
Patient – Impatient
– You’ll just have to be patient and wait till I’m off the phone.
– We are growing impatient with the lack of results.
Friendly – Unfriendly
– She has such a kind, friendly personality.
– She was really unfriendly to me.
Cold – Hot
– Let’s get in out of this cold wind.
– In dry gourds, they were served a hot tea made from the ground leaves of something Bordeaux called the lip fern.
Dishonest – Honest
– The dishonest manager was cashiered at last.
– He is wise that is honest.
Happy – Unhappy
– He alone is happy who commands his passions.
– I hate to see you unhappy.
Selfish – Generous
– I call his behaviour mean and selfish.
– He is very generous — he often buys things for other people.
Opposite Adjectives: List of Opposites of Adjectives with Pictures
Opposite Adjectives in English | Image 1
Opposite Adjectives in English | Image 2
List of Adjectives in English
Useful list of adjectives in English with pictures and adjective video lesson.
- Opposite adjectives in English.
- List of emotions: feeling words and emotion words with pictures.
- Descriptive adjectives to describe people in English.
- Personality adjectives, character traits and personality traits in English.
Opposite Adjectives Video
Hi, thanks a lot this will be VERY usefull
w*f! the mas is strong and the woman is weak. EMBARASSING
There is some serious gender bias going on with the picture definitions on this website. The man is strong, while the woman is weak, the woman is envious and jealous, the definition for “frank” is a girl kissing a boys cheek. Please take a serious look at the perspective you’re sharing with the world and the weight that holds. This is socially irresponsible and degrading to women.
But both seems healthy. Im agree with you ñ_ñ and then i thought about change the perspective a little bit… Good vibes! :3
Oh, but Little Red Riding Hood being honest and a man being dishonest is not? Squat me 140kgs on 20 reps and we’ll talk again. Of course their are women who can do that, but few. This is not an inacurate generalization; nor does it refer to weakness in general – ONLY PHYSICAL. When is comes to birthing babies, sure, men woul suffer sudden death.
would* and there* and inaccurate* – d**n they should have added “can spell” and can’t spell” to the same picture
What about Bad-Good?
thanks !!! your images are so useful!!!!
Do I can get have pdf book