Invaluable Vocabulary: What Are Phantonyms?
You probably already know that a synonym is a word that means the same as another, and that antonyms are opposites. But have you ever come across a word that seems to mean one thing, but actually means something else? These words are sometimes referred to as "phantonyms."
A great example is "noisome," which looks like it should mean "noisy." However, the word is used to describe something that smells bad or strong, or that is generally unpleasant to the senses. In fact, "noisome" is related to the word "annoy" rather than "noise."
"Suffrage" might look like the noun form of the verb "suffer," but it actually refers to the right to vote. If you're interested in history, you may have seen the word "suffragette," which was the name given to women who fought for the right to vote.
In English, the prefix "in" is often used to make words negative, like for example, "correct" and "incorrect," or "expensive" and "inexpensive." But something that's "invaluable," is actually very valuable or useful — so much so that it's hard to say just how valuable it is!
And here's an invaluable warning: "inflammable" doesn't mean that something can't be set on fire, but that it can very easily be set on fire.
There are also examples of the similarity between words causing their meaning to change over time. For example, the original meaning of "enormity" is "an immoral or illegal act." But because it looks and sounds like "enormous," over time it became common to use it to talk about size. Today, most dictionaries include both the original and newer meaning of "enormity."
