New Words Resolution: Opposites Attract: Words for National Opposite Day, January 25

If you said, “I will never eat another pizza again. I renounce all pizza!” while eating a pizza, your words and actions are contradictory. They’re opposed: they contradict each other. Most people don’t like to be contradicted, especially people in authority.

Antagonistic things are opposed to each other. Antagonistic muscles are literally opposed, like the bicep and tricep. An antagonistic remark is not just a contradiction, but a hostile one. A related word is often used when discussing fiction. In a movie, TV show, book, or other story, the main character is the protagonist. The person who opposes them — often a villain of some sort — is the antagonist. Think Valdemort or Kylo Ren.

Antithetical things are opposed, usually in terms of ideas or beliefs. If you’re a firefighter, it would be antithetical to your values to let a house burn. For some people, religion and science are antithetical. This word is related to thesis, as in thesis statement, which is the argument of a paper, usually stated in one clear sentence. The thesis is the point of your essay and anything that goes against that point would be antithetical.

Things that are complimentary go together well, like peanut butter and waffles — er, jelly. But things that are contrary don’t go together well at all. If you had a house full of Christmas decorations in July, they would be contrary to the calendar. If you went to a funeral and were smiling and giggling, your behavior would be contrary to the solemnity of the occasion. When someone is about to propose an opposite point of view, they often start by saying, “On the contrary!”

This word can mean chilly or frigid, just like the North and South poles, or it can take another meaning from the farthest reaches of the globe: opposite. If you’re on the North Pole, you can’t get farther away than the South Pole, unless you go to Mars, which is even less hospitable than the East Coast in winter. People often speak of polar opposites, such as horse manure and ice cream or politics and honesty.

A paradox is a statement or situation that says two things at once: it contradicts itself in some way, often to state a deeper truth. So a paradoxical notion contains its own opposite. The fact that life can seem long and short at the same time is a paradox. Many Zen koans—short riddles that are used in Buddhist meditation — are paradoxical. One asks, “What was your face before your mother and father were born?” Puzzle over that paradox too long, and you might be come enlightened or dizzy.

Things that have an inverse relationship are not on the same page: well, they might literally be on the same page, but they’re moving in opposite directions. If cold weather and economic growth have an inverse relationship, then as temperatures get frigid, the economy heats up. Eating chocolate cake every day and losing weight have an inverse relationship. The opposite of inverse is direct.

Another contra word, this one is mostly found in the world of medicine. Doctors talk about symptoms and diseases that contraindicate medicines and treatments. For example, if you’re allergic to Penicillin, that would certainly contraindicate taking any Penicillin. The root of this word, indicate, is more straightforward. If someone is yelling “Help!” then that indicates they’re in need of some assistance. You can also talk about indications and contraindications.

In the military, a command tells you to do something, but a countermand cancels out that order — or orders you to do the opposite.

Irreconcilable things can’t be reconciled, smoothed over, or negotiated. For example, if one spouse wants children, and the other would rather have cockroaches, that’s an irreconcilable difference.