Antonymy is the name for oppositeness relation. There are three main sub-types: gradable antonymy,complementary antonymy, and converse antonymy.

(1) Gradable antonymy. It is the commonest type of antonymy. They are gradable, namely, the members of a pair differ in terms of degree. The denial of one is not necessarily the assertion of the other. Examples include hot— cold, ugly—beautiful, etc.

(2) Complementary antonymy. The members of a pair in this type are complementary to each other. They divide up the whole of a semantic field completely. Not only the assertion of one means the denial of the other, but the denial of one also means the assertion of the other. Examples include alive—dead, open—closed, single— married, etc.

(3) Converse antonymy. This is a special type of antonymy in that the members of a pair do not constitute a positive-negative opposition. They show the reversal of a relationship between two entities. This type of antonymy is typically seen in reciprocal social roles, kinship relations, temporal and spatial relations. It is in this sense that they are also known as relational opposites. There are always two entities involved. One presupposes the other. This is the major difference between this type and the previous two. Examples include husband—wife, parent—child, above—below, etc.