Bad negatives
>>Anthonyms exist, they are words opposite to each other. Some anthonyms are made as simple negations of their positives - all those words prefixed with un-, dis-, non- etc. In serbian, they are mostly made with ne-, but there are others too. The purpose of this collection is to gather as many of wrong anthonyms, where the negative is not the opposite of its positive, but of something else, or when the positive is not a word in the language (which I'll mark with „--“).
last refreshed 01-21-2022 10:50:51 AM
(enough of this, get me
back)
besplatni
free (as in beer)
platni
related to payments
bespoštedno
unsparingly, without relief
---
pošteda exists as a word, means exception from an obligation or effort
bestraga
without a trace, into nowhere
--
bezazlen
harmless
--
the negative actually means „without evil“, and there's no word which would include a „with“
bezobrazluk
outrage, act of bad manners
--
nedonošče
prematurely born, literally „not brought to“
--
there's no particular word for the regular, brough-to-term, baby
negodovati
to express disagreement or discontent
--
„godovati“ has no meaning
nelagodnost
slight embarrasment, discomfort
--
the adjective from which this is derived has a full pair, though - lagodno means comfortably, with ease, and nelagodno the exact opposite.
nemilice
relentlessly, incessantly
--
„mio“ is dear; now how did this adverb come to be from the negation of that is... something to explore
nepodopština
escapade, gaffe, acting indecently
--
unless we count „opština“ (municipality)
nepogoda
bad weather or other natural mishap
--
„pogoda“ means „weather“ in russian, nothing in serbian
neprestano
incessantly
--
is „cessantly“ a word in english?
nesreća
disaster
sreća
happiness (but adjectives, srećan/nesrećan, do mean happy/unhappy)
nestašica
shortage
--
„stašica“ could theoretically be a nickname for Staša, which is sometimes a nickname for Stanislav(a)
netrag
word exists only in the phrase „netragom nestao“ - vanished by untrace, i.e. without a trace; this is actually a real negative which doesn't quite exist, „netrag“ is not a word you may find anywhere outside this phrase
neugledan
shabby looking, nondescript
ugledan
with nice reputation, famous in circles
neverica
disbelief
Verica
is a female name, dim. from Vera
nevernica
unfaitful wife or mistress
vernica
a female religious person; the male pair (vernik/nevernik) is not a false negative, it does mean believer/unbeliever)
nevolja
trouble
volja
the will, the willingness
nezgodan
troublesome, hard to handle
zgodan
cute, good looking, handsome
nezgrapan
unwieldy
--
„zgrapan“ is not a word
razaznati
to resolve (an unclear sight), to recognize (a silhouette)
saznati
to learn, to get to know, to get the news
razgovarati
to talk, converse
--
sagovarati is not a word
razmutiti
dilute by shaking or stirring
smutiti
concoct by dilution, shaking or stirring - practically the same as razmutiti, just slightly pejorative
razrediti
to thin (a solution), to rarefy, to spread thin
srediti
to put in order, to manage, to fix, to arrange
razvaliti
break apart, ruin
svaliti
shift the burden upon
razvesti
divorce, lead each to his post (guard)
svesti
summarize, reduce to a simpler term