Antonym vs. Oxymoron: What's the Difference?

Antonym and Oxymoron Definitions

A word having a meaning opposite to that of another word

The word "wet" is an antonym of the word "dry.".

A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.

(semantics) A word which has the opposite meaning of another word.

“rich” is an antonym of “poor”; “full” is an antonym of “empty”

(rhetoric) A figure of speech in which two words or phrases with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect.

A word that describes one end of a scale, while its opposite describes the other end, such as large versus small; a gradable antonym.

A contradiction in terms.

A word of opposite meaning; a counterterm; - used as a correlative of synonym.

A figure in which an epithet of a contrary signification is added to a word; e. g., cruel kindness; laborious idleness.

Two words that express opposing concepts;

To him the opposite of gay was depressed

Conjoining contradictory terms (as in `deafening silence')