<p>It's sometimes refered to in the traditional scholarship as '<a href="http://www.zdic.net/cd/ci/4/ZdicE5Zdic8FZdic8D26589.htm" rel="nofollow">反训</a>.' 钱锺书 has an extensive discussion of it in his 《管锥编·周易正义·论易之三名》.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-23T07:00:04.397Z
Nice to know there's a term for it. There is a bit about it here http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%AE%AD%E8%AF%82%E5%AD%A6
jsj
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-21T08:02:12.063Z
2012-02-21T08:02:12.063Z
K. Shen
<p>Not sure if this is exactly what you're asking, but 厉害 (li4hai) can have both a good or bad meaning depending on the context. For example, if a student says a teacher is li4hai they probably mean strict. If you do something and demonstrate great ability, someone might say, "Wow! You're really li4hai!"</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-18T16:19:44.107Z
2012-02-18T16:19:44.107Z
aelephant
<p>Yes there are a lot, very often it depends on the context and how you say it (like the tone).</p>

<p>For example: 讨厌 means dislike, but can mean like some times, such as in: 真是个小讨厌 (used wen describing my little noisy baby but means I really like my baby, not dislike).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-18T18:26:48.870Z
2012-02-18T18:26:48.870Z
Laguna
<p>Are there (m)any Chinese words that are their own antonyms? Similar to English "terrific", "wicked", etc. (which originally had negative meanings and now have positive meanings).</p>

<p>I imagine that as Chinese words are so heavily tied to their etymology (and the meaning of the characters used to write them), "auto-antonyms" would be rare??? </p>

<etymology><antonyms>
Chinese words that are their own antonyms
# Chinese words that are their own antonyms

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-02-17)

Are there (m)any Chinese words that are their own antonyms? Similar to English "terrific", "wicked", etc. (which originally had negative meanings and now have positive meanings).

I imagine that as Chinese words are so heavily tied to their etymology (and the meaning of the characters used to write them), "auto-antonyms" would be rare???

**Tags:** etymology, antonyms


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2012-02-21. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

It's sometimes refered to in the traditional scholarship as '[反训](http://www.zdic.net/cd/ci/4/ZdicE5Zdic8FZdic8D26589.htm).' 钱锺书 has an extensive discussion of it in his 《管锥编·周易正义·论易之三名》.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Nice to know there's a term for it. There is a bit about it here http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%AE%AD%E8%AF%82%E5%AD%A6  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2012-02-18. Score: 4

Not sure if this is exactly what you're asking, but 厉害 (li4hai) can have both a good or bad meaning depending on the context. For example, if a student says a teacher is li4hai they probably mean strict. If you do something and demonstrate great ability, someone might say, "Wow! You're really li4hai!"


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2012-02-18. Score: 1

Yes there are a lot, very often it depends on the context and how you say it (like the tone).

For example: 讨厌 means dislike, but can mean like some times, such as in: 真是个小讨厌 (used wen describing my little noisy baby but means I really like my baby, not dislike).


---

