Unlike an oxymoron, an antioxymoron is a phrase in which two words have redundant meanings… like time clock and duck down. In the following list, only one instance of similar antioxymora is given; for example, major disaster stands in for major catastrophe, major crisis, etc., or climb up, stands in for rise up, stand up, etc. Of course, antioxymoron is the counterpart of oxymoron. For a great big oxymoron list, visit The Best Oxymoron List. [ NOTE ]
This compilation does not include easily made up antioxymora, like small midgets, large mountains, and cold ice because such word pairs rarely occur naturally (in other words, no fair just making them up). Nor are there any subjective ones, like dumb blonde because blondes are not really dumber than anyone else. Also not included are pseudo-antioxymora such as ripe fruit, hot stove, and profit motive because these words aren’t actually redundancies of each other.  |
absolute certainty – accidental mistake – actual facts – age old – ancient history – armed gunman – assemble together – awful tragedy – back away – barely naked – basic fundamentals – being alive – biased opinion – bisect in two – bit part – broad range – bottom floor – celebrated hero – certain death – chain link – chair seat – circle around – climb up – close at hand – come forward – common shares – completely finished – dark shade – dead end – dig down – duck down – dumb dumb – empty hole – enormously huge – extreme limits – factual information – fall down – false pretense – fantastic imagination – far away – fast fleet – fat broad – fictional story – final conclusion – finally over – first initial – flat plain (prairie) – free gift – freezing cold – frozen solid – fun vacation – funny comedy – glue stick – gone away – grab hold – great big – ground floor – gruesome murder – hall room – hang down – happy smile – hard rock – heart sound – helping hand – high heaven – highly elated – heart sound – hind end – honest truth – hound dog – human error – ice cold – individual person – jailed prisoner – just deserves – large crowd – leaf lettuce – leap up – lie down – lift up – little baby – live action – long distance – loose slacks – loud yell – luggage carrier – major crisis – male peacock – many more – mighty strong – multiple choice – nape of the neck – new beginning – new innovation – nutritious food – old age – one instance – open spaces – or else – pizza pie – press together – past experience – peel off – pep rally – picture show – pretty cute – puppy dog – pussy cat – quite so – really true – rear end – religious ritual – round ball – run fast – safe haven – safe vault – say aloud – secret password – security guard – short briefs – sick patient – (every) single one – slanted list – slave labor – smash hit – soft pillow – solid rock – spacious room – spin aroung – split apart – still sleeping – store savings – stupid idiot – sum total – sweet candy – tail end – take away – terrible disaster – thin film – tightly packed – time clock – tiny speck – toll charge – too much – top hat – trained professional – tuna fish – unforeseen accident – unusually rare – usual routine – very much – warm toast – way too (much) – wild enthusiasm – yell loudly – young child
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Two-word antioxymora are often used to emphasize a point. One-word antioxymora, on the other hand, usually have no excuse for their redundancies.
buildup – bye-bye – cowgirl – daylight – downfall – flashlight – grownup – heavyweight – high-rise – lowdown – malady – mama – nearby – nightshade – non-negative – no-no – overdone – papa – rainfall – red-blooded – roadway – seeing-eye – seesaw – shortcut – sightsee – stairsteps – sky-high – thunderclap – tophat – underneath – uplift – uprise – uttermost – wraparound – tip-top – tomboy – underneath – up-escalator