IELTS Grammar: Ever heard of CONTRONYM?

When it comes to GRAMMAR in IELTS, not every grammar point is required, but at the same time a few of these stand out as most important. 

Read ahead to find out one such important grammar point to be learnt.


IELTS Grammar




We have synonyms and antonyms but have you ever heard of a contronym. Well, contronyms are words that are their own opposites without any change in the spelling or the pronunciation of the word. These words are quite rare and sometimes difficult to use appropriately. This will provide you a good score in the Lexical Resource assessment criteria in IELTS Writing if used correctly.


For example, the word "custom", can mean something is a common practice or something is unique.
  • " Enrique has a motorcycle custom-made for his dad." - Here custom implies the bike is specially built and personalized.
  • " David is a man who likes to follow his religious customs." - Here custom refers to the common traditions and values popularly followed and accepted in David's religion.
Here are some of the words that you can use:
Bill: A payment, or an invoice for payment 
Bolt: To secure, or to flee 
Bound: Heading to a destination, or restrained from movement
Splice: To join, or to separate 
Transparent: Invisible, or obvious 
Quantum: Significantly large, or a minuscule part 
Model: An exemplar, or a copy 

Fire off a few google searches and see if you can find more.

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