Anabasis | A military advance | A military retreat |
Anxious | Full of mental distress because of apprehension of danger or misfortune [in effect, seeking to avoid] (We were anxious about the nearby gunshots.) | Eager or looking forward to (Until you returned, I was anxious to see you.) |
Apparent | Not clear or certain (For now, he is the apparent winner of the contest.) | Obvious (The solution to the problem was apparent to all.) |
Avocation | a hobby | a regular occupation [and one could say it's a triple autoantonym if you agree that the archaic meaning of "a distraction" is the opposite of working (even at a hobby) and if you agree that the obsolete meaning of "a calling away" takes you away from (the opposite of participating in) your hobbies, work, and even your distractions!] |
Awful | Extremely unpleasant, ugly | Awe-inspiring [typically, a feeling of admiration] |
Cite, Citation | For doing good (such as military gallantry) | for doing bad (such as from a traffic policeman) |
Cleave | To adhere tightly | To cut apart |
Dust | To remove dust | To apply dust (as in fingerprinting) |
Enjoin | To order someone to do something | To stop someone from doing something [such as in law by an injunction] |
Fearful | Causing fear | Being afraid |
Hysterical | Being overwhelmed with fear [in some cases] | Being funny |
Inflammable [a pseudo-autoantonym!] | Burns easily | [the incorrect assumption by many that the prefix in- makes it mean:] Does not burn [Only the first definition is correct; the risk of confusion has removed this word from gasoline trucks!] |
Lease, Let, Rent | [in essence] To loan out for money | To "borrow" for money |
Let | [Archaic] To hinder | To allow |
License | Liberty or permission to do something | Undue or excessive freedom or liberty |
Moot | [a slight stretch here] A moot point is one that is debatable, yet is also of no significance or has been previously decided, so why debate it? | |
Oversight | Watchful and responsible care | An omission or error due to carelessness |
Practiced | Experienced, expert (I am practiced in my work) | Inexperienced effort (The child practiced coloring) |
Prescribe | To lay down a rule | To become unenforceable |
Riot | Violent disorder | Revelry |
Sanction | Support for an action (They sanctioned our efforts.) | A penalty for an action (The Congressman was sanctioned for inappropriate behavior.) |
Sanguine | (Now poetic) Causing or delighting in bloodshed [according to contributor, also describes a person worked up into a bloody rage] | A person hopeful or confident of success [essentially someone calm about something] |
Secreted | Having put out, released | Placed out of sight |
Shank | (Informal) The early part of a period of time (It was just the shank of the evening when the party began.) | (Informal) The latter part of a period of time (It was the shank of the evening when the party ended.) |
Skin | to cover with a skin | to remove outer covering or skin |
Strike out | An ending, as in "The batter struck out." | A beginning, as in "I thought it was time to strike out on my own." |
Terrific | (Informal) Extraordinarily good | Causing terror |