Use Prefixes to Create Antonyms

An antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning to another word. Many antonyms are formed by adding the prefix un- to an existing word.

for example:

happy   unhappy

kind   unkind

The prefixes mis-, dis-, in-, ir- and im- and il- are used instead of un- with some words to create antonyms.

for example:

lead   mislead

like   dislike

visible   invisible

regular   irregular

possible   impossible

logical   illogical

Mis- usually has the meaning of doing something wrongly, such as misinforming someone about something. However, most of the prefixes mean exactly the same thing as each other, so it is just a case of learning which ones should be added to particular words.

You may find a dictionary helpful for this worksheet.