Except means "everything but". Is there a single word in English that has the opposite meaning to that of "except" (an antonym of except)?
asked Mar 8, 2015 at 14:55
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3Can you provide an example?– JasperCommented Mar 8, 2015 at 20:38
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1"Except" as a preposition means excluding. The opposite is including. "Except" as a conjunction means only. So, which one do you want an antonym for? (Which is why an example sentence would be nice. It would also demonstrate whether your understanding of "except" is correct.) Or do you want an antonym for "everything but," which does not necessarily mean "except"?– user6951Commented Mar 9, 2015 at 17:39
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6 Answers
Perhaps the word you're looking for is "including":
Put everything on my sandwich except pickles.
Put everything on my sandwich, including pickles.
You might find it useful to purchase a thesaurus or a dictionary of synonyms. These books often list antonyms, too.
answered Mar 8, 2015 at 15:11
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@δοῦλος I hate to be disagreeable, but I also think "only" is a good hypothesis. We'll have to see what the OP chooses. :) Commented Mar 9, 2015 at 1:54
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Apparently, Oxford Dictionaries also says that the antonym of except is including. Commented Mar 9, 2015 at 2:27
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1Well it is actually unclear what the OP is asking @Damkerng T. See my comment to his post. We can't be sure his understanding is correct without a sentence demonstrating it.– user6951Commented Mar 9, 2015 at 17:47
Another possible world could be "especially", depending on the context. It's roughly to mean "everything, and this in particular".
They were all good players, especially this one.
Mathematically, we might argue that if "except" is defined as "everything but", then we must have a universe X say, in which we want everything but except some A. So an antonym of "except" woud be "only" - we "only" want A and nothing else from X.
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2we might
argue, notargument:-) but +1 for the reasoning! Commented Mar 9, 2015 at 8:05 -
Excepting that language doesn't work like logic. Plus, you are arguing for the antonym of 'everything but' and then applying it to 'except'. Your reasoning is linguistically lacking– user6951Commented Mar 9, 2015 at 17:44
Another option, to describe extra elements, might be "additionally":
Put everything on my sandwich except for pickles.
Put everything on my sandwich, and additionally some pickles.
Although in normal conversation, this would usually be said in a less technical way:
Put everything on my sandwich, and please add some pickles too.
Only. Except means "everything but" Antonym should be "nothing but" and that is "only"
Always, Include(-ing), & And.
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3Hello and welcome to the site. One hint to improve your answer: expand a bit. While I really appreciate short and to-the-point answers, some examples or an explaining sentence wouldn't hurt here.– StephieCommented Mar 9, 2015 at 7:46