anti
part of speech
preposition (anti); prefix (anti-); noun (an anti, antis — informal)
meaning for a pupil
1) Against; opposed to something ("They are anti the new road"). tree →
2) (prefix anti-) A word part meaning against or opposite, as in antisocial, antibiotic, anticlockwise. tree →
3) (informal) A person who is against something. tree →
sense in the lessons
Mostly met as a prefix in school words: anticlockwise (maths), antibiotic and antibodies (science), anti-bullying week. As a word on its own it is informal and means "against". Phrases: anti-bullying, anticlockwise, anti-slip, antifreeze.
examples
- My dad is anti the idea of a phone before I am twelve. tree →
- Turn the dial anticlockwise to open it. tree →
- It is anti-bullying week at our school. tree →
- The doctor gave me an antibiotic for the infection. tree →
- Put the anti-slip mat in the bath. tree →
- Antifreeze stops the water in the car from freezing. tree →
- Mum is a bit anti fizzy drinks. tree →
- The shops were full of patent dragon poison and anti-dragon soap, and dragonproof curtains for the windows; and indeed, everything that could be done was done. tree →
note
As a prefix it is sometimes joined with a hyphen (anti-bullying), sometimes not (antisocial). Pronounced AN-tee (UK) or AN-tie (US). Do not confuse anti- (against) with ante- (before: anteroom) or with "auntie" (aunt). In maths, anticlockwise (UK) = counterclockwise (US).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «anti» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.