Opposite words are pairs that mean completely different things: big and small, hot and cold, day and night. This page teaches 20 pairs of opposite words for kids with pictures, and speaks each word in English and Hindi. Your child sees an elephant next to a mouse, hears "Big, बड़ा" and "Small, छोटा", and then plays a game where Golu asks for one of the two.
What are opposite words?
An opposite word (also called an antonym) means the reverse of another word. If something is not hot, it may be cold. If a glass is not full, it is empty. A simple opposite words definition in English for a child: "Opposites are two words that are as different as can be." In Hindi, opposite words are called विलोम शब्द (vilom shabd), and schools teach them from class 1 onwards.
So what is opposite words for kids, really? It is a way to sort the world into pairs. Children who know opposites describe things better, follow instructions like "put it up, not down", and later find it easier to read and write.
The 20 opposite words list on this page
Every pair below has pictures in the game and is spoken in both languages. This list works as a simple chart for nursery, UKG, class 1 and class 2. The first 10 are the easiest, so use them as "opposite words 1 to 10" for younger children.
| # | English | Hindi |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big / Small | बड़ा / छोटा |
| 2 | Hot / Cold | गरम / ठंडा |
| 3 | Day / Night | दिन / रात |
| 4 | Happy / Sad | खुश / उदास |
| 5 | Up / Down | ऊपर / नीचे |
| 6 | Open / Closed | खुला / बंद |
| 7 | Full / Empty | भरा / खाली |
| 8 | Fast / Slow | तेज़ / धीमा |
| 9 | Wet / Dry | गीला / सूखा |
| 10 | Tall / Short | लंबा / नाटा |
| 11 | Hard / Soft | सख़्त / मुलायम |
| 12 | Heavy / Light | भारी / हल्का |
| 13 | Loud / Quiet | ज़ोर से / चुप |
| 14 | Many / Few | ज़्यादा / कम |
| 15 | Sweet / Sour | मीठा / खट्टा |
| 16 | Stop / Go | रुको / चलो |
| 17 | Yes / No | हाँ / ना |
| 18 | Awake / Asleep | जागा हुआ / सोया हुआ |
| 19 | Left / Right | बायाँ / दायाँ |
| 20 | Fresh / Wilted | ताज़ा / मुरझाया |
For class 2 and class 3, children usually add more pairs such as old / new (पुराना / नया), strong / weak (मज़बूत / कमज़ोर), come / go, give / take, early / late, near / far and rich / poor. Introduce these only once the first 20 feel easy.
What your child learns, age by age
| Age | What is realistic | Start with |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3 years | Understands a few opposites in daily life when shown | Big / small, up / down, open / closed |
| 3-4 years (nursery) | Uses 5-8 opposite pairs in speech | Add hot / cold, full / empty, happy / sad |
| 4-5 years (LKG) | Says the opposite when asked; about 10-15 pairs | Add fast / slow, wet / dry, heavy / light |
| 5-6 years (UKG, class 1) | All 20 pairs; begins to read and write simple pairs | Add left / right, sweet / sour, fresh / wilted |
Left and right are the hardest pair on the list. Many children only master them at 6 or 7, so do not worry if your UKG child still mixes them up.
How to use this opposite words game
Listen
All 20 pairs are shown side by side. Tap any picture to hear the word in Hindi and English. This is the best place to start for toddlers and preschoolers.
Find it
Golu shows one pair and asks, for example, "Which one is cold?". Your child taps one of the two pictures. The game never says "wrong": it names the picture your child tapped, then makes the right one glow, and finally Golu points at it. Each round ends with a marble in the Goli Jar; tap it to count marbles together. The number of questions follows the age you set in Settings (behind a grown-up check), from 4 for age 2-3 to 8 for age 5-6.
The अ+A button switches between Hindi then English, English then Hindi, Hindi only and English only. For opposite words in English to Hindi practice, set English first; for Hindi-medium schools, set Hindi first.
How to teach opposite words to kids in 5-10 minutes a day
Opposites are best learnt with the body, not a book. Here is how to teach opposite words to preschoolers and kindergarten children through play.
- Act it out. Stand up tall, crouch down short. Run fast, walk slow. Laugh (happy), pretend to cry (sad). Children remember what their body did.
- Kitchen opposites. A full glass and an empty glass, hot chai and cold water (let them feel from a safe distance), sweet sugar and sour lemon, hard raw carrot and soft cooked carrot.
- Bath time. Wet towel, dry towel. Heavy full mug, light empty mug.
- Traffic walk. At a signal, red means stop, green means go. Play "stop and go" in the park with a clap.
- Opposite Simon says. You say "up", your child does "down". You say "loud", they whisper. This is a favourite opposite words activity for 5 and 6 year olds.
How to learn opposite words so they stick (opposite word kaise yaad kare)
Teach opposites in pairs, never one word alone. Always use the same picture for a pair (elephant and mouse for big and small) for the first week. Review 3 old pairs and add only 1 new pair each day. By the end of a month, your child will know all 20 without a single drill.
Opposite words worksheet and chart ideas
There is no PDF download on this site. For an opposite words worksheet for class 1, print this page from your browser: the table above prints cleanly. Cover the right column and ask your child to say or write the opposite. For opposite words kaise likhate hain, write the pair on one line with a dash: "hot – cold", or in Hindi "गरम – ठंडा".
Opposite word chart kaise banaen? Fold a chart paper in half. Draw or stick a picture on the left (a full glass) and its opposite on the right (an empty glass). Write the words below each picture. Teachers use the same idea as opposite words TLM (teaching-learning material): a flip book where one flap shows "day" and the next shows "night".
Opposites in Indian life and around the world
Indian life is full of opposites to talk about: hot summers and cold winters, the wet monsoon and the dry season, sweet jalebi and sour imli, the quiet early morning and the loud baraat. Festivals give examples too: Diwali lights up a dark night. In every language children learn opposites early, and research on bilingual children shows that learning a pair in two languages does not confuse them. It gives them two ways to describe the same idea.
Related pages: big and small for kids goes deeper into size, emotions for kids covers happy, sad and more feelings, and action words for kids has verbs like run and sit. Rhyming words is another fun word game for 4-6 year olds.
Gentle tips for every child
- Praise effort: "You thought about it and chose" is better than "clever girl" or "clever boy".
- If your child gets frustrated, go back to Listen mode or act out one pair together. End on a pair they know well.
- Speech delay: opposites can be shown with actions. Accept any gesture, then say the word.
- Autism: some autistic children find abstract pairs like "few / many" tricky. Use real objects (3 spoons vs 10 spoons), turn on fewer choices and calm sound, and keep a steady routine.
- Bilingual homes: learn the pair in your home language first, then add English.
On screens: children under 2 learn much more from a grown-up and real objects than from any screen. For 2 to 5 year olds, WHO and the Indian Academy of Paediatrics suggest up to an hour of screen time a day, played together with you. Short sessions of 5-10 minutes are plenty for this game.
