| Word | 1st Meaning | 2nd Meaning (Opposite) |
| Appropriate | to give (money assets) to | to take something (for one’s own use) (lấy làm của riêng) |
| Badly | not good manner | very much (I want it badly) |
| Bolt | to flee (chạy trốn) | to secure (khóa cho chắc) |
| Bound | tied into immobility (bị trói) | leaping, jumping (nhảy lên) |
| Cancel | to stop doing (bãi bỏ) | to pay off (thanh toán, trả hết nợ); cancel a check: deposit a check in a bank (gởi một ngân phiếu vào ngân hàng, làm cho nó hết hiệu lực lần thứ hai) |
| Cite |
to recognize a good deed perfmance (cite for bravery) (tuyên dương, biểu dương) |
to require a court appearance (often not a good thing, such as citing f DUI, Driving Under the Influence, đòi ra tòa) |
| Chuffed | pleased (hài lòng) | displeased (bất mãn) |
| Cleave | to cling, hold tight (níu lấy) | to split apart (xẻ ra) |
| Clip | attach (cột) | cut off (cắt) |
| Demiurge | God as the creator (Thượng đế) | the devil, depending on philosophical context (quỷ) |
| Drop |
to delete eliminate (e.g., to drop a song from a playlist) (loại ra, rút lui) |
but it is also slang for releasing an artistic creation into the world (e.g., to
drop a new song on a music streaming service). So, the sentence "Her latest song
was dropped" has two opposing meanings. Cho ra |
| Down | unhappy (I'm feeling down) Không vui |
happy (I'm down with that). Vui |
| Downhill | things are getting worse Trở nên tồi tệ | getting easier: dễ dàng hơn |
| Draw the curtains | to open them: kéo màn | to close them: khép màn lại |
| Dust | to remove dust (cleaning a house) Chùi bụi | to add dust (e.g. to dust a cake with powdered sugar): thoa lên trên |
| Earthbound | unable to move from the earth: không lấy khỏi trái đất được | heading towards the earth: hướng về trái đất |
| Egregious | shockingly bad: rất tệ | incredibly good: quá tốt |
| Execute | to put into action: thi hành | to kill (a person): hành quyết |
| Factoid | a genuinely true but insignificant statement: thật nhưng không quan trọng | (less often) to a false statement presented as true: một câu nói sai nhưng được trình bày như là thật (ít dùng) |
| Fast | as an adjective or adverb can mean "without moving; fixed in place", as in "holding fast" (also as in "steadfast"): chắc một chỗ | moving quickly: di chuyển nhanh |
| Hew | to chop: chẻ ra | (in North America) to adher: bám vào |
| Inflammable | can catch on fire: có thể bắt lửa | cannot catch on fire: không cháy được |
| Left | remain (He is the last one left in the room) | leave (He left the room and started running) |
| Let | allow | prevent (Hamlet says, "I'll make a ghost of him that lets me.") |
| Limit: A request to "limit the damage to the clock tower" | to protect the clock tower from damage | to protect everything else but the clock tower from damage. |
| Nonplussed | baffled or perplexed | but in North America can mean "not disconcerted" or "unperturbed" (a disputed usage) |
| Off | activated / beginning to make a noise (e.g. "The alarm went off") | deactivated /ceasing operation" (e.g. "The alarm turned off by itself"). |
| Nothing | in a phrase such as "nothing exists", could mean "there isn't anything (that exists)" | there is something (that exists), namely 'nothing'. |
| Original | as it was at the beginning (e.g. "This is the original packaging.") |
brand new ("What an original idea!"). or: unique |
| Overlook | to miss seeing something | a place to see something from above. |
| Oversight | accidental omission or error | close scrutiny and control. |
| Peruse | to read or go over attentively | cursory (lướt nhanh) manner (e.g. peruse the collection). |
| Ravel | to entangle | to disentangle |
| Refrain |
non-action: không làm ... (I refrain from cursing at him) |
the repetition of an action (e.g. in musical notation, điệp khúc) |
| Restive | having difficulty staying still ("restless") | reluctant to move (though the latter is not a widely accepted meaning (ít được chấp nhận) |
| Sanction | approve | penalize |
| Scan | scrutinize (xem kỹ, quét hình) | skim (đọc qua loa) |
| Screen | to show | to conceal (che dấu) |
| Story | an untrue account of events (i.e., saying "It was just a story" implies something is not true) | a factual one (i.e., a news story) |
| Strike | to act decisively. Also, it can mean to hit, or to miss (as in baseball). In addition, it can mean to create ("strike a deal") or eliminate ("strike that line from the record"). | to refuse to act |
| Table | to discuss a topic at a meeting | to postpone discussion of a topic. |
| Transparent | easy to perceive or detect; can be seen through | invisible (as in computing i.e., "functioning without the user being aware of its presence"). |
| Weather | withstand something (i.e. to weather the storm) | to wear down or age. |