words with contradictory meanings

contemporary!

anxious

how so

contemporary means at the same time as, so probably gives the info from context whether its contemporary to the subject or contemporary to the present time doesn't it?

Yes - in fact that is the case with every word listed here!

However, "Contemporary art" does not change its meaning depending on context as far as I'm aware

incense as a noun vs. incense as a verb

sensibility

OL i will confess that i can't puzzle out your last three contributions itt

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/anxious

makes the anxious one quite clear - worried / eager

id have to disagree with ascribing intent to the word like that tbh

to whom does one write

The two usages of 'incense' aren't directly contradictory but the noun has a pleasant connotation (generally speaking, as I know not everyone is a nag champa stan) as opposed to the negative connotation of the verb form.

OTOH I probably should've said 'sensible' (reasonable vs. given over to feeling) rather than 'sensibility'.

Brexit

ha

anxious meaning "eager" - yes but there's still anxiety in that negative sense - the eagerness is manifesting as a kind of nervous stress

incense - at root it's the same: fieriness

"bottle" in the British sense has two directly contradictory meanings. the noun means "courage" and the verb means to lose your nerve!

checks out

"but what about the Irish sense" i hear you seething

Does the verb form suggesting violence done with a bottle entail more courage or cowardice, I wonder

More contents of bottles usually

"dutch courage" originally referred to that nationality's predilection to glassing in an otherwise honourable brawl

(trivia 100% false obv)

Dutch = gin in that context i reckon

Patron - the owner or a customer of a restaurant.

Does the verb form suggesting violence done with a bottle entail more courage or cowardice, I wonder

It's rhyming slang: "bottle & glass" = class (I think), as in to have class (as a fighter); so to lose one's bottle, to bottle it.

fix

labour

"Terribly" can mean very well or very badly.

She's terribly educated vs She was terribly educated

gonna need a stewards enquiry on labour.

fix

As in "in a fix" = having problems?

yep. brought to my attention by a line in a children's book, "I'll sort your monster fix".

It's rhyming slang: "bottle & glass" = class (I think), as in to have class (as a fighter); so to lose one's bottle, to bottle it.

I thought it was "bottle and glass" = arse (it works in a Cockney accent), so losing your bottle means to shit yourself?

funky

contranym

sanction

OP otm

Missing from this list afaict:
ravel

sick

"drop" (to release to the public) vs. "drop" (to remove/discontinue)

Sony Drops ‘Uncharted’ Movie 😃..............From 2017 Release Schedule 😢
New Mutants And Mulan Dropped 😃..............From Release Schedule Due To Coronavirus 😢

sound

string

dust

nice one!

then again, if you’d change the lyrics of the Kansas hit to “all we do is dust in the wind”, it wouldn’t change the meaning of the song at all

gallant

previously meant “sexually forward” i.e. a man motivated by trying to get into ladies’ knickers and was basically negative

then became a bit of a catch-all for “courageous”, not just in carnal matters

then the honorable side of courage rubbed off on it, but the previous association with behaviour towards women remained, so magically “gallant” now means “chivalrous” - previously its exact antonym!

Same etymon as 'well' (e.g. 'well-being') and the Gallo-Roman 'walare', which meant 'to chill' (figuratively, that is). The ancestors had their priorities straight.

Along the same lines: 'to host' could also mean 'to lodge at an inn' back in the day. Its ambiguity subsists in the French 'hôte', which denotes both guest and host depending on the context. Nor is a host in the military sense a welcome guest in most cases, but it's not an exact antonym either.

Speaking of French, it also features a number of spectacular diachronic reversals: 'rem' (Latin accusative of 'res', i.e. 'thing') eventually became 'rien' (nothing).

From most to least obsolete, the nouns 'mie' (the soft part of bread), 'goutte' (drop (of liquid)), 'point' (self-explanatory) and 'pas' (step) double as adverbs that mean 'not' (e.g. 'je (ne) peux pas'). Presumably 'ne' or 'n'' on their own (as in 'on n'y voit goutte') are too puny to bear the mighty weight of negation.

fain

Definition of fain (Entry 1 of 2)
1a : WILLING
he was very fain, for the young widow was "altogether fair and lovely … "
— Amy Kelly
b : being obliged or constrained : COMPELLED
Great Britain was fain to devote its whole energy … to the business of slaying and being slain
— G. M. Trevelyan