Meanings
plural anthimerias · alternative antimeria
- rhetoricuncountableusuallyThe use of a word from one word class or part of speech as if it were from another, in English typically the use of a noun as if it were a verb.
Not only is "I googled that hottie" great publicity for the company, but it's fresh and funny and an excellent example of how anthimeria gives English an invigorating slap upside the head.
2006 July 9, Ben Yagoda, “Language: The moving parts of speech”, in The New York Times, →ISSN1 more example
Consider some other examples of anthimeria using slightly different types of words in the noun slot: Crystal's slogans "Full of Wow" and "Full of Yum," and the popular use of fail as a noun, as in "an epic fail" or "buckets of fail."
2014 May 13, James Harbeck, “How advertisers trick your brain by turning adjectives into nouns”, in The Week
Origin
- Latin-ia
- Ancient Greekμέρος“part”
- Ancient Greekᾰ̓ντῐ-“opposite”
- Latinanti-
- New Latinantimeria
- Englishanthimeria
Learned borrowing from New Latin antimeria, from Latin anti- (from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ντῐ- (ăntĭ-, “opposite”)) + Ancient Greek μέρος (méros, “part”) + Latin -ia, with non-etymological ⟨h⟩.
More words from New Latin, Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese 詞類活用 /词类活用
- 詞類活用 /词类活用the use of a word as if it were a member of another word class
Portuguese antimeria
- antimeriathe use of a word as if it were a member of another word class
Cite this entry
anthimeria. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anthimeria
“anthimeria.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anthimeria. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “anthimeria,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anthimeria.
Source: anthimeria on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.