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In the spirit of the What is a Word™/Phrase™ series started by JLee, a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles.

If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it an Antigrammatic Word™.
Use the following examples below to find the rule.

However, by spending too much time in The Sphinx Lair, I have got the ""can't post a puzzle unless it has a single word or phrase answer" syndrome". So, once you figure out the rule, you will need to use the Words provided to get an answer that will both annoy you and soothe you at the same time.

Antigrammatic Words™ Not Antigrammatic Words™
KAFIR ONION
SILENT RELAX
UNITED ADORNED
SAINTED SUNRISE
PIT SPAR
HAPPIEST BEGONE
HURTLESS ANGEL

And, if you want to analyze, here is a CSV version:

Antigrammatic Words™,Not Antigrammatic Words™
KAFIR,ONION
SILENT,RELAX
UNITED,ADORNED
SAINTED,SUNRISE
PIT,SPAR
HAPPIEST,BEGONE
HURTLESS,ANGEL

The puzzle satisfies the series' inbuilt assumption, that each word can be tested for whether it is an Antigrammatic Word™ without relying on the other words.
These are not the only examples of Antigrammatic Words™, more, but a very limited number exist.

What is the special rule these words conform to?

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    $\begingroup$ Whatever font that is has uppercase T as slightly shorter than the rest and I find it unreasonably aggravating. $\endgroup$
    – Engineer Toast
    Nov 8, 2017 at 20:50
  • $\begingroup$ @EngineerToast completely reasonable, it's abhorrent $\endgroup$
    – Sabre
    Nov 8, 2017 at 22:12
  • $\begingroup$ @EngineerToast On what platform and browser? They're exactly the same for me on Linux/Firefox, Linux/Chrome, IOS/Safari on iPhone and iPad, and the SE mobile client for IOS. $\endgroup$
    – Rubio ♦
    Nov 9, 2017 at 1:50
  • $\begingroup$ @Rubio In a Google Chrome Browser on Windows 8.1 Pro at 1366 X 766 resolution, stem (the top horizontal line of 'T') has two unequal portions. Interestingly at other resolutions it is fine! $\endgroup$
    – Mea Culpa Nay
    Nov 9, 2017 at 7:02
  • $\begingroup$ @Rubio I note the issue in Win7 Chrome and IE, 1920x1200 and 1440x900. It looks fine on the Android SE app. Based on mine, yours, and Mea Culpa Nay's data, it may be an issue on Windows with \text in MathJax. Even a simple post such as $\text{SILENT}$ has the issue for me. $\endgroup$
    – Engineer Toast
    Nov 9, 2017 at 14:24

1 Answer 1

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I think an Antigrammatic Word is one that has

an antigram: that is, an anagram with (approximately) opposite meaning.

Thus:

a KAFIR is an infidel, an enemy of Islam; a FAKIR is a Muslim ascetic.
if all is SILENT then there is nothing to LISTEN to.
if two things are UNITED then that can be reversed when they are UNTIED.
if you are SAINTED then presumably your soul is not STAINED.
in a PIT the ground is lowered, whereas in a TIP it is raised.
the HAPPIEST writings are usually not EPITAPHS.
it is hard to be HURTLESS if you are also RUTHLESS.

And

the initial letters of the antigrams of the given antigrammatic words are F,L,U,S,T,E,R; and FLUSTER/RESTFUL is an antigrammatic pair with approximately the meanings requested.

Full disclosure:

I saw that only after some nudging from the OP, though I had noticed that the letters of FLUSTER appear, in the right order, in the given words. D'oh!

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  • $\begingroup$ This is indeed correct. Just ponder a bit more on your obscure thoughts and you will see that the answer that you think is indeed the expected one. $\endgroup$
    – Sid
    Nov 8, 2017 at 17:03
  • $\begingroup$ @Rob I randomly chose the second column such that they are not antigrams. I didn't bother to check for anagrams of each of them. (Bonus, if you can figure out from which puzzle I copied the words of the second column from.) $\endgroup$
    – Sid
    Nov 8, 2017 at 19:19
  • $\begingroup$ This one: puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/45630/… $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Nov 9, 2017 at 0:45
  • $\begingroup$ I thought those looked familiar... ;) $\endgroup$
    – Rubio ♦
    Nov 9, 2017 at 1:07

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