Which term denotes the existence of intermediate terms between two opposite adjectives such as hot and cold?

• A. Gradable antonymy
• B. Binary antonymy
• C. Complementary antonymy
• D. Polysemy

Answer: (A)

This is about how opposites are arranged on a scale. Hot and cold are gradable antonyms because temperature lies on a continuum with many intermediate states—warm, lukewarm, cool, etc. In gradable antonymy, the quality has degrees, so you can compare how hot one thing is to another and use terms like hotter or colder. Complementary antonyms have no middle ground (one state or its negation), binary antonyms describe two exhaustive states with no gradation, and polysemy refers to multiple meanings of a word. So the term that best fits the existence of intermediate terms between hot and cold is gradable antonymy.