What is the true antonym of "successive"? [closed]

Solution 1:

If successive means

following another without interruption

then the antonym might be disjunctive

marked by breaks or disunity a disjunctive narrative sequence

An alternative might be discontinuous

a (1) : not continuous (2) : not continued : discrete discontinuous features of terrain

b : lacking sequence or coherence

Solution 2:

The basic premise of your question is flawed; many words do not have "one true antonym". This is because most words have multiple meanings or a spectrum of similar meanings with different semantic loads. Even where a word has one clear meaning, that does not mean there is only one concept which stands in clear contrast to it. Is "few" the true antonym of "many" or is "one"?

There are several ways in which multiple events could be shown not to be successive:

• There might be one large interruption in the sequence, with other conflicting events filling the gap
• Some or all of the events may happen in parallel
• There might only be one event

Which of these is truly not successive? All of them (and the list is not exhaustive). Which is most pertinent to you is entirely contextual.

Solution 3:

Concentrated has an inward direction to the concept (particles moving closer together and filling more of the space) while dispersed has an outwardness. Seems what you're looking for is an antonym that addresses the forward flow of successive. *Disjunctive* or discontinuous only contribute an opposite meaning to half of the concept of successive (the continuous part, but not the forward or progressive part).

They wouldn't have worked for your forum question but I think you're looking for something along the lines of regressive and retrograde. They both have that sense of flow/continuity as well as a reverse direction.

added:

Your post seems to ask two questions. 1. How could you have worded your forum question?
2. Is there a better antonym for successive than the ones you've found, an antonym that addresses more aspects of the concept of successive than just continuity?

It also seems that #1 gave rise to #2 out of sheer intellectual curiosity.

Answer to #2 already offered.

Answer to #1: It would have sufficed to ask about all the preceding elements (all emphasizing the reverse flow and that you are interested in more than just the few preceding elements) or about all the elements leading up to the one displayed (meaning all the elements from the 1st to the one displayed).