Prefixes and suffixes

Prefixes and suffixes

1. Prefixes A prefix is a group of letters at the beginning of a  word which changes the word’s meaning. Here is a list of the most common prefixes and examples of how those prefixes are used.

2. Suffixes A suffix is a group of letters at the end of a word which changes the word’s meaning and often its part of speech. Here is a list of the most common suffixes and examples of how those suffixes are used.

Anglo- relating to the UK or England an Anglophile (= someone who loves England) ante- before or in front of antedate • antenatal •anteroom anti- 1 opposed to or against anti-racist laws 2 preventing or destroying an anti-aircraft missile auto- 1 operating without being controlled by humans autopilot (= a computer that directs an aircraft) 2 self an autobiography (= a book that someone writes about their own life) bi- two bilingual (= speaking two languages) • bimonthly (= happening twice in a month or once every two months) centi-, cent- hundred a centimetre • a century co- with or together a co-author • to coexist contra- against or opposite to contradict (= say the opposite) • contraception (= something that is used to prevent pregnancy) counter- opposing or as a reaction to a counter-attack (= an attack on someone who has attacked you) cross- 1 across cross-border 2 including different groups or subjects a cross-party committee (= one formed from many political parties) • cross-cultural cyber- involving, using or relating to computers, especially the Internet cybercrime • cyberculture • cyberspace de- to take something away deforestation (= when the trees in an area are cut down) dis- not or the opposite of dishonest • disbelief • to disagree e- electronic, usually relating to the Internet email • e-commerce. Note: ‘e-’ is usally joined onto a word with a hyphen (as in e-commerce) but email is usually written without a hypen eco- relating to the environment eco-friendly tourism (= tourism which does not damage the environment) en- 1 used to form verbs which mean to put into or onto something encase • encircle • endanger 2 used to form verbs which mean to cause to be something enable • endear • enrich Euro- relating to Europe Europop (= modern, young people’s music from Europe) ex- from before an ex-boyfriend • an ex-boss extra- outside of or in addition to extracurricular activities (= activities that are in addition to the usual school work) geo- of or relating to the Earth geophysics • geology hyper- having a lot of or too much of a quality hyperactive • hypersensitive (= more than normally sensitive) ill- in a way which is bad or not suitable ill-prepared • an ill-judged remark in-, il-, im-, ir- not incorrect • illegal • impossible •irregular inter- between or among international • an interdepartmental meeting intra- within an intranet kilo- a thousand a kilometre • a kilogram mega- 1 informal extremely megarich (= extremely rich) 2 one million 40 megabytes micro- very small a microchip • microscopic (= extremely small) mid- in the middle of mid-July. • a man in his midforties • mid-afternoon/-morning milli- a thousandth a millisecond mini- small a miniskirt (= very short skirt) • a minibus mis- not or badly mistrust • to misbehave mono- one or single monolingual • a monologue multi- many a multi-millionaire • a multi-storey neo- new neo-fascists non- not or the opposite of non-alcoholic drinks • nonsmokers omni- everywhere or everything omnipresent • omniscient out- more than or better than to outgrow • to outnumber • to outdo someone (= to show that you are better than someone) over- too much to overeat • overpopulated photo- connected with or produced by light photosensitive • photosynthesis poly- many polygamy (= having more than one husband or wife at the same time) • a polygon (= shape with many sides) post- after or later than postwar • a postgraduate pre- before or earlier than pre-tax profits •pre-school pro- supporting pro-democracy demonstrations pseudo- false a pseudonym (= false name used especially by a writer) • pseudo-academic psycho- of the mind or mental processes psychology quasi- partly quasi-religious ideas re- again to remarry • a reusable container retro- looking at or copying the past retrograde • retrospective self- of or by yourself or itself self-doubt • self-critical semi- half or partly a semicircle • semi-frozen socio- relating to society socio-economic sub- 1 under or below subzero temperatures 2 less important or a smaller part of a larger whole a subsection super- extremely or more than usual a supermodel • super-rich tele- over a long distance, done by telephone, or on or for television He worked in the telecommunications industry thermo- relating to heat or temperature a thermostat (= piece of equipment that controls temperature) • a thermometer trans- 1 across transatlantic flights 2 showing a change to transform• to translate tri- three a triangle • a tripod ultra- extremely ultra-modern architecture • ultracareful un- not or the opposite of unhappy • unfair • to unfasten under- 1 not enough undercooked potatoes •underprivileged children 2 below underwear • an underpass.

-able/-ible changes a verb into an adjective. meaning ‘able to be’ avoid . avoidable • admire . admirable • like . likeable -age changes a verb into a noun. meaning ‘the action described by the verb or the result of that action’ marry . marriage • break . breakage • spill spillage -al 1 changes a noun into an adjective. meaning ‘relating to’ culture . cultural • nation . national • nature . natural 2 changes a verb into a noun. meaning ‘the action described by the verb’ approve. approval • remove . removal -an, -ian 1 makes a noun meaning ‘a person who does something’ historian • politician 2 makes an adjective. meaning ‘belonging somewhere’American -ance, -ence, -ancy, -ency makes a noun meaning ‘an action, state, or quality’ performance • independence • preference -ation, -ion changes a verb into a noun meaning ‘the process of the action described by the verb, or the result of that action’ educate . education •explain . explanation • connect . connection -ed makes an adjective meaning, ‘having this thing or quality’ bearded • coloured • surprised -ee changes a verb into a noun meaning ‘someone that something is done to’ employ . employee • interview. interviewee • train . trainee -en changes an adjective into a verb meaning ‘to become or make something become’ thick . thicken • fat . fatten • soft . soften -ence, -ency See -ance -er, -or changes a verb into a noun meaning ‘the person or thing that does the activity’ dance. dancer • employ . employer • act . actor • cook . cooker (= a machine for cooking) • time . timer -esque makes an adjective meaning ‘like or in the style of someone or their work’ a Dali-esque painting • a Kafka-esque nightmare -ful changes a noun into an adjective meaning, ‘having a particular quality’ beauty . beautiful • power . powerful • use . useful -hood makes a noun meaning ‘the state of being something and the time when someone is something’ childhood • motherhood -ian See -an -ical changes a noun ending in -y or -ics into an adjective meaning ‘relating to’ history . historical • politics . political -ing makes an adjective meaning ‘making someone feel something’ interest . interesting • surprise . surprising • shock . shocking -ion See -ation -ise See -ize -ish makes an adjective meaning 1 slightly a greyish colour • a smallish (= quite small) house 2 typical of or similar to a childish remark 3 approximately fiftyish (= about fifty) -ist 1 makes a noun meaning ‘a person who does a particular activity’ artist • novelist • scientist 2 makes a noun and an adjective meaning ‘someone with a particular set of beliefs’ communist • feminist -ive changes a verb into an adjective meaning ‘having a particular quality or effect’ attract . attractive • create . creative • explode . explosive -ize, -ise changes an adjective into a verb meaning ‘to make something become’ modern . modernize • commercial . commercialize -less changes a noun into an adjective meaning ‘without’ homeless people • a meaningless statement • a hopeless situation -like changes a noun into an adjective meaning ‘typical of or similar to’ childlike trust • a cabbagelike vegetable -ly 1 changes an adjective into an adverb describing the way that something is done She spoke slowly • Drive safely. 2 makes an adjective and an adverb meaning ‘happening every day, night, week, etc’ a daily newspaper • We hold the meeting weekly. 3 changes a noun into an adjective meaning ‘like that person or thing’ mother . motherly • coward . cowardly -ment changes a verb into a noun meaning ‘ the action or process described by a verb, or its result’ develop . development • disappoint  disappointment -monger makes a noun meaning ‘a person who encourages a particular activity, especially one which causes trouble’ a war-monger -ness changes an adjective into a noun meaning the quality or condition described by the adjective sweet . sweetness • happy . happiness • dark . darkness • ill . illness -ology makes a noun meaning ‘the study of something’ psychology (= the study of the mind) • sociology (= the study of society) -or See -er -ous changes a noun into an adjective meaning ‘having that quality’ danger . dangerous • ambition. ambitious -phile makes a noun meaning ‘enjoying or liking something’ a Francophile (= someone who loves France) • a bibliophile (= someone who loves books) -proof makes an adjective meaning ‘protecting against, or not damaged by, a particular thing’ a bullet-proof vest • a waterproof jacket -ridden makes an adjective meaning ‘full of something unpleasant or bad’ a guilt-ridden mother -ship makes a noun showing involvement between people • friendship • a relationship • partnership -speak used to form nouns to mean the special language used in a particular subject area or business computerspeak • marketingspeak -ward, -wards makes an adverb meaning ‘towards a direction or place’ inward • forward • homeward -wise changes a noun into an adverb meaning ‘relating to this subject’ Weather-wise, the holiday was great. • How are we doing time-wise? -y changes a noun into an adjective meaning ‘having a lot of something (often something bad)’ noise . noisy • dirt . dirty • smell . smelly