What is Prefix and Suffix Mean? Definitive Guide With Examples

February 9, 2023February 6, 2023 by Md Nasir Uddin

possible	impossible
able	unable

Prefixes	Meaning	Example
over-	too much	overcook, overcharge, overrate
out-	go beyond	outdo, out-perform, outrun
post-	after	post-election, post-war
pre-	before	prehistoric, pre-war
pro-	in favor of	pro-communist, pro-democracy
re-	again	reconsider, redo, rewrite
semi-	half	semicircle, semi-retired
sub-	under, below	submarine, sub-saharan
tele-	at a distance	television, telepathic
trans-	across	transatlantic, transfer
ultra	extremely	ultra-compact, ultra-sound
supper	above, beyond	super-hero, supermodel
un-	remove, reverse, not	undo, unpack, unhappy
up-	make or move higher	upgrade, uphill
under-	beneath, less than	underestimate, undercook
anti-	against, opposite	anti-government, anti-racist, anti-war
auto	self	autobiography, automobile
de-	reverse, change	de-classify, decontaminate, demotivate
dis-	reverse, remove	disagree, displeasure, disqualify
down-	reduce, lower	downgrade, downhearted, download
extra-	beyond	extraordinary, extraterestrial
hyper-	extreme	hyperactive, hypertension
inter-	between	interactive, international
mega-	important, very big	megaton, megabyte, mega-deal
mid-	middle	middy, midnight, mid-september
mis-	badly, incorrectly	misspelt, mislead, misaligned
non-	not	non- smoking, non-payment
il-, ir-	not	illegal, irregular
im-, in-	not	impossible, insecure

Suffix	Examples of nouns
-age	baggage, village, package, postage
-al	arrival, burial, deferral, punctual
-ance/-ence	reliance, defence, insistence, importance
-dom	wisdom, boredom, freedom, kingdom
-ee	employee, payee, trainee addressee
-er/-or	driver, writer, director, educator
-hood	brotherhood, childhood, neighbourhood, parenthood
-ism	capitalism, Marxism, socialism, patriotism
-ist	capitalist, Marxist, socialist, specialist
-ity/-ty	gravity, brutality, equality, cruelty
-ment	amazement, disappointment, parliament, employment
-ness	illness, happiness, kindness, usefulness
-ry	entry, ministry, robbery, directory
-ship	fellowship, friendship, membership, workmanship
-sion/-tion/-xion	expression, population, complexion, pension

Suffix	Examples of adjectives
-able/-ible	unable, drinkable, portable, flexible
-al	brutal, formal, postal, punctual
-en	driven, broken, golden, wooden
-ese	Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese,
-ful	powerful, forgetful, helpful, useful
-i	Iraqi, Pakistani, Yemeni, Bangladeshi
-ic	patriotic, classic, Islamic, poetic
-ish	British, childish, Spanish, Danish
-ive	proactive, active, passive, productive
-ian	Canadian, Malaysian, Peruvian, European
-less	moneyless, homeless, hopeless, useless
-ly	daily, monthly, yearly, timely
-ous	cautious, famous, nervous
-y	cloudy, rainy, windy, timely

What is Prefix Mean? -Prefix and Suffix

Suffix	Examples of verbs
-ate	donate, complicate, dominate, irritate
-en	harden, soften, shorten, risen
-ify	pacify, beautify, clarify, identify
-ise/-ize	precise, economise, realise, industrialize, utilize (-ise is common in British English; -ize is common in American English)

Suffix	Examples of adverbs
-ly	calmly, easily, quickly,