Note: Troy and I recommend only products that we have tried and tested. These include the popular vocabulary-improvement software Ultimate Vocabulary.*
What is a suffix? A suffix is a short word or "word fragment" that sits at the end of a word, and modifies the word's meaning; similar to a prefix at the front of a word.
Here are some of the more common suffixes (there are many more than just this, though!). Different suffixes apply to different classes of words, as you'll see below.
| NOUN SUFFIXES | ||
| Prefix | Meanings | Examples |
| -acy | state or quality | privacy, accuracy |
| -al | verbal action | arrival, recital |
| -ance, -ence |
quality or state | ignorance, patience |
| -dom | state or condition, rank or status, domain, class of people | kingdom, freedom |
| -er, -or | person, animal or thing that does something | teacher, heater |
| -ion | verbal action | demotion, audition |
| -ism | action or its result, state or quality, system, principle or ideological movement, language peculiarity, pathological condition | baptism, cynicism, nepotism,colloquialism, autism |
| -ist | adherent to a belief system, member of a profession, or one who uses something | separatist, pharmacist, motorist |
| -ity, -ty | quality or condition | agility, opacity, knotty |
| -ment | means or result of an action | judgement, movement |
| -ness | forming nouns from adjectives, state or condition | darkness, shyness |
| -logy | subject of study or interest | zoology, genealogy |
| -ory | place for a particular function | refectory, laboratory |
| -ship | quality or condition, status, tenure of office, skill, collective individuals of a group | friendship, scholarship, judgeship, leadership, readership |
| -sion | forming nouns | aggression, pension |
| -tion | forming nouns of action, condition | duration, elation |
| VERB SUFFIXES | ||
| -ate | forming verbs from nouns | captivate, migrate |
| -en | development or creation of a state | enlighten, shorten |
| -ify, -fy | making or producing | emulsify, purify |
| -ise, -ize |
make, become, resemble, treat in a particular way, follow specified practice | vaporise, Americanize, homogenise, sympathise |
|
ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES |
||
| -able, -ible |
able to be, due to be, subject to, relevant to, having quality to | solvable, payable, miscible, quotable, amenable |
| -al | relating to, of the kind of | glacial, comical |
| -en | made of, resembling | woollen, golden |
| -esque | in the style of, resembling | arabesque, statuesque |
| -ful | full of | cheerful, peaceful |
| -ic, -ical |
forming adjectives from nouns | Islamic, botanic, satirical |
| -ile | forming adjectives and nouns | imbecile, volatile |
| -ious, -ous |
characterised by, full of | gracious, nauseous |
| -ish | having qualities or characteristics of, somewhat | childish, pinkish |
| -ive | tending to, having the nature of | adhesive, expressive |
| -less | not having, without | tactless, sleepless |
| -ous | characterised by, of the nature of | amorous, pompous |
| -y | full of, having the quality of | messy, foggy, sugary |
Ultimate Vocabulary can also help you learn suffixes, with many useful features such as Flashcards and a built-in dictionary to show you how words are constructed, and the etymology of the words you're learning.
*Troy and I have agreed to receive a commission from some sales of the Ultimate Vocabulary software because we are happy to endorse that software.
