Affixes

What Are Affixes? (with Examples)

An affix is added to the root of a word to change its meaning.

An affix added to the front of a word is known as a prefix. One added to the back is known as a suffix. Sometimes, prefixes are hyphenated.

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Examples of Affixes

Here are some examples of affixes:

• incapable
(The affix is the prefix in.)
• ex-President
(The affix is the prefix ex-.)
• laughing
(The affix is the suffix ing.)

Most Common Prefixes. The four most common prefixes are dis-, in-, re-, and un-. These account for over 95% of prefixed words.

Most Common Suffixes. The four most common suffixes are -ed, -ing, -ly, and -es. These account for over 95% of suffixed words.

A List of Common Prefixes

Here is a list of common prefixes with some examples:

Prefix	Meaning	Example
a-, an-	without	amoral, atypical
ante-	before	antecedent, antenatal
anti-	against	anti-establishment
auto-	self	autopilot
circum-	around	circumvent
co-	with	co-conspirator, co-pilot
com-, con-	with	companion, contact
contra-	against	contradiction
de-	off	delist, devalue
dis-	not	disappear
en-	put into	enclose, envelop
ex-	out of, former	extract, ex-governor
extra-	beyond, more than	extracurricular
hetero-	different	heterosexual
homo-	same	homonym, homophone
hyper-	over, more	hyperactive
il-, im-, in-, ir-	not, without	illegal, impractical, inconsiderate, irresponsible
in-	into	insert
inter-	between	internet, intersection,
intra-	inside	intranet, intravenous
macro-	large	macronutrients
micro-	small	microscope
mono-	one	monocle
non-	not, without	nonentity, nonstarter,
omni-	all, every	omnipresent, omniscient
post-	after	post-mortem
pre-, pro-	before, forward	precede, project
sub-	under	submarine, substandard
syn-	same time	synchronize
super-	above	supervisor, superhuman
trans-	across	transmit
tri-	three	tripod, triceratops
un-	not	undone, unfinished,
uni-	one	unicorn, unilaterally

A List of Common Suffixes

Here is a list of common suffixes with some examples:

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-able, -ible	can be done	comfortable, passable
-al, -ial	having the characteristics of	personal
-ed	past-tense verbs (weak verbs)	danced, jumped
-en	made of	golden, wooden
-er	comparative	tidier, nicer
-er, -or	one who	actor, narrator, worker
-est	superlative	nicest, greatest
-ful	full or full of	cupful, careful
-ic	having characteristics of	linguistic, sarcastic
-ing	verb form (present participle and gerund)	dancing, singing
-ion, -tion, -ation, ition	act or process	attraction, attrition
-ity, -ty	state of	humility, infinity
-ive, -ative, itive	adjective form of a noun	expensive, plaintive
-less	without	topless, fearless
-ly	adverb ending	nicely, quickly
-ment	action or process	enjoyment, entrenchment
-ness	state of, condition of	eagerness, kindness
-ous, -eous, -ious	possessing the qualities of	erroneous, joyous
-s, -es	plural	tables, foxes
-y	characterized by	fatty, happy, jumpy

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