45 Common Suffixes with Suffix Definition and Examples

Suffix Definition and Examples! Learn 45 common suffixes with meaning and examples in English: -able/-ible, -ac/-ic, -acy, -ious, -al, -ance/-ence, -dom, -eer/-er/-or, -escent, -escent…with ESL printable infographics.

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Suffix Definition

Suffixes are placed after words to modify their meanings; like prefixes, they are groups of letters that rarely serve a purpose unless attached to a word.

In order word, in linguistics, a suffix (sometimes termed post) is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case ending, which indicate the grammatical cased of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs.

45 Common Suffixes with Suffix Definition and Examples – Image 1

Suffix List in English

Here is a list of some of them to give you an idea of how to identify suffixes.

Suffix	Suffix Meaning	Suffix Examples
-able/-ible	capable of being	portable, legible, preventable, adaptable
-ac/-ic	like/related to	cardiac, iconic, organic
-acy	state/quality of being	privacy, legitimacy, bureaucracy, aristocracy, theocracy
-ious	full of	gracious, malicious, ambitious, cautious
-al	related to	logical, philosophical, bacterial, theatrical, natural
-ance/-ence	state/quality of being	maintenance, permanence, brilliance, defiance, annoyance
-dom	condition of, state, realm	freedom, kingdom, boredom, freedom, wisdom
-eer/-er/-or	person who	mountaineer, writer, counsellor, engineer, volunteer, inventor, legislator
-escent	becoming, to be	adolescent, fluorescent
-esque	like/reminiscent of	picturesque, kafkaesque, grotesque, burlesque
-ess	female	actress, heiress, lioness
-ful	full of	helpful, thankful, cheerful
-fy	to make	magnify, electrify, amplify, falsify, terrify
-hood	state, condition, or quality	childhood, neighborhood, motherhood
-ian	relating to	martian, utopian, pediatrician
-iferous	containing, yielding	vociferous, carboniferous
-ise	make, become	civilise, terrorise, lengthwise, otherwise
-ish	having qualities of	hellish, fiendish, apish, brutish, childish
-ism	doctrine, belief, practice	favouritism, communism, altruism, despotism, heroism
-ist	person who	chemist, florist, artist, linguist, pianist
-ity	state/quality of being	ingenuity, oddity, abnormality, civility, necessity
-ite	resident of, follower, product of	suburbanite, luddite, dynamite
-ine	relating to	canine, feminine, masculine
-ive	inclined to; quality of; that which	attractive, expensive, repulsive
-less	without	brainless, endless, fearless, helpless, homeless
-like	resembling, characteristic	childlike, homelike, lifelike
-ment	state/quality of being, result of action, process	enjoyment, embankment, abridgement, movement, placement, shipment
-ness	state of being	thinness, loneliness, kindness, shyness, weakness
-oid	like	celluloid, ovoid, humanoid, tabloid, hemorrhoid
-ology	study of, science of	anthropology, archaeology, biology
-ose	full of	adipose, verbose
-osis	process, condition	hypnosis, psychosis, diagnosis, prognosis, neurosis, psychosis
-ory	relating to	armory, dormitory, laboratory
-ous	full of	illustrious, nauseous, hazardous, humorous, wondrous
-pathy	feeling, diseased	sympathy, apathy, neuropathy
-phone	sound	homophone, telephone, microphone
-ship	position held	friendship, membership, authorship, citizenship, friendship
-sion	state/quality of being	torsion, confusion, depression, tension
-some	characterized by, group of	cumbersome, quarrelsome, foursome
–sophy/sophic	wisdom, knowledge	philosophy, theosophy, anthroposophic
-tion	state/quality of being	transition, attention, caution, fascination
-tude	state/quality of being	fortitude, certitude
-th	state or quality	depth, length, strength
-ware	things of the same type or material	hardware, software, kitchenware
-y	characterised by	funny, greedy

Suffixes in English | Suffix Meaning | Infographics

45 Common Suffixes with Suffix Definition and Examples – Image 2

Common Suffixes with Suffix Definition and Examples – Image 3

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Frazer Gwaliasi

5 years ago

Please l need further information on this part of language.
Additionally can you give me.. some details of the 8 parts of speech. Please.

-2

Dejah

4 years ago

Reply to Frazer Gwaliasi

Are you a boy or girl

-3

This is helpful to my class

guy

Alex

God, this is the fourth page in a row skipping the suffix ‘-ly’ as if it didn’t exist.
Guys, are you all kidding me? No such words as ‘friendly’, ‘sickly’ etc?