Affixes

The words in the alphabetical list may be extended by the use of one or more of these affixes:
mini-

with nouns, sometimes without a hyphen, e.g. minibus, mini-tour

non-

with nouns and adjectives, e.g. non-essential

re-

with verbs and their related nouns, usually without a hyphen,

e.g. rename, renaming

self-

with nouns and adjectives, e.g. self-importance, self-confident

un-

negative prefix, e.g. unsafe

-able

with verbs, to form adjectives, e.g. affordable

-ed (-d)

with verbs, to form adjectives, e.g. limited, used

-er (-r)

with verbs, to form nouns, e.g. teacher, advertiser; shopper, also

comparative forms, e.g. brighter

-ese

for nationalities/languages, e.g. Japanese

-ess

referring to a woman or female animal, e.g. princess, lioness

N.B. it is less common to refer to women in this way nowadays,

and usually safer to use the standard form e.g. actor, author
-est

superlative forms, e.g. tallest

-ful

with nouns, for amount contained, e.g. spoonful; with nouns to form

adjectives denoting characteristics or qualities, e.g. painful, peaceful

-ing

with verbs, for activity or state, e.g. reading, frightening

-ish

for nationalities or languages, e.g. Swedish; with nouns to form

adjectives, e.g. childish

-ist

with nouns, for occupations, e.g. novelist, guitarist

-less

with nouns to form adjectives, e.g. breathless

-ly

with adjectives to form adverbs, e.g. seriously; with nouns to form

adjectives, e.g. friendly

-ment

with verbs to form nouns, e.g. enjoyment

-or

with verbs to form nouns, for people, e.g. inventor

-y

with nouns to form adjectives, e.g. hairy, sunny