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[ noun suhf-iks; verb suhf-iks, suh-fiks ]

/ noun ˈsʌf ɪks; verb ˈsʌf ɪks, səˈfɪks /

See synonyms for: suffix / suffixes on Thesaurus.com

This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.

Grammar. an affix that follows the element to which it is added, as -ly in kindly.

something added to the end of something else.

Grammar. to add as a suffix.

to affix at the end of something.

verb (used without object) Grammar.

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1595–1605; <New Latin suffixum, noun use of neuter of Latin suffixus (past participle of suffīgere to attach on top of), equivalent to suf-suf- + fixus (see fix)

suf·fix·al [suhf-ik-suhl, suh-fik-], /ˈsʌf ɪk səl, səˈfɪk-/, adjectivesuf·fix·a·tion [suhf-ik-sey-shuhn], /ˌsʌf ɪkˈseɪ ʃən/, suf·fix·ion [suh-fik-shuhn], /səˈfɪk ʃən/, nounun·suf·fixed, adjective

suffice it to say, sufficiency, sufficient, sufficient condition, sufficient reason, suffix, sufflate, suffocate, suffocation, Suffolk, Suffolk punch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

A suffix is a letter or group of letters placed at the end of a word to create a new word. For example, you can add the suffix -y to sleep to make sleepy or the suffix -er to loud to make louder.

Suffixes are a handy tool of grammar that allows you to make a new word with a meaning that is closely related to the word the suffix is being attached to.

Suffixes sometimes change the part of speech of the words they are added to. The verb create, for example, becomes the noun creation when you add the suffix -tion to it. To make create an adjective, you’d add the suffix -ive to make creative.

Sometimes, a suffix changes the meaning of the word it is attached to. For example, the word defense means protection, but if you add the suffix -less, you end up with the adjective defenseless, which means unprotected.

The first records of the word suffix come from around 1595. It ultimately comes from the Latin verb suffīgere, which means “to attach on top of.”

A suffix is attached to the end of a word. Another type of affix commonly used in English is the prefix, which is attached to the beginning of a word, as with re- in reinvent.

Some suffixes are so common that you can easily tell what part of speech the word with the suffix is, even if you don’t know the exact definition, just by looking at the suffix. The suffix -ness, for example, turns adjectives and participles into nouns that mark a state or quality. For example, the words selfish, handsome, and quick become selfishness, handsomeness, and quickness.

Many languages use suffixes. For example, French uses -ette to denote smallness, Spanish uses -ista to denote a person who does something (like English’s -er), and the German -ismus to denote an action or idea (like English’s -ism).

This chart gives examples of some commonly used suffixes:

Bellevue College (Health Sciences, Education & Wellness Institute)

Tons of English words have suffixes.

Annoy. Annoying. Annoyed.

Amazing how suffixes can change the nuance and meaning of a word.

— Audrey Tan (@Caffeinefixati1) August 17, 2020

The suffix -phoria refers to feeling, as in euphoria or dysphoria.

— Medical Vocabulary (@MedVocab) August 19, 2020

affix
prefix
infix
grammar
diminutive
comparative

True or False?

A suffix is a letter or group of letters placed at the beginning of a word to create a new word.

addition, appendix, postfix

At a later time, wonder, when thus used adverbially, received the adverbial suffix -s; hence Th.
When the exact sense was lost, the suffix -al seemed to be adjectival, and the word dismal became at last an adjective.
This suffix is the equivalent of the French -age, and is a suffix of frequent occurrence in forming new words.
Frdric Mistral|Charles Alfred Downer
I have a list now before me of 521 places with this suffix, distributed over twenty-five counties.
Notes and Queries, Number 240, June 3, 1854|Various
Exeter, Wroxeter and perhaps Uttoxeter show the suffix in slightly different form.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 4|Various

grammar an affix that follows the stem to which it is attached, as for example -s and -ness in dogs and softnessCompare prefix (def. 1)

anything that is added at the end of something else

(tr) grammar to add (a morpheme) as a suffix to the end of a word

(tr) to add (something) at the end of a sentence, comment, or piece of writing

suffixal (ˈsʌfɪksəl), adjectivesuffixion (sʌˈfɪkʃən), noun

C18: from New Latin suffixum, from Latin suffixus fastened below, from suffīgere, from sub- + fīgere to fasten

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

A letter or a group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning. For example, adding the suffix -ter to the adjective hot turns it into the comparative adjective hotter, and adding the suffix -ly to the adjective quick turns it into the adverb quickly. Other examples of words with suffixes are: “willing,” “management,” “serviceable,” “harmonize,” and “joyful.” (Compare prefix.)