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Word Suffix

-e: 延展  relate, grieve, 

-ate (to make have a certain quality): emulate, oscillate, precipitate, rejuvenate, 

expropriate, interpolate, adjudicate, exonerate, fulminate, disseminate, amalgamate, commiserate, desiccate, extenuate, subjugate, cogitate, extirpate, prognosticate, recapitulate

-er (to do something with repeating motions ): waver, dissever, banter, welter, linger, bewilder, engender, master, batter, render, encumber, decipher, muster, cluster, sever, 

loiter, rejoinder, cloister, teetotaler, reconnoiter

-ish (to do something): perish, admonish, abolish, embellish, burnish, blandish, replenish, impoverish, establish, banish, 

-ize:

-fy: 

-ul- (little): ovulate, matriculate, capitulate,    gesticulate, 

-le (repeating) wiggle, dangle, twinkle, waddle, joggle, 

-ed (having a particular state): wizened, nonplussed, uncharted, disaffected, protracted, inured, unfazed, unlettered, jaundiced, bemused, unadorned, antiquated, convoluted, unsullied, dilapidated, unbridled, inebriated, variegated, disinterested, unrequited

-al (of or relating to): relational, empirical, filial, abysmal, cardinal, topical, prodigal, remedial, quintessential, inimical, apocryphal, 

canonical, littoral, ephemeral, guttural, lackadaisical, antipodal, surreal, venal, venial, topical

  • -al: natural, national, animal
  • -ar: solar, lunar, familiar

-ive (of or that which does something): relative, figurative, discursive, abortive, pervasive, effusive, acquisitive, reductive, cognitive, tentative, lucrative, substantive, delusive, pejorative, incisive, impassive, introspective, unobtrusive

purgative, pensive, putative, 

-ory (of or relating to): dilatory, statutory, cursory, perfunctory, olfactory, derogatory, inventory, predatory,  contradictory, celebratory, laudatory, illusory, introductory, interrogatory, 

expository, peremptory, prefatory, refractory, supererogatory,

-ic (one relating to): heretic, agnostic, pandemic, 

-en (made of, pertaining): seven, wooden, golden, woolen,  sullen, crestfallen, craven, molten, ashen, forsaken, olden, shaken, misshapen, shrunken, sunken, shrunken

-an (relating to): urban, nonpartisan, spartan, epicurean, protean, sylvan, antediluvian, gargantuan, pedestrian, empyrean, pagan, bipartisan

-ant (being in a state or condition)

-ent (being in a state or condition): latent, dissident, pertinent, pungent, cogent, munificent, despondent, intransigent, plangent, strident, grandiloquent, ambivalent, sentient, astringent, salient, omniscient, resplendent, subservient, emollient

-ose (full of, having): verbose, bellicose, otiose, morose, lachrymose, jocose, grandiose, comatose, viscose, varicose, adipose, globose

-ful (full of, resembling): fulsome, wistful, baleful, vengeful,  mirthful

Noun +

-ous (state; full of, having; possessing the nature of): sonorous, rigorous, meritorious, languorous, valorous, timorous, heinous, dolorous, sedulous, boisterous, zealous, sententious, copious, tremulous, lustrous, tremulous, scrupulous, luminous, dubious, cavernous, onerous, ponderous, monotonous

-eous (resembling) E – extend

extemporaneous, consanguineous, aqueous, vitreous, bounteous, piteous, ligneous, duteous, hideous

-monious (of or resembling)

acrimonious, parsimonious, sanctimonious, 

-ish (of):  lavish, squeamish, knavish, boorish, devilish, fiendish, ghoulish, waggish, puckish, 

-ish (verging upon, somewhat): amateurish, childish, crepuscular,

-ul- (little): minuscule, cellule, particular,  pendulous,

-ul- (repeating activity) undulate,

 

Adj. + ly  (in a particular way or manner)

slovenly, unseemly, pluckily, amenably, continually vs continuously

 

-or (state): stupor, precursor, rancor, ardor, torpor, squalor, terror, sector, vigor, candor, factor, error

-acy (state of being something): accuracy, efficacy, legacy, fallacy, candidacy, conspiracy, legitimacy, primacy, piracy, diplomacy, contumacy,

-age (state): visage, vantage, carnage, umbrage, tutelage, verbiage, badinage (raillery), barrage (cannonade), courage, dotage, bondage, montage

-ance (state or condition): malfeasance, repugnance, appurtenance, preponderance, obeisance, nuance, exuberance, protuberance, semblance, dissonance, recognizance, temperance, provenance, sustenance, penance, insouciance, parlance, countenance, abeyance, acquaintance, 

-ancy (state): flamboyancy, expectancy, deviancy, buoyancy, discrepancy, malignancy, inconstancy, infancy, irrelevancy, pregnancy, relevancy, truancy, vibrancy, piquancy, militancy

-ation (state or quality of): relation, tribulation, affiliation, trepidation, moderation, consternation, insinuation, gratification, aggravation, alliteration, gradation, striation, acculturation, duration, compilation, ramification, resignation, polarization, permutation, culmination 

-ity (state or quality, abstract noun):

amity, amenity;

poverty, propriety, amnesty,

relativity, alacrity, propensity, celerity, enormity, temerity, felicity, debility, asperity, gravity, levity, complicity, probity, paucity, profundity, amenity, proclivity, propinquity, verity, fecundity, serendipity. 

-acity (characteristics of): opacity, mendacity, loquacity, perspicacity, audacity, veracity, sagacity, tenacity, vivacity, voracity, rapacity, pertinacity

-ness: relatedness, goodness, cloudiness, garishness, hardiness, wilderness, mousiness, wistfulness, pettiness, gregariousness, haughtiness (height), grittiness

-ship: relationship

-itude (state or quality of): aptitude, multitude, magnitude, altitude, certitude, plenitude, attitude, beatitude, gratitude, infinitude, fortitude, latitude, 

turpitude, decrepitude, verisimilitude, vicissitude, lassitude, platitude, pulchritude

-ence (state or condition): adolescence (adol+esc+ence), inference, pestilence, resilience, affluence, confluence, credence, absence, experience, difference, sequence, subsistence, abstinence, deference, impudence, transience, quiescence. 

resurgence, cadence, 

-ency (state of being something): efficiency, urgency, vehemency, fluency, transparency, frequency, inconsistency, solvency, emergency, agency, complacency, latency, incompetency, expediency,

-ment (quality, condition): vehement, denouncement, escarpment, blandishment, accoutrement, aliment, emolument, lineament, annulment, detriment, temperament, embankment

-our: amour,

-ist: one who performs an action, believer

  • antagonist, protagonist, nonconformist, misogynist, chauvinist,
  • orthopedist, internist, 
  • sophist, sophistry
  • alchemist, philologist (phil + lo + log + ist), gynecologist, ophthalmologist, dermatologist, cardiologist, neurologist, endocrinologist, 
  • graphologist

-ician – expert

obstetrician, pediatrician, electrician, musician, physician, magician

-age: entourage (retinue), vegabondage

-ard: laggard, sluggard (slow + ag), coward, [blizzard, tempest (temper)], drunkard, bastard, 

-ary (person or thing): mercenaries, adversary, luminary, functionary, emissary, plenary, plenipotentiary,

-ary (thing):  commentary

-er (people)

-or (one who does something): interlocutor, narrator, exterminator, ancestor, activator, administrator, auditor, contractor, depositor, dictator, author, progenitor, predecessor, pastor, governor (gubernatorial )

-eur (person): amateur. 

-ate (person): potentate, magnate, graduate, mandate, potentate, magistrate

-an (person): librarian, totalitarian, majoritarian, civilian, proletarian

-en (people): citizen

-ant (people): accountant, assistant, pedant (pedagogue)

-ship (title): professorship. 

-ry (collective noun): citizenry, 

-ade (collective noun): parade, masquerade 

parlor

-ary (place): ovary, boundary, sanctuary, reliquary, library, infirmary, penitentiary

-um (place): museum, ovarium, podium

-ory (place): dormitory, factory, laboratory, lavatory, repository, territory, promontory, armory

-al (action, process): signal, ritual, appraisal, crystal, dispersal, reprisal, plural, retrieval, confessional, arrival, petal, metal, acquittal. 

-a (form a noun):

  • charisma, criteria, data, formula, stigma
  • lacuna, plethora = plenty , diorama, anathema, diaspora, cornucopia, patina
  • desiderata: prerequisites, desideratum;
  • strata – stratum
  • coda, scintilla
  • panacea = pan (all) + acea 
  • subpoena: a writ ordering somebody to appear in court
  • euphoria.= eu (well) + phor (a carrying) + i + a 
  • genera
  • genus: birth, race, stock – a principal taxonomic category that ranks above species and below family, and is denoted by a capitalized Latin name, e.g. Leo.

-is: [dot + sigma]

crisis, thesis, stasis, homeostasis, synthesis, analysis, 

catharsis, aegis, synopsis, psoriasis, peristalsis, amniocentesis, megalopolis, pertussis, 

-itis (illness): ovaritis, hepatitis, arthritis

-on: [eyes + compact]

cannon, criterion, electron, pantheon, lexicon, demon, icon, horizon, neuron, dragon, 

rhododendron, nickelodeon, philodendron, decathlon, automaton, micron, dendron 

-os: [eyes + sigma]

mythos, chaos, ethos, bathos, pathos, rhinoceros, thermos, cosmos, 

-um: [waw + water]

forum, spectrum, maximum, continuum, millennium, curriculum, symposium, memorandum, referendum, addendum, 

pandemonium, dictum, opprobrium, interregnum, tedium, encomium, compendium, cranium, consortium

-us: [waw + sigma ]

consensus, impetus, nexus, focus, exodus, locus, mucus, fungus, discus, radius, corpus, emeritus

onus, detritus, hiatus, animus, opus, afflatus, cumulus, acanthus

formula, calculus, granule, capsule, 

-esce, -escent, -escence: growing, becoming

coalesce, amalgamate, 

senescent, adolescent, convalescent, 

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