A word with the suffix like

Оглавление —> Все суффиксы прилагательных

Даже в очень простом английском тексте встречаются слова с окончаниями и приставками. Ну а если текст не адаптирован, то есть, является оригинальным, то “длинные” слова с суффиксами и префиксами можно встретить в каждой строчке . Твердые знания суффиксов и префиксов очень облегчают жизнь. Прочитав длинное слово с знакомым суффиксом, уже понятно, к какой части речи оно относится, да и о значении слова можно догадаться. .

Продолжаем тему словообразования и рассмотрим еще одну пару суффиксов прилагательных.

Суффикс — ISH = продуктивный, происхождением от греческого к среднеанглийскому. Имеет несколько основных значений.

ПЕРВЫЙ СМЫСЛ: Прибавляется к прилагательному, и означает уменьшение степени или качества, выраженного этим прилагательным. В русском языке для этого есть уменьшительные суффиксы. Например: короткий — коротковатый; сладкий — сладковатый. Не всегда можно перевести английское прилагательное дословно, так как в русском языке нет аналога; и тогда смысл передается словосочетанием.

Напишу несколько примеров:

thin (тонкий) + ish — thinnish = тонковатый

black (черный) + ish — blackish = черноватый

red ( красный) + ish — reddish = красноватый

fat (жирный, толстый)+ ish — fattish = довольно жирный, толстоватый

short ( короткий) + ish — shortish = коротковатый

narrow ( узкий) + ish — narrowish = узковатый

sweet ( сладкий) + ish — sweetish = сладковатый

dull ( скучный) + ish — dullish = скучноватый

wide ( широкий) + ish — widish = немного шире, чем надо

old ( старый) + ish – oldish = староватый

pale ( бледный)+ ish — palish = бледноватый

vague ( смутный) + ish — vaguish = довольно смутный

ВТОРОЙ СМЫСЛ: Прибавляется к существительному, означает какую –то “похожесть” на это существительное, что-то напоминающее это существительное; например по внешности или по поведению. Часто в переносном смысле.

boy ( мальчик) + ish — boyish = мальчишеский, живой ( о манере поведения);

child ( ребенок, дитя) + ish – childish = детский, ребяческий, несерьезный;

girl ( девочка) + ish — girlish = девический, изнеженный , то есть похожий на девочку;

woman (женщина) + ish — womanish = женоподобный, женственный;

bear ( медведь) + ish — bearish = медвежий, грубый ( о походке, о манерах);

fool ( дурак, глупец) + ish – foolish = глупый, безрассудный, дурашливый;

monk ( монах) + ish – monkish = монашеский;

hog ( боров, свинья) + ish — hoggish = свиноподобный, свинский, жадный;

clown ( клоун) + ish — clownish = шутовской, клоунский, неотесанный;

wolf ( волк)+ ish — wolfish = волчий, хищный;

monkey ( обезьяна) + ish — monkeyish = обезьяний, шаловливый.

ТРЕТИЙ СМЫСЛ: Обозначает принадлежность к национальности или к стране. В русском языке то же самое, например: Россия — русский; Англия — английский, Швеция — шведский.

Несколько примеров:

English — английский

British — британский

Swedish — шведский

Danish — датский

Turkish — турецкий

ЧЕТВЕРТЫЙ СМЫСЛ: Присоединяется к числительным и обозначает примерное, приблизительное количество. Перевод может быть вольным, надо только передать смысл. Например:

eleven ( одиннадцать) + ish — elevenish = около одиннадцати;

fifty ( пятьдесят) + ish = fiftyish = под пятьдесят;

ten ( десять) + ish – tennish = с десяток.

Суффикс –LIKE = продуктивный, происхождением со старо -английского. Обозначает подобие чему-то или кому-то или похожесть на что-то или кого-то. Иногда присоединяется через черточку , которая называется — “дефис”. Очень часто переводится не прилагательным, а словосочетанием с существительным.

Несколько примеров:

wife+ like  — wifelike = подобающий жене, свойственный.

god + like  — god-like = богоподобный, божественный.

tiger + like – tiger-like = похожий на тигра.

business + like — businesslike = деловой, практичный.

bird + like  — bird-like = похожий на птицу.

snake + like — snake-like = похожий на змею, змеевидный.

egg + like  — egg-like = похожий на яйцо.

Prefixes of like

  • alike

    • adjective having the same or similar characteristics
      similar; like.
      • all politicians are alike
      • they looked utterly alike
      • friends are generally alike in background and taste
    • adverb equally
      likewise.
      • parents and teachers alike demanded reforms

    • More ‘alike’ Meaning
    • alike Idioms/Phrases
    • alike Associated Words
    • alike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • alike Related Words
  • unlike

    • adjective marked by dissimilarity
      different; dissimilar.
      • for twins they are very unlike
      • people are profoundly different
    • adjective not equal in amount
      • they distributed unlike (or unequal) sums to the various charities

    • More ‘unlike’ Meaning
    • unlike Idioms/Phrases
    • unlike Associated Words
    • unlike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • unlike Related Words
  • dislike

    • noun an inclination to withhold approval from some person or group
      disfavor; disapproval; disfavour.
    • noun a feeling of aversion or antipathy
      • my dislike of him was instinctive

    • More ‘dislike’ Meaning
    • dislike Associated Words
    • dislike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • dislike Related Words
  • godlike

    • adjective satellite appropriate to or befitting a god
      divine.
      • the divine strength of Achilles
      • a man of godlike sagacity
      • man must play God for he has acquired certain godlike powers»-R.H.Roveref
    • adjective satellite being or having the nature of a god; ’tis God-like to create»-J.G.Saxe
      divine.
      • the custom of killing the divine king upon any serious failure of his…powers»-J.G.Frazier
      • the divine will
      • the divine capacity for love
      • ‘Tis wise to learn

    • More ‘godlike’ Meaning
    • godlike Associated Words
    • godlike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • godlike Related Words
  • lifelike

    • adjective satellite evoking lifelike images within the mind
      graphic; vivid; pictorial.
      • pictorial poetry and prose
      • graphic accounts of battle
      • a lifelike portrait
      • a vivid description
    • adjective satellite free from artificiality
      natural.
      • a lifelike pose
      • a natural reaction

    • More ‘lifelike’ Meaning
    • lifelike Associated Words
    • lifelike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • lifelike Related Words
  • warlike

    • adjective satellite disposed to warfare or hard-line policies
      militant; hawkish.
      • militant nations
      • hawkish congressman
      • warlike policies
    • adjective satellite suggesting war or military life
      martial.

    • More ‘warlike’ Meaning
    • warlike Associated Words
    • warlike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • warlike Related Words
  • childlike

    • adjective satellite befitting a young child
      childly.
      • childlike charm
    • adjective satellite exhibiting childlike simplicity and credulity
      simple; wide-eyed; dewy-eyed; round-eyed.
      • childlike trust
      • dewy-eyed innocence
      • listened in round-eyed wonder

    • More ‘childlike’ Meaning
    • childlike Associated Words
    • childlike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • childlike Related Words
  • businesslike

    • adjective satellite exhibiting methodical and systematic characteristics that would be useful in business
    • adjective satellite not distracted by anything unrelated to the goal
      earnest.

    • More ‘businesslike’ Meaning
    • businesslike Associated Words
    • businesslike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • businesslike Related Words
  • suchlike

    • adjective satellite of the same kind
      • a locker that usually contained paper, ink, and suchlike equipment

    • More ‘suchlike’ Meaning
    • suchlike Associated Words
    • suchlike Related Words
  • christlike

    • adjective satellite resembling or showing the spirit of Christ
      christly.

    • More ‘christlike’ Meaning
    • christlike Associated Words
    • christlike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • christlike Related Words
  • humanlike

    • adjective satellite suggesting human characteristics for animals or inanimate things
      anthropomorphic; anthropomorphous.

    • More ‘humanlike’ Meaning
    • humanlike Associated Words
    • humanlike Related Words
  • statesmanlike

    • adjective marked by the qualities of or befitting a statesman
      statesmanly.
      • a man of statesmanlike judgment
      • a statesmanlike solution of the present perplexities»-V.L.Parrington

    • More ‘statesmanlike’ Meaning
    • statesmanlike Associated Words
    • statesmanlike Related Words
  • threadlike

    • adjective satellite thin in diameter; resembling a thread
      filiform; thready; filamentous; filamentlike.

    • More ‘threadlike’ Meaning
    • threadlike Associated Words
    • threadlike Related Words
  • ghostlike

    • adjective satellite resembling or characteristic of a phantom
      spectral; spiritual; phantasmal; ghostly; apparitional.
      • a ghostly face at the window
      • a phantasmal presence in the room
      • spectral emanations
      • spiritual tappings at a seance

    • More ‘ghostlike’ Meaning
    • ghostlike Associated Words
    • ghostlike Related Words
  • snakelike

    • adjective satellite resembling a serpent in form
      snaky; serpentine.
      • a serpentine wall
      • snaky ridges in the sand

    • More ‘snakelike’ Meaning
    • snakelike Associated Words
    • snakelike Related Words
  • apelike

    • adjective satellite resembling apes
      anthropoid; anthropoidal.
    • adjective satellite being or given to servile imitation
      apish.

    • More ‘apelike’ Meaning
    • apelike Associated Words
    • apelike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • apelike Related Words
  • hairlike

    • adjective satellite long and slender with a very small internal diameter
      capillary.
      • a capillary tube

    • More ‘hairlike’ Meaning
    • hairlike Associated Words
    • hairlike Related Words
  • ladylike

    • adjective satellite befitting a woman of good breeding
      • ladylike manners

    • More ‘ladylike’ Meaning
    • ladylike Associated Words
    • ladylike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • ladylike Related Words
  • workmanlike

    • adjective satellite worthy of a good workman
      • a competent job
      • the book is a workmanlike job with chronology and bibliography and index

    • More ‘workmanlike’ Meaning
    • workmanlike Associated Words
    • workmanlike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • workmanlike Related Words
  • unladylike

    • adjective satellite lacking the behavior or manner or style considered proper for a lady

    • More ‘unladylike’ Meaning
    • unladylike Associated Words
    • unladylike Related Words
  • wavelike

    • adjective satellite uneven by virtue of having wrinkles or waves
      rippled; wavy; crinkly; crinkled.

    • More ‘wavelike’ Meaning
    • wavelike Associated Words
    • wavelike Related Words
  • deathlike

    • adjective satellite having the physical appearance of death
      deathly.
      • a deathly pallor

    • More ‘deathlike’ Meaning
    • deathlike Associated Words
    • deathlike Related Words
  • belike

    • adverb with considerable certainty; without much doubt
      probably; likely; in all likelihood; in all probability.
      • He is probably out of the country
      • in all likelihood we are headed for war

    • More ‘belike’ Meaning
    • belike Associated Words
    • belike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • belike Related Words
  • wormlike

    • adjective satellite totally submissive
      grovelling; cringing; groveling; wormy.

    • More ‘wormlike’ Meaning
    • wormlike Associated Words
    • wormlike Related Words
  • homelike

    • adjective satellite having a feeling of home; cozy and comfortable
      homey; homy; homely.
      • the homely everyday atmosphere
      • a homey little inn

    • More ‘homelike’ Meaning
    • homelike Associated Words
    • homelike Related Words
  • trancelike

    • adjective satellite as if in a trance

    • More ‘trancelike’ Meaning
    • trancelike Associated Words
    • trancelike Related Words
  • dreamlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a dream
      surreal.
      • night invested the lake with a dreamlike quality
      • as irrational and surreal as a dream

    • More ‘dreamlike’ Meaning
    • dreamlike Associated Words
    • dreamlike Related Words
  • unalike

    • adjective not alike or similar
      dissimilar.
      • as unalike as two people could be

    • More ‘unalike’ Meaning
    • unalike Associated Words
    • unalike Related Words
  • manlike

    • adjective possessing qualities befitting a man
      manful; manly.
    • adjective satellite characteristic of a man
      manful; male; manly; virile.
      • a deep male voice
      • manly sports

    • More ‘manlike’ Meaning
    • manlike Associated Words
    • manlike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • manlike Related Words
  • knifelike

    • adjective satellite cutting or able to cut as if with a knife
    • adjective satellite having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
      acute; penetrating; incisive; penetrative; piercing; discriminating; keen; sharp.
      • an acute observer of politics and politicians
      • incisive comments
      • icy knifelike reasoning
      • as sharp and incisive as the stroke of a fang
      • penetrating insight
      • frequent penetrative observations

    • More ‘knifelike’ Meaning
    • knifelike Associated Words
    • knifelike Related Words
  • spiderlike

    • adjective relating to or resembling a member of the class Arachnida
      spidery; arachnoid; spiderly; arachnidian.

    • More ‘spiderlike’ Meaning
    • spiderlike Associated Words
    • spiderlike Related Words
  • loverlike

    • adjective satellite like or in the manner of a lover
      loverly.

    • More ‘loverlike’ Meaning
    • loverlike Associated Words
    • loverlike Related Words
  • clownlike

    • adjective satellite like a clown
      clownish; zany; buffoonish.
      • a buffoonish walk
      • a clownish face
      • a zany sense of humor

    • More ‘clownlike’ Meaning
    • clownlike Associated Words
    • clownlike Related Words
  • gentlemanlike

    • adjective satellite befitting a man of good breeding
      gentlemanly.
      • gentlemanly behavior

    • More ‘gentlemanlike’ Meaning
    • gentlemanlike Associated Words
    • gentlemanlike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • gentlemanlike Related Words
  • machinelike

    • adjective satellite resembling the unthinking functioning of a machine
      robotlike; automatonlike; automatic; robotic.
      • an automatic `thank you’
      • machinelike efficiency

    • More ‘machinelike’ Meaning
    • machinelike Associated Words
    • machinelike Related Words
  • cloudlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a cloud
      nebular.

    • More ‘cloudlike’ Meaning
    • cloudlike Associated Words
    • cloudlike Related Words
  • earthlike

    • adjective satellite earth colored; of something having a color of soil or earth
      • a range of earthlike colors
    • adjective satellite resembling or characteristic of earth
      • earthlike atmosphere

    • More ‘earthlike’ Meaning
    • earthlike Associated Words
    • earthlike Related Words
  • wraithlike

    • adjective satellite lacking in substance
      shadowy.
      • strange fancies of unreal and shadowy worlds»- W.A.Butler
      • dim shadowy forms
      • a wraithlike column of smoke

    • More ‘wraithlike’ Meaning
    • wraithlike Associated Words
    • wraithlike Related Words
  • ringlike

    • adjective satellite having the shape of a ring

    • More ‘ringlike’ Meaning
    • ringlike Associated Words
    • ringlike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • ringlike Related Words
  • womanlike

    • noun the trait of being womanly; having the characteristics of an adult female
      womanliness.
    • adjective satellite resembling a woman
      • a womanlike stone image

    • More ‘womanlike’ Meaning
    • womanlike Associated Words
    • womanlike Related Words
  • moonlike

    • adjective satellite resembling the moon in shape
      moon-round.

    • More ‘moonlike’ Meaning
    • moonlike Associated Words
    • moonlike Related Words
  • winglike

    • adjective satellite resembling a wing in shape or position

    • More ‘winglike’ Meaning
    • winglike Associated Words
    • winglike Related Words
  • ribbonlike

    • adjective satellite long and thin; resembling a ribbon
      ribbony.
      • ribbonlike noodles

    • More ‘ribbonlike’ Meaning
    • ribbonlike Associated Words
    • ribbonlike Related Words
  • bladelike

    • adjective satellite shaped like a sword blade
      sword-shaped; ensiform; swordlike.
      • the iris has an ensiform leaf

    • More ‘bladelike’ Meaning
    • bladelike Associated Words
    • bladelike Related Words
  • disklike

    • adjective satellite having a flat circular shape
      discoidal; discoid; disc-shaped; disk-shaped; disclike.

    • More ‘disklike’ Meaning
    • disklike Associated Words
    • disklike Related Words
  • featherlike

    • adjective satellite resembling or suggesting a feather or feathers
      feathery.
      • feathery palm trees

    • More ‘featherlike’ Meaning
    • featherlike Associated Words
    • featherlike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • featherlike Related Words
  • saintlike

    • adjective satellite marked by utter benignity; resembling or befitting an angel or saint
      saintly; angelic; sainted; beatific; angelical.
      • angelic beneficence
      • a beatific smile
      • a saintly concern for his fellow men
      • my sainted mother

    • More ‘saintlike’ Meaning
    • saintlike Associated Words
    • saintlike Related Words
  • songlike

    • adjective satellite having a melody (as distinguished from recitative)
      ariose.

    • More ‘songlike’ Meaning
    • songlike Associated Words
    • songlike Related Words
  • swordlike

    • adjective satellite shaped like a sword blade
      sword-shaped; bladelike; ensiform.
      • the iris has an ensiform leaf

    • More ‘swordlike’ Meaning
    • swordlike Associated Words
    • swordlike Related Words
  • soldierlike

    • adjective satellite (of persons) befitting a warrior
      warriorlike; soldierly; martial.
      • a military bearing

    • More ‘soldierlike’ Meaning
    • soldierlike Associated Words
    • soldierlike Related Words
  • robotlike

    • adjective satellite resembling the unthinking functioning of a machine
      machinelike; automatonlike; automatic; robotic.
      • an automatic `thank you’
      • machinelike efficiency

    • More ‘robotlike’ Meaning
    • robotlike Associated Words
    • robotlike Related Words
  • wartlike

    • adjective satellite (of skin) covered with warts or projections that resemble warts
      warty; verrucose.

    • More ‘wartlike’ Meaning
    • wartlike Associated Words
    • wartlike Related Words
  • hooklike

    • adjective satellite having or resembling a hook (especially in the ability to grasp and hold);
      hooked.
      • hooklike thorns

    • More ‘hooklike’ Meaning
    • hooklike Associated Words
    • hooklike Related Words
  • nutlike

    • adjective satellite having the flavor of nuts
      nutty.
      • a nutty sherry
    • adjective satellite resembling a nut in shape and size

    • More ‘nutlike’ Meaning
    • nutlike Associated Words
    • nutlike Related Words
  • sylphlike

    • adjective satellite moving and bending with ease
      lissome; lithesome; lissom; slender; lithe; svelte; supple.

    • More ‘sylphlike’ Meaning
    • sylphlike Associated Words
    • sylphlike Related Words
  • treelike

    • adjective satellite resembling a tree in form and branching structure
      arboresque; tree-shaped; arboreal; arborescent; dendriform; arboriform; arboreous; dendroidal; dendroid.
      • arborescent coral found off the coast of Bermuda
      • dendriform sponges

    • More ‘treelike’ Meaning
    • treelike Associated Words
    • treelike Related Words
  • rodlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a rod
      rod-shaped.

    • More ‘rodlike’ Meaning
    • rodlike Associated Words
    • rodlike Related Words
  • unsportsmanlike

    • adjective satellite violating accepted standards or rules
      cheating; dirty; foul; unsporting.
      • a dirty fighter
      • used foul means to gain power
      • a nasty unsporting serve
      • fined for unsportsmanlike behavior

    • More ‘unsportsmanlike’ Meaning
    • unsportsmanlike Associated Words
    • unsportsmanlike Related Words
  • doglike

    • adjective satellite resembling a dog; especially in devotion
      • a doglike affection

    • More ‘doglike’ Meaning
    • doglike Associated Words
    • doglike Related Words
  • springlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a spring or the action of a spring

    • More ‘springlike’ Meaning
    • springlike Associated Words
    • springlike Related Words
  • jellylike

    • adjective satellite thick like gelatin
      gelatinlike; gelatinous.

    • More ‘jellylike’ Meaning
    • jellylike Associated Words
    • jellylike Related Words
  • leaflike

    • adjective satellite resembling a leaf
      leaf-like.

    • More ‘leaflike’ Meaning
    • leaflike Associated Words
    • leaflike Related Words
  • fanlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a fan

    • More ‘fanlike’ Meaning
    • fanlike Associated Words
    • fanlike Related Words
  • rocklike

    • adjective satellite hard as granite
      granitelike; stony; granitic.
      • a granitic fist

    • More ‘rocklike’ Meaning
    • rocklike Associated Words
    • rocklike Related Words
  • weblike

    • adjective satellite having open interstices or resembling a web
      netted; webby; lacy; webbed; netlike.

    • More ‘weblike’ Meaning
    • weblike Associated Words
    • weblike Related Words
  • platelike

    • adjective satellite as the hard flattened scales of e.g. sharks
      placoid.

    • More ‘platelike’ Meaning
    • platelike Associated Words
    • platelike Related Words
  • scalelike

    • adjective satellite reduced to a small appressed thing that resembles a scale
      • scalelike leaves

    • More ‘scalelike’ Meaning
    • scalelike Associated Words
    • scalelike Related Words
  • spongelike

    • adjective satellite easily squashed; resembling a sponge in having soft porous texture and compressibility
      squishy; spongy; squashy.
      • spongy bread
    • adjective satellite like a sponge in being able to absorb liquids and yield it back when compressed
      spongy.

    • More ‘spongelike’ Meaning
    • spongelike Associated Words
    • spongelike Related Words
  • rubberlike

    • adjective satellite having an elastic texture resembling rubber in flexibility or toughness
      rubbery.

    • More ‘rubberlike’ Meaning
    • rubberlike Associated Words
    • rubberlike Related Words
  • netlike

    • adjective satellite having open interstices or resembling a web
      weblike; netted; webby; lacy; webbed.

    • More ‘netlike’ Meaning
    • netlike Associated Words
    • netlike Related Words
  • hornlike

    • adjective satellite made of horn (or of a substance resembling horn)
      corneous; horny.

    • More ‘hornlike’ Meaning
    • hornlike Associated Words
    • hornlike Related Words
  • prisonlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a prison

    • More ‘prisonlike’ Meaning
    • prisonlike Associated Words
    • prisonlike Related Words
  • stonelike

    • adjective satellite (of bone especially the temporal bone) resembling stone in hardness
      petrous.

    • More ‘stonelike’ Meaning
    • stonelike Associated Words
    • stonelike Related Words
  • witchlike

    • adjective satellite being or having the character of witchcraft

    • More ‘witchlike’ Meaning
    • witchlike Associated Words
    • witchlike Related Words
  • sheeplike

    • adjective satellite like or suggestive of a sheep in docility or stupidity or meekness or timidity
      sheepish.

    • More ‘sheeplike’ Meaning
    • sheeplike Associated Words
    • sheeplike Related Words
  • yeastlike

    • adjective of or resembling or containing yeast
      yeasty.

    • More ‘yeastlike’ Meaning
    • yeastlike Associated Words
    • yeastlike Related Words
  • straplike

    • adjective satellite long and narrow like a strap
      • straplike leaves

    • More ‘straplike’ Meaning
    • straplike Associated Words
    • straplike Related Words
  • conelike

    • adjective relating to or resembling a cone
      conic; conical; cone-shaped.
      • conical mountains
      • conelike fruit

    • More ‘conelike’ Meaning
    • conelike Associated Words
    • conelike Related Words
  • boylike

    • adjective satellite befitting or characteristic of a young boy
      schoolboyish; boyish.
      • a boyish grin
      • schoolboyish pranks
    • adverb like a boy
      boyishly.
      • he smiled boyishly at his fiancee

    • More ‘boylike’ Meaning
    • boylike Associated Words
    • boylike Related Words
  • lamblike

    • adjective satellite like a lamb in meekness and gentleness

    • More ‘lamblike’ Meaning
    • lamblike Associated Words
    • lamblike Related Words
  • parrotlike

    • adjective satellite mechanically imitated or repeated without thought or understanding
      • a mere parrotlike word-calling process
      • a voice quality sounding parrotlike

    • More ‘parrotlike’ Meaning
    • parrotlike Associated Words
    • parrotlike Related Words
  • shelflike

    • adjective resembling a shelf (or considered to resemble a shelf)
      • shelflike table

    • More ‘shelflike’ Meaning
    • shelflike Associated Words
    • shelflike Related Words
  • ungentlemanlike

    • adjective satellite not befitting a gentleman
      ungentlemanly.

    • More ‘ungentlemanlike’ Meaning
    • ungentlemanlike Associated Words
    • ungentlemanlike Related Words
  • dustlike

    • adjective satellite as fine and powdery as dust

    • More ‘dustlike’ Meaning
    • dustlike Associated Words
    • dustlike Related Words
  • boxlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a box in rectangularity
      boxy; box-shaped.

    • More ‘boxlike’ Meaning
    • boxlike Associated Words
    • boxlike Related Words
  • needlelike

    • adjective satellite ending in a sharp point
      sharp; acuate; acute.

    • More ‘needlelike’ Meaning
    • needlelike Associated Words
    • needlelike Related Words
  • starlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a star
      • they saw a starlike object in the sky

    • More ‘starlike’ Meaning
    • starlike Associated Words
    • starlike Related Words
  • mirrorlike

    • adjective satellite capable of reflecting light like a mirror
      specular.
      • mirrorlike surface of the lake
      • a specular metal

    • More ‘mirrorlike’ Meaning
    • mirrorlike Associated Words
    • mirrorlike Related Words
  • sportsmanlike

    • adjective satellite exhibiting or calling for sportsmanship or fair play
      sporting; sporty; clean.
      • a clean fight
      • a sporting solution of the disagreement
      • sportsmanlike conduct

    • More ‘sportsmanlike’ Meaning
    • sportsmanlike Associated Words
    • sportsmanlike Prefix/Suffix Words
    • sportsmanlike Related Words
  • tubelike

    • adjective satellite constituting a tube; having hollow tubes (as for the passage of fluids)
      tube-shaped; tubular; vasiform; cannular.

    • More ‘tubelike’ Meaning
    • tubelike Associated Words
    • tubelike Related Words
  • whiplike

    • adjective having or resembling a lash or whip (as does a flagellum)
      flagellated; lash-like; flagellate.

    • More ‘whiplike’ Meaning
    • whiplike Associated Words
    • whiplike Related Words
  • grasslike

    • adjective satellite resembling grass

    • More ‘grasslike’ Meaning
    • grasslike Associated Words
    • grasslike Related Words
  • sheetlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a sheet

    • More ‘sheetlike’ Meaning
    • sheetlike Associated Words
    • sheetlike Related Words
  • wolflike

    • adjective resembling or characteristic (or considered characteristic) of a wolf
      wolfish.
      • ran in wolflike packs
      • wolfish rapacity

    • More ‘wolflike’ Meaning
    • wolflike Associated Words
    • wolflike Related Words
  • chainlike

    • adjective satellite having a chainlike form
      catenulate.
      • catenulate bacterial cell colonies

    • More ‘chainlike’ Meaning
    • chainlike Associated Words
    • chainlike Related Words
  • ratlike

    • adjective resembling or characteristic of a rat

    • More ‘ratlike’ Meaning
    • ratlike Associated Words
    • ratlike Related Words
  • lacelike

    • adjective satellite made of or resembling lace
      lacy.
      • a lacy gown
      • a lacy leaf

    • More ‘lacelike’ Meaning
    • lacelike Associated Words
    • lacelike Related Words
  • mouselike

    • adjective satellite of something having a drab pale brown color resembling a mouse
      mousy; mouse-colored; mousey.
      • a mousy brownish-grey color
      • mousy hair
      • mouse-colored hair

    • More ‘mouselike’ Meaning
    • mouselike Associated Words
    • mouselike Related Words
  • waxlike

    • adjective satellite having the paleness of wax
      waxen; waxy.
      • the poor face with the same awful waxen pallor»- Bram Stoker
      • the soldier turned his waxlike features toward him
      • a thin face with a waxy paleness

    • More ‘waxlike’ Meaning
    • waxlike Associated Words
    • waxlike Related Words
  • seamanlike

    • adjective characteristic of or befitting a seaman; indicating competent seamanship
      seamanly.

    • More ‘seamanlike’ Meaning
    • seamanlike Associated Words
    • seamanlike Related Words
  • slavelike

    • adjective satellite suitable for a slave or servant

    • More ‘slavelike’ Meaning
    • slavelike Associated Words
    • slavelike Related Words
  • beadlike

    • adjective satellite small and round and shiny like a shiny bead or button
      beady; buttony; buttonlike.
      • bright beady eyes
      • black buttony eyes

    • More ‘beadlike’ Meaning
    • beadlike Associated Words
    • beadlike Related Words
  • paperlike

    • adjective of or like paper
      papery; chartaceous.

    • More ‘paperlike’ Meaning
    • paperlike Associated Words
    • paperlike Related Words
  • priestlike

    • adjective befitting or characteristic of a priest or the priesthood
      priestly.
      • priestly dedication to the people of his parish

    • More ‘priestlike’ Meaning
    • priestlike Associated Words
    • priestlike Related Words
  • pastelike

    • adjective satellite resembling paste in color; pallid
      pasty.
      • he looked pasty and red-eyed
      • a complexion that had been pastelike was now chalky white

    • More ‘pastelike’ Meaning
    • pastelike Associated Words
    • pastelike Related Words
  • cheeselike

    • adjective satellite having the consistency of cheese

    • More ‘cheeselike’ Meaning
    • cheeselike Associated Words
    • cheeselike Related Words
  • viselike

    • adjective satellite clamped as in a vise
      • a viselike grip

    • More ‘viselike’ Meaning
    • viselike Associated Words
    • viselike Related Words
  • saclike

    • adjective satellite shaped like a pouch
      pouchlike; bursiform; pouch-shaped.

    • More ‘saclike’ Meaning
    • saclike Associated Words
    • saclike Related Words
  • fernlike

    • adjective satellite resembling ferns especially in leaf shape
      ferny.
      • the ferny shadows of locust leaves

    • More ‘fernlike’ Meaning
    • fernlike Associated Words
    • fernlike Related Words
  • cuplike

    • adjective satellite resembling the shape of a cup

    • More ‘cuplike’ Meaning
    • cuplike Associated Words
    • cuplike Related Words
  • daisylike

    • adjective resembling a daisy

    • More ‘daisylike’ Meaning
    • daisylike Associated Words
    • daisylike Related Words
  • grapelike

    • adjective resembling the fruit of a grape vine

    • More ‘grapelike’ Meaning
    • grapelike Associated Words
    • grapelike Related Words
  • bonelike

    • adjective satellite resembling bone
      • a bonelike tumor

    • More ‘bonelike’ Meaning
    • bonelike Associated Words
    • bonelike Related Words
  • spikelike

    • adjective satellite resembling a spike

    • More ‘spikelike’ Meaning
    • spikelike Associated Words
    • spikelike Related Words
  • brushlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a brush
      • brushlike blue blooms

    • More ‘brushlike’ Meaning
    • brushlike Associated Words
    • brushlike Related Words
  • berrylike

    • adjective resembling a berry
      baccate.

    • More ‘berrylike’ Meaning
    • berrylike Associated Words
    • berrylike Related Words
  • pouchlike

    • adjective satellite shaped like a pouch
      saclike; bursiform; pouch-shaped.

    • More ‘pouchlike’ Meaning
    • pouchlike Associated Words
    • pouchlike Related Words
  • clawlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a claw

    • More ‘clawlike’ Meaning
    • clawlike Associated Words
    • clawlike Related Words
  • toothlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a tooth

    • More ‘toothlike’ Meaning
    • toothlike Associated Words
    • toothlike Related Words
  • fingerlike

    • adjective satellite resembling a finger
      digitate.
      • digitate leaves of the horse chestnut

    • More ‘fingerlike’ Meaning
    • fingerlike Associated Words
    • fingerlike Related Words
  • beaklike

    • adjective satellite resembling the beak of a bird
      • a grizzled man with a beaklike nose

    • More ‘beaklike’ Meaning
    • beaklike Associated Words
    • beaklike Related Words
  • eyelike

    • adjective satellite suggesting an eye or eyes
      • eyelike markings on a butterfly’s wings
      • the eyelike gleam of two distant windows in the dark

    • More ‘eyelike’ Meaning
    • eyelike Associated Words
    • eyelike Related Words


Suffixes of like

  • liked

    • adjective found pleasant or attractive; often used as a combining form
      • a well-liked teacher
    • verb prefer or wish to do something
      wish; like; care.
      • Do you care to try this dish?
      • Would you like to come along to the movies?

    • More ‘liked’ Meaning
    • liked Associated Words
    • liked Prefix/Suffix Words
    • liked Related Words
  • like

    • noun a similar kind
      the likes of; the like.
      • dogs, foxes, and the like», «we don’t want the likes of you around here
    • noun a kind of person
      ilk.
      • We’ll not see his like again
      • I can’t tolerate people of his ilk

    • More ‘like’ Meaning
    • likes Associated Words
    • likes Prefix/Suffix Words
    • likes Related Words
  • likewise

    • adverb in like or similar manner
      similarly.
      • He was similarly affected
      • some people have little power to do good, and have likewise little strength to resist evil»- Samuel Johnson
    • adverb in addition
      also; as well; too; besides.
      • he has a Mercedes, too

    • More ‘likewise’ Meaning
    • likewise Associated Words
    • likewise Related Words
  • likelihood

    • noun the probability of a specified outcome
      likeliness.

    • More ‘likelihood’ Meaning
    • likelihood Idioms/Phrases
    • likelihood Associated Words
    • likelihood Prefix/Suffix Words
    • likelihood Related Words
  • likely

    • adjective has a good chance of being the case or of coming about
      • these services are likely to be available to us all before long
      • she is likely to forget
      • a likely place for a restaurant
      • the broken limb is likely to fall
      • rain is likely
      • a likely topic for investigation
      • likely candidates for the job
    • adjective likely but not certain to be or become true or real
      probable.
      • a likely result
      • he foresaw a probable loss

    • More ‘likely’ Meaning
    • likely Associated Words
    • likely Prefix/Suffix Words
    • likely Related Words
  • likeness

    • noun similarity in appearance or character or nature between persons or things
      alikeness; similitude.
      • man created God in his own likeness
    • noun picture consisting of a graphic image of a person or thing
      semblance.

    • More ‘likeness’ Meaning
    • likeness Associated Words
    • likeness Prefix/Suffix Words
    • likeness Related Words
  • liken

    • verb consider or describe as similar, equal, or analogous
      compare; equate.
      • We can compare the Han dynasty to the Romans
      • You cannot equate success in financial matters with greed

    • More ‘liken’ Meaning
    • likened Associated Words
    • likened Related Words
  • likeness

    • noun similarity in appearance or character or nature between persons or things
      alikeness; similitude.
      • man created God in his own likeness
    • noun picture consisting of a graphic image of a person or thing
      semblance.

    • More ‘likeness’ Meaning
    • likenesses Associated Words
    • likenesses Prefix/Suffix Words
    • likenesses Related Words
  • liken

    • verb consider or describe as similar, equal, or analogous
      compare; equate.
      • We can compare the Han dynasty to the Romans
      • You cannot equate success in financial matters with greed

    • More ‘liken’ Meaning
    • likens Associated Words
    • likens Related Words
  • likeable

    • adjective (of characters in literature or drama) evoking empathic or sympathetic feelings
      sympathetic; appealing; likable.
      • the sympathetic characters in the play
    • adjective satellite easy to like; agreeable
      likable.
      • an attractive and likable young man

    • More ‘likeable’ Meaning
    • likeable Associated Words
    • likeable Prefix/Suffix Words
    • likeable Related Words
  • liken

    • verb consider or describe as similar, equal, or analogous
      compare; equate.
      • We can compare the Han dynasty to the Romans
      • You cannot equate success in financial matters with greed

    • More ‘liken’ Meaning
    • liken Associated Words
    • liken Prefix/Suffix Words
    • liken Related Words
  • likening

    • noun the act of comparing similarities
    • verb consider or describe as similar, equal, or analogous
      liken; compare; equate.
      • We can compare the Han dynasty to the Romans
      • You cannot equate success in financial matters with greed

    • More ‘likening’ Meaning
    • likening Associated Words
    • likening Related Words
  • likelihood

    • noun the probability of a specified outcome
      likeliness.

    • More ‘likelihood’ Meaning
    • likelihoods Associated Words
    • likelihoods Related Words
  • likely

    • adjective has a good chance of being the case or of coming about
      • these services are likely to be available to us all before long
      • she is likely to forget
      • a likely place for a restaurant
      • the broken limb is likely to fall
      • rain is likely
      • a likely topic for investigation
      • likely candidates for the job
    • adjective likely but not certain to be or become true or real
      probable.
      • a likely result
      • he foresaw a probable loss

    • More ‘likely’ Meaning
    • likeliest Associated Words
    • likeliest Prefix/Suffix Words
    • likeliest Related Words
  • likely

    • adjective has a good chance of being the case or of coming about
      • these services are likely to be available to us all before long
      • she is likely to forget
      • a likely place for a restaurant
      • the broken limb is likely to fall
      • rain is likely
      • a likely topic for investigation
      • likely candidates for the job
    • adjective likely but not certain to be or become true or real
      probable.
      • a likely result
      • he foresaw a probable loss

    • More ‘likely’ Meaning
    • likelier Associated Words
    • likelier Related Words
  • like

    • noun a similar kind
      the likes of; the like.
      • dogs, foxes, and the like», «we don’t want the likes of you around here
    • noun a kind of person
      ilk.
      • We’ll not see his like again
      • I can’t tolerate people of his ilk

    • More ‘like’ Meaning
    • liker Associated Words
    • liker Prefix/Suffix Words
    • liker Related Words
  • like

    • noun a similar kind
      the likes of; the like.
      • dogs, foxes, and the like», «we don’t want the likes of you around here
    • noun a kind of person
      ilk.
      • We’ll not see his like again
      • I can’t tolerate people of his ilk

    • More ‘like’ Meaning
    • likest Associated Words
    • likest Related Words
  • likeliness

    • noun the probability of a specified outcome
      likelihood.

    • More ‘likeliness’ Meaning
    • likeliness Associated Words
    • likeliness Prefix/Suffix Words
    • likeliness Related Words


Derived words of like

  • unlikely

    • adjective not likely to be true or to occur or to have occurred
      improbable.
      • legislation on the question is highly unlikely
      • an improbable event
    • adjective has little chance of being the case or coming about
      • an unlikely story
      • an unlikely candidate for reelection
      • a butcher is unlikely to preach vegetarianism

    • More ‘unlikely’ Meaning
    • unlikely Associated Words
    • unlikely Related Words
  • disliked

    • adjective regarded with aversion
      • he was intensely disliked
    • verb have or feel a dislike or distaste for
      dislike.
      • I really dislike this salesman

    • More ‘disliked’ Meaning
    • disliked Associated Words
    • disliked Related Words
  • dislike

    • noun an inclination to withhold approval from some person or group
      disfavor; disapproval; disfavour.
    • noun a feeling of aversion or antipathy
      • my dislike of him was instinctive

    • More ‘dislike’ Meaning
    • dislikes Associated Words
    • dislikes Related Words
  • unlikeness

    • noun dissimilarity evidenced by an absence of likeness
      dissimilitude.

    • More ‘unlikeness’ Meaning
    • unlikeness Associated Words
    • unlikeness Prefix/Suffix Words
    • unlikeness Related Words
  • unlikelihood

    • noun the improbability of a specified outcome
      unlikeliness.

    • More ‘unlikelihood’ Meaning
    • unlikelihood Associated Words
    • unlikelihood Related Words
  • alikeness

    • noun similarity in appearance or character or nature between persons or things
      similitude; likeness.
      • man created God in his own likeness

    • More ‘alikeness’ Meaning
    • alikeness Associated Words
    • alikeness Related Words
  • unlikeable

    • adjective (of characters in literature or drama) tending to evoke antipathetic feelings
      unsympathetic; unlikable; unappealing.
      • all the characters were peculiarly unsympathetic
    • adjective satellite difficult or impossible to like
      unlikable.
      • a disagreeable and unlikable old woman

    • More ‘unlikeable’ Meaning
    • unlikeable Associated Words
    • unlikeable Related Words
  • unlikeness

    • noun dissimilarity evidenced by an absence of likeness
      dissimilitude.

    • More ‘unlikeness’ Meaning
    • unlikenesses Related Words
  • unlikeliness

    • noun the improbability of a specified outcome
      unlikelihood.

    • More ‘unlikeliness’ Meaning
    • unlikeliness Associated Words
    • unlikeliness Related Words
  • kylix

    • noun a shallow drinking cup with two handles; used in ancient Greece
      cylix.

    • More ‘kylix’ Meaning
    • kylikes Related Words
  • unlikely

    • adjective not likely to be true or to occur or to have occurred
      improbable.
      • legislation on the question is highly unlikely
      • an improbable event
    • adjective has little chance of being the case or coming about
      • an unlikely story
      • an unlikely candidate for reelection
      • a butcher is unlikely to preach vegetarianism

    • More ‘unlikely’ Meaning
    • unlikeliest Associated Words
    • unlikeliest Related Words
  • unlike

    • adjective marked by dissimilarity
      different; dissimilar.
      • for twins they are very unlike
      • people are profoundly different
    • adjective not equal in amount
      • they distributed unlike (or unequal) sums to the various charities

    • More ‘unlike’ Meaning
    • unlikes Related Words




Ezoic

About Prefix and Suffix Words

This page lists all the words created by adding prefixes, suffixes to the word `like`. For each word, youwill notice a blue bar below the word. The longer the blue bar below a word, the more common/popular the word. Very short blue bars indicate rare usage.

While some of the words are direct derivations of the word `like`, some are not.

You can click on each word to see it’s meaning.

How the ubiquitous, often-reviled word associated with young people and slackers represents the ever-changing English language

Zak Bickel / The Atlantic

In our mouths or in print, in villages or in cities, in buildings or in caves, a language doesn’t sit still. It can’t. Language change has preceded apace even in places known for preserving a language in amber. You may have heard that Icelanders can still read the ancient sagas written almost a thousand years ago in Old Norse. It is true that written Icelandic is quite similar to Old Norse, but the spoken language is quite different—Old Norse speakers would sound a tad extraterrestrial to modern Icelanders. There have been assorted changes in the grammar, but language has moved on, on that distant isle as everywhere else.

It’s under this view of language—as something becoming rather than being, a film rather than a photo, in motion rather than at rest—that we should consider the way young people use (drum roll, please) like. So deeply reviled, so hard on the ears of so many, so new, and with such an air of the unfinished, of insecurity and even dimness, the new like is hard to, well, love. But it takes on a different aspect when you consider it within this context of language being ever-evolving.

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First, let’s take like in just its traditional, accepted forms. Even in its dictionary definition, like is the product of stark changes in meaning that no one would ever guess. To an Old English speaker, the word that later became like was the word for, of all things, “body.” The word was lic, and lic was part of a word, gelic, that meant “with the body,” as in “with the body of,” which was a way of saying “similar to”—as in like. Gelic over time shortened to just lic, which became like. Of course, there were no days when these changes happened abruptly and became official. It was just that, step by step, the syllable lic, which to an Old English speaker meant “body,” came to mean, when uttered by people centuries later, “similar to”—and life went on.

Like has become a piece of grammar: It is the source of the suffix —ly. To the extent that slowly means “in a slow fashion,” as in “with the quality of slowness,” it is easy (and correct) to imagine that slowly began as “slow-like,” with like gradually wearing away into a —ly suffix. That historical process is especially clear in that there are still people who, colloquially, say slow-like, angry-like. Technically, like yielded two suffixes, because —ly is also used with adjectives, as in portly and saintly. Again, the pathway from saint-like to saint- ly is not hard to perceive.

Like has become a part of compounds. Likewise began as like plus a word, wise, which was different from the one meaning “smart when either a child or getting old.” This other wise meant “manner”: Likewise meant “similar in manner.” This wise disappeared as a word on its own, and so now we think of it as a suffix, as in clockwise and stepwise. But we still have likeminded, where we can easily perceive minded as having independent meaning. Dictionaries tell us it’s pronounced “like-MINE-did,” but I, for one, say “LIKE- minded” and have heard many others do so.

Therefore, like is ever so much more than some isolated thing clinically described in a dictionary with a definition like “(preposition) ‘having the same characteristics or qualities as; similar to.’” Think of a cold, limp, slimy squid splayed wet on a cutting board, its lifeless tentacles dribbling in coils, about to be sliced into calamari rings—in comparison to the brutally fleet, remorseless, dynamic creatures squid are when alive underwater—like as “(preposition) …” is wet on a cutting board.

There is a lot more to it: It swims, as it were. What we are seeing in like’s transformations today are just the latest chapters in a story that began with an ancient word that was supposed to mean “body.”

Because we think of like as meaning “akin to” or “similar to,” kids decorating every sentence or two with it seems like overuse. After all, how often should a coherently minded person need to note that something is similar to something rather than just being that something? The new like, then, is associated with hesitation. It is common to label the newer generations as harboring a fear of venturing a definite statement.

That analysis seems especially appropriate in that this usage of like first reached the national consciousness with its usage by Beatniks in the 1950s, as in, “Like, wow!” We associate the Beatniks, as a prelude to the counterculture with their free-ranging aesthetic and recreational sensibilities, with relativism. Part of the essence of the Beatnik was a reluctance to be judgmental of anyone but those who would dare to (1) be judgmental themselves or (2) openly abuse others. However, the Beatniks were also associated with a certain griminess—why would others imitate them?— upon which it bears mentioning that the genealogy of the modern like traces farther back. Ordinary people, too, have long been using like as an appendage to indicate similarity with a trace of hesitation. The “slow-like” kind of usage is a continuation of this, and Saul Bellow has thoroughly un- Beatnik characters in his novels of the 1950s use like in a way we would expect a decade or two later. “That’s the right clue and may do me some good. Something very big. Truth, like,” says Tommy Wilhelm in 1956’s Seize the Day, a character raised in the 1910s and ’20s, long before anyone had ever heard of a Beatnik. Bellow also has Henderson in Henderson the Rain King use like this way. Both Wilhelm and Henderson are tortured, galumphing char- acters riddled with uncertainty, but hippies they are not.

So today’s like did not spring mysteriously from a crowd on the margins of unusual mind-set and then somehow jump the rails from them into the general population. The seeds of the modern like lay among ordinary people; the Beatniks may not even have played a significant role in what happened later. The point is that like transformed from something occasional into something more regular. Fade out, fade in: recently I heard a lad of roughly sixteen chatting with a friend about something that had happened the weekend before, and his utterance was—this is as close to verbatim as I can get: So we got there and we thought we were going to have the room to ourselves and it turned out that like a family had booked it already. So we’re standing there and there were like grandparents and like grandkids and aunts and uncles all over the place. Anyone who has listened to American English over the past several decades will agree that this is thoroughly typical like usage.

The problem with the hesitation analysis is that this was a thoroughly confident speaker. He told this story with zest, vividness, and joy. What, after all, would occasion hesitation in spelling out that a family was holding an event in a room? It’s real-life usage of this kind—to linguists it is data, just like climate patterns are to meteorologists—that suggests that the idea of like as the linguistic equivalent to slumped shoulders is off.

Understandably so, of course—the meaning of like suggests that people are claiming that everything is “like” itself rather than itself. But as we have seen, words’ meanings change, and not just because someone invents a portable listening device and gives it a name composed of words that used to be applied to something else (Walkman), but because even the language of people stranded in a cave where life never changed would be under constant transformation. Like is a word, and so we’d expect it to develop new meanings: the only question, as always, is which one? So is it that young people are strangely overusing the like from the dictionary, or might it be that like has birthed a child with a different function altogether? When one alternative involves saddling entire generations of people, of an awesome array of circumstances across a vast nation, with a mysteriously potent inferiority complex, the other possibility beckons as worthy of engagement.

In that light, what has happened to like is that it has morphed into a modal marker—actually, one that functions as a protean indicator of the human mind at work in conversation. There are actually two modal marker likes—that is, to be fluent in modern American English is to have subconsciously internalized not one but two instances of grammar involving like.

Let’s start with So we’re standing there and there were like grandparents and like grandkids and aunts and uncles all over the place. That sentence, upon examination, is more than just what the words mean in isolation plus a bizarre squirt of slouchy little likes. Like grandparents and like grandkids means, when we break down what this teenager was actually trying to communicate, that given the circumstances, you might think it strange that an entire family popped up in this space we expected to be empty for our use, but in fact, it really was a whole family. In that, we have, for one, factuality—“no, really, I mean a family.” The original meaning of like applies in that one is saying “You may think I mean something like a couple and their son, but I mean something like a whole brood.”

And in that, note that there is also at the same time an acknowledgment of counterexpectation. The new like acknowledges unspoken objection while underlining one’s own point (the factuality). Like grandparents translates here as “There were, despite what you might think, actually grandparents.” Another example: I opened the door and it was, like, her! certainly doesn’t mean “Duhhhh, I suppose it’s okay for me to identify the person as her . . .” Vagueness is hardly the issue here. That sentence is uttered to mean “As we all know, I would have expected her father, the next-door neighbor, or some other person, or maybe a phone call or e-mail from her, but instead it was, actually, her.” Factuality and counterexpectation in one package, again. It may seem that I am freighting the little word with a bit much, but consider: It was, like, her! That sentence has a very precise meaning, despite the fact that because of its sociological associations with the young, to many it carries a whiff of Bubble Yum, peanut butter, or marijuana.

We could call that version of like “reinforcing like.” Then there is a second new like, which is closer to what people tend to think of all its new uses: it is indeed a hedge. However, that alone doesn’t do it justice: we miss that the hedge is just plain nice, something that has further implications for how we place this like in a linguistic sense. This is, like, the only way to make it work does not mean “Duhhhh, I guess this seems like the way to make it work.” A person says this in a context in which the news is unwelcome to the hearer, and this was either mentioned before or, just as likely, is unstatedly obvious. The like acknowledges—imagine even a little curtsey—the discomfort. It softens the blow—that is, eases—by swathing the statement in the garb of hypotheticality that the basic meaning of like lends. Something “like” x is less threatening than x itself; to phrase things as if x were only “like,” x is thus like offering a glass of water, a compress, or a warm little blanket. An equivalent is “Let’s take our pill now,” said by someone who is not, themselves, about to take the pill along with the poor sick person. The sick one knows it, too, but the phrasing with “we” is a soothing action, acknowledging that taking pills can be a bit of a drag.

Note that while this new like cushions a blow, the blow does get delivered. Rather than being a weak gesture, the new like can be seen as gentle but firm. The main point is that it is part of the linguistic system, not something merely littering it up. It isn’t surprising that a word meaning “similar to” morphs into a word that quietly allows us to avoid being bumptious, via courteously addressing its likeness rather than the thing itself, via considering it rather than addressing it. Just as uptalk sounds like a question but isn’t, like sounds like a mere shirk of certainty but isn’t.

Like LOL, like, entrenched in all kinds of sentences, used subconsciously, and difficult to parse the real meaning of without careful consideration, has all the hallmarks of a piece of grammar—specifically, in the pragmatic department, modal wing. One thing making it especially clear that the new like is not just a tic of heedless, underconfident youth is that many of the people who started using it in the new way in the 1970s are now middle-aged. People’s sense of how they talk tends to differ from the reality, and the person of a certain age who claims never to use like “that way” as often as not, like, does—and often. As I write, a sentence such as There were like grandparents and like grandkids in there is as likely to be spoken by a forty-something as by a teenager or a college student. Just listen around the next time you’re standing in a line, watching a talk show, or possibly even listening to yourself.

Then, the two likes I have mentioned must be distinguished from yet a third usage, the quotative like—as in “And she was like, ‘I didn’t even invite him.’ ” This is yet another way that like has become grammar. The meaning “similar to” is as natural a source here as it was for —ly: mimicking people’s utterances is talking similarly to, as in “like,” them. Few of the like-haters distinguish this like from the other new usages, since all are associated with young people and verbal slackerdom. But the third new like doesn’t do the jobs the others do: there is nothing hesitational or even polite about quotative like, much less especially forceful à la the reinforcing like. It is a thoroughly straightforward way of quoting a person, often followed by a verbatim mimicry complete with gestures. That’s worlds away from This is, like, the only way to make it work or There were like grandkids in there. Thus the modern American English speaker has mastered not just two, but actually three different new usages of like.


This article has been adapted from John McWhorter’s latest book , Words on the Move: Why English Won’t—and Can’t—Sit Still (Like, Literally).

ability
способность,
inability
неспособность;
disability
нетрудоспособность able
способный, умелый
unable
неспособный
disabled
искалеченный; инвалид enable
дать возможность
disable
делать неспособным, калечить ably
умело, искусно absurdity
абсурдность absurd
абсурдный acceptability
приемлемость acceptable
приемлемый
unacceptable
неприемлемый accept
принимать, соглашаться access
доступ
accessibility
доступность accessible
доступный accessibly
доступно accident
случай, случайность accidental
случайный accidentally
нечаянно, случайно action
действие
actor
актер
actress
актриса
activity
активность
activities
деятельность
acting
представление active
активный
acting
действующий, работающей act
действовать actively
активно achievement
достижение achieve
достигать addiction
привычка, приверженность, увлеченность
addict
увлеченный человек, имеющий стойкую привычку addictive
способный вызывать привычку addict
увлекаться, предаваться admiration
восхищение admirable
восхитительный admire
восхищаться admirably
восхитительно advice
совет advisable
рекомендуемый advise
советовать affectation
притворство, искусственность
affection
привязанность, любовь affected
притворный
affectionate
любящий
affective
эмоциональный affect
воздействовать, влиять; притворяться agreement
соглашение, согласие
disagreement
разногласие, несогласие agreeable
соответствующий, приятный agree
соглашаться
disagree
не соглашаться agreeably
соответственно aggression
агрессия
aggressor
агрессору зачинщик aggressive
агрессивный aggress
нападать aggressively
агрессивно aim
цель aimless
бесцельный aim
целиться, намереваться aimlessly
бесцельно affordable
то, что может быть позволено
unaffordable
то, что невозможно себе позволить afford
позволять себе amusement
развлечение amused
приятно изумленный
amusing
забавный amuse
развлекать, забавлять amusedly
изумленно appearance
внешность; появление
disappearance
исчезновение appear
появляться
disappear
исчезать appointment
назначение; деловая встреча
disappointment
разочарование, досада appointed
назначенный
disappointed
огорченный
disappointing
разочаровывающий appoint
назначать
disappoint
разочаровывать approval
одобрение approved
одобренный
approving
одобрительный approve
одобрять approvingly
одобрительно arrangement
соглашение; расположение arranged
приведенный в порядок arrange
приводить в порядок, организовывать argument
аргумент, довод
argumentation
аргументация arguable
доказуемый (в споре)
argumentative
спорный, конфликтный argue
утверждать, спорить, ссориться argumentatively
доказательно appropriation
присвоение; ассигнование appropriate
подходящий, соответствующий
inappropriate
несоответствущий, неуместный appropriate
присваивать, предназначать appropriately
соответственно, подходяще arrival
прибытие arrive
прибывать, приезжать attraction
притяжение, привлекательность attracted
привлеченный
attractive
привлекательный attract
привлекать attractively
привлекательно avoidance
избежание, отмена avoidable
то, чего можно избежать
unavoidable
неизбежный avoid
избегать unavoidably
неизбежно beauty
красота; красавица beautiful
красивый beautify
украшать beautifully
красиво bearing
роды bearable
сносный, допустимый
unbearable
невыносимый bear
носить; терпеть unbearably
невыносимо belief
вера believable
вероятный, правдоподобный
unbelievable
невероятный believe
верить benefit
выгода beneficial
выгодный benefit
получать выгоду bore
зануда
boredom
скука bored
испытывающий скуку
boring
скучный, надоедливый bore
надоедать boringly
скучно breath
дыхание, дуновение
breathing
дыхание
breather
короткая передышка breathing
дышащий
breathless
бездыханный breathe
дышать breathlessly
затаив дыхание business
дело
businessman
деловой мужчина
businesswoman
деловая женщина busy
занятой
businesslike
деловой, практичный busy
занимать делом busily
деловито, по-деловому саrе
забота, уход careful
заботливый
careless
небрежный саrе
заботиться, любить carefully
заботливо
carelessly
небрежно celebration
празднование
celebrity
знаменитость celebrated
знаменитый, прославленный celebrate
праздновать, прославлять certainty
определенность
uncertainty
неопределенность, неуверенность certain
определенный
uncertain
неопределенный certainly
определенно, уверенно change
изменение; мелочь, сдача changeable
изменчивый
changed
изменившийся
changeless
неизменный
unchanged
не изменившийся change
менять; обменивать(ся) changelessly
неизменно character
характер characteristic
характерный, типичный characterise
характеризовать choice
выбор choosy
разборчивый choose
выбирать child
ребенок
children
дети childish
детский; ребяческий clearance
очистка; устранение препятствий clear
четкий, ясный clear
очищать, расчищать clearly
четко, ясно cloud
облако cloudy
облачный
cloudless
безоблачный collection
собрание; коллекция
collector
сборщик collective
коллективный, совокупный collect
собирать; коллекционировать colony
колония colonial
колониальный colonise / colonize
колонизировать colour
цвет colourful
цветной
colourless
бесцветный
multi-coloured
разноцветный colour
раскрашивать comfort
комфорт; утешение
discomfort
беспокойство; неудобство comfortable
удобный, комфортабельный
uncomfortable
неудобный comfort
утешать, успокаивать comfortably
удобно
uncomfortably
неудобно community
община, общество communal
общественный, коллективный communication
сообщение
communicator
коммуникатор, переговорщик communicative
использующийся в общении; коммуникативный communicate
сообщать; общаться comparison
сравнение compared
сравниваемый
comparative
сравнительный compare
сравнивать comparatively
сравнительно, относительно competition
соревнование; конкуренция
competitor
конкурент, соперник competitive
соревновательный compete
соревноваться, конкурировать competitively
в форме соревнования, конкуренции completion
завершение, окончание completed
законченный
complete
полный, завершенный
incomplete
неполный, назавершенный complete
заканчивать, завершать completely
полностью congratulation
поздравление congratulate
поздравлять connection
соединение, объединение connected
связанный, соединенный connect
соединять
disconnect
разъединять consideration
внимание; рассмотрение, обсуждение considerable
значительный
considerate
внимательный, деликатный, тактичный
inconsiderate
неосмотрительный; невнимательный к другим consider
считать, полагать; рассматривать considerably
значительно conscience
совесть conscientious
совестливый, добросовестный
conscientiousless
бессовестный conscientiously
добросовестно consciousness
сознание conscious
осознающий
unconscious
без сознания consciously
сознательно, осознанно consultation
консультация
consultant
консультант consulting
консультирующий consult
консультировать container
вместилище, контейнер containing
содержащий contain
содержать, вмещать continuity
непрерывность continuous
продолжающийся, длящийся continue
продолжать continuously
непрерывно control
управление, руководство controllable
поддающийся управлению
uncontrollable
неподдающийся управлению
controlled
управляемый
uncontrolled
неуправляемый control
управлять, регулировать uncontrollably
бесконтрольно conviction
убеждение convincing
убедительный
convinced
убежденный convince
убеждать convincingly
убедительно cook
повар
cooker
плита, духовка over-cooked
переваренный
under-cooked
недоваренный cook
готовить еду correction
исправление
corrector
корректор correct
правильный
incorrect
неправильный correct
исправлять correctly
правильно counter
прилавок
discount
скидка
accountant
бухгалтер countable
исчисляемый
uncountable
неисчисляемый count
считать uncountably
немеряно, без счета courage
храбрость courageous
храбрый
encouraged
воодушевленный
encouraging
подбадривающий
discouraged
обескураженный encourage
приободрять, поддерживать
discourage
отговаривать, обескураживать courageously
смело, храбро creation
создание
creativity
творчество
creator
творец, создатель
creature
творение; живое существо creative
творческий create
создавать, творить creatively
творчески credit
вера, доверие credible
вероятный, заслуживающий доверия
incredible
невероятный credibly
вероятно
incredibly
невероятно critic
критик
criticism
критика critical
критический; переломный; рискованный criticise
критиковать critically
критично, критически cultivation
культивация, обработка cultivated
культивированный, обработанный cultivate
обрабатывать culture
культура cultured
культурный, воспитанный
cultural
культурный (как часть культуры) culturally
культурно cure
лекарство; лечение curable
излечимый
incurable
неизлечимый cure
вылечивать, исцелять incurably
неизлечимо danger
опасность dangerous
опасный endanger
угрожать dangerously
опасно day
день daily
ежедневный daily
ежедневно deception
обман, заблуждение deceptive
обманчивый
deceitful
обманчивый, лживый deceive
обманывать deceitfully
обманчиво, предательски decision
решение decided
определенный, явный
undecided
нерешительный, неясный
decisive
решительный, убежденный, убедительный decide
решать, принимать решение decisively
решительно, определенно definition
определение definite
четкий, определенный
indefinite
неопределенный define
определять, давать определение definitely
определенно, ясно
indefinitely
нечетко, неопределенно delight
восторг, наслаждение delightful
восхитительный
delighted
польщенный delight
восхищаться delightfully
с восторгом delivery
доставка, поставка delivered
доставленный deliver
доставлять dependence
зависимость
independence
независимость dependent
зависимый
independent
независимый depend
зависеть independently
независимо depression
депрессия, подавленность depressive
депрессивный, вызывающий депрессию
depressed
подавленный depress
подавлять description
описание descriptive
описательный, наглядный describe
описывать design
проект, дизайн
designer
дизайнер, проектировщик design
проектировать desire
желание, стремление desirable
желательный, желаемый
undesirable
нежелательный desire
желать, стремиться desirably
желательно destruction
разрушение destroyed
разрушенный destroy
разрушать, уничтожать determination
решительность; определение determined
решительный determine
решать, определять development
развитие
developer
разработчик developed
развитой
developing
развивающийся
undeveloped
неразвитый develop
развивать(ся) dying
умирающий die
умирать difference
разница, различие
indifference
безразличие different
другой, отличающийся
indifferent
безразличный differ
отличаться differently
по-другому
indifferently
с безразличием disturbance
тревога, беспокойство; нарушение тишины, порядка disturbed
обеспокоенный
disturbing
беспокоящий disturb
беспокоить, мешать doubt
сомнение doubtful
сомнительный
doubtless
несомненный
undoubted
бесспорный doubt
сомневаться doubfully
с сомнением
doubtlessly
не сомневаясь
undoubtedly
без сомнения ease
легкость, свобода
disease
болезнь easy
легкий
uneasy
неловкий, тревожный ease
облегчать, ослаблять easily
легко
uneasily
неловко economy
хозяйство economic
экономический
economical
экономный economise
экономить economically
экономически; экономно educator
воспитатель, педагог
education
образование educated
образованный
uneducated
необразованный
educative
образовательный educate
воспитывать, давать образование effect
следствие, результат
effectiveness
эффективность effective
эффективный, действующий effect
производить, выполнять effectively
эффективно, действенно electricity
электричество
electrician
электрик electric
электрический electrify
электрифицировать empire
империя
empiror
император empire
имперский
empiric / empirical
исходящий из опыта, эмпирический employment
служба, работа
unemployment
безработица
employer
наниматель, работодатель
employee
работающий по найму employed
нанятый, занятый
unemployed
безработный employ
нанимать end
конец, окончание endless
бесконечный
unending
нескончаемый end
конец, окончание endlessly
бесконечно environment
окружающая среда environmental
природный entertainment
развлечение entertaining
развлекательный entertain
развлекать enthusiasm
энтузиазм, восторг
enthusiast
энтузиаст, восторженный человек enthusiastic
восторженный enthusiastically
с восторгом equipment
оборудование equipped
снаряженный, оборудованный equip
снаряжать essence
сущность essential
главный, основной essentially
главным образом examination / exam
экзамен; медосмотр examined
проэкзаменованный; осмотренный врачом examine
экзаменовать; осматривать excitement
возбуждение, волнение exciting
возбуждающий
excitable
возбудимый
excited
возбужденный, взволнованный excite
возбуждать, волновать excitedly
взволнованно, возбужденно expectation
ожидание, предчувствие expected
ожидаемый
unexpected
неожиданный expect
ожидать, предчувствовать expence(s)
расход(ы), затраты expensive
дорогой
inexpensive
недорогой expend
тратить, расходовать expensively
дорого experience
опыт, опытность
inexperience
неопытность
experiment
эксперимент experienced
опытный
inexperienced
неопытный
experimental
эспериментальный experience
испытывать explosion
взрыв
explosive
взрывчатое вещество explosive
взрывчатый explode
взрываться expression
выражение expressive
выразительный express
выражать expressively
выразительно extent
пространство, степень extended
длительный,обширный
extensive
обширный extend
простираться, тянуться extensively
обширно, протяженно extreme
крайняя степень, крайность extreme
крайний, чрезвычайный extremely
крайне fascination
очарование, обаяние fascinating
чарующий
fascinated
очарованный fascinate
очаровывать fairness
справедливость; порядочность fair
порядочный, справедливый
unfair
несправедливый fairly
справедливо, честно; довольно-таки finance
финансы financial
финансовый finance
финансировать financially
финансово firmness
твердость firm
твердый affirm
утверждать firmly
твердо fitness
физическая форма, физическое состояние fit
находящийся в хорошей форме; подходящий
unfit
неподходящий fit
подгонять, подстраивать following
следующий follow
следовать fool
глупыш, дурак foolish
глупый fool
обманывать foolishly
глупо forgettable
забываемый
unforgettable
незабываемый
forgetful
забывчивый
forgotten
забытый forget
забывать forgiveness
прощение forgiving
прощающий
forgivable
простительный
unforgivable
непростительный forgive
прощать forgivingly
с прощением fortune
судьба, счастье; богатство, состояние fortunate
счастливый
unfortunate
несчастный fortunately
к счастью
unfortunately
к сожалению freedom
свобода free
свободный; бесплатный freely
свободно frequency
частота frequent
частый frequent
часто посещать frequently
часто friend
друг
friendship
дружба
friendliness
дружелюбие friendly
дружеский, дружелюбный
unfriendly
недружеский in a friendly way / manner
дружелюбно fright
страх, испуг frightful
страшный
frightened
испуганный
frightening
пугающий frighten
пугать, устрашать frightfully
страшно; испуганно generosity
щедрость generous
щедрый generously
щедро gentleman
джентльмен gentle
мягкий, нежный gently
мягко, нежно ghost
привидение, призрак ghostly
похожий на привидение grass
трава grassy
травяной habit
привычка, обычай
habitant
обитатель
habitat
естественная среда
habitation
жилище, обиталище habitual
привычный habituate
приучать habitually
обычно hand
рука; рабочий
handful
горсть handy
удобный (для использования)
handmade
изготовленный вручную hand
вручать happiness
счастье
unhappiness
несчастье happy
счастливый
unhappy
несчастный happily
счастливо
unhappily
несчастливо harm
вред harmful
вредный
harmless
безвредный harm
повредить, навредить harmfully
вредно health
здоровье healthy
здоровый
unhealthy
нездоровый home
дом, жилище homeless
бездомный honour
честь honourable
почетный honour
почитать, чтить honourably
почетно hope
надежда
hopefulness
оптимизм, надежда hopeful
надеющийся
hopeless
безнадежный hope
надеяться hopefully
с надеждой humanity
человечество human
человеческий
humane
гуманный
inhuman
бесчеловечный
humanitarian
гуманитарный humour
юмор humorous
юмористический humorously
с юмором hurry
спешка hurrying
торопливый, спешащий
hurried
торопливый hurry
торопиться hurriedly
торопливо ice
лед icy
ледяной importance
важность important
важный
unimportant
незначительный importantly
важно impression
впечатление impressed
впечатленный
impressive
впечатляющий
unimpressed
безучастный impress
производить впечатление impressively
впечатляюще improvement
улучшение improved
улучшенный improve
улучшать impulse
толчок, побуждение impulsive
импульсивный impulsively
импульсивно incident
несчастный случай; конфликт, инцидент incidental
случайный incidentally
случайно increase
рост, увеличение increasing
растущий increase
увеличивать(ся) increasingly
с ростом industry
промышленность industrial
промышленный
industrious
трудолюбивый. усердный industrialise
индустриализовать industrially
в промышленном отношении information
сообщение, информация
informant
осведомитель
formality
формальность informed
осведомленный
well-informed
знающий, хорошо информированный
misinformed
неверно информированный
formal
формальный, официальный
informal
неофициальный inform
информировать
misinform
неверно сообщать; дезинформировать informationally
информационно intensity
интенсивность intensive
интенсивный intensify
интенсифицировать intensively
интенсивно interest
интерес interested
заинтересованный
interesting
интересный interest
интересовать inventor
изобретатель
invention
изобретение inventive
изобретательный invent
изобретать inventively
изобретательно invitation
приглашение invited
приглашенный invite
приглашать inspiration
вдохновение inspired
вдохновленный
inspiring
вдохновляющий inspire
вдохновлять knowledge
знание
acknowledgement
признание; расписка acknowledged
признанный acknowledge
признавать, подтверждать legality
законность, легальность legal
юридический, законный
illegal
незаконный, подпольный legalize
легализовать legally
законно
illegally
незаконно likeness
сходство, подобие likeable
приятный
unlike
непохожий
like
аналогичный like
относиться хорошо
dislike
относиться отрицательно likely
вероятно
unlikely
невероятно
unlike
в отличие life
жизнь
living
жизнь lively
оживленный, веселый
live
актуальный, реальный live
жить in a lively way
оживленно literature
литература literal
буквальный
literary
литературный
literate
грамотный
illiterate
неграмотный literally
буквально location
место, поселение local
местный locate
размещать locally
в определенном месте loneliness
одиночество lonely
одинокий; один luck
удача lucky
удачливый
unlucky
неудачливый, неудачный luckily
к счастью luxury
роскошь luxurious
шикарный majority
большинство major
главный, основной manager
управляющий, руководитель managerial
управленческий manage
управлять; справляться marriage
женитьба married
женатый / замужняя
unmarried
неженатый / незамужняя marry
жениться meeting
встреча; собрание meet
встречать, знакомиться memory
память
memorial
мемориал memorial
памятный memorise
заучивать наизусть misery
нищета miserable
нищенский, ничтожный month
месяц monthly
ежемесячный monthly
ежемесячно motion
движение motionless
неподвижный motion
показывать жестом mystery
тайна, загадка mysterious
таинственный, загадочный mysteriously
таинственно, загадочно necessity
необходимость necessary
необходимый
unnecessary
ненужный necessarily
необходимо nerve
нерв nervous
нервный ennerve
нервировать nervously
нервно number
число; количество numerous
многочисленный
numerate
умеющий считать
innumerate
неумеющий считать number
обозначать цифрами object
объект, предмет
objective
цель; возражение objective
объективный object
возражать objectively
объективно obstinate
упрямый obstinately
упрямо occurrence
случай, происшествие occur
происходить operation
операция; оперирование, приведение в действие operate
управлять, действовать opportunity
возможность
opportunist
оппортунист opportune
своевременный, подходящий opposition
оппозиция, противостояние
opponent
оппонент, противник opposite
напротив
opposed
противоположный oppose
противопосталять owner
владелец, хозяин own
собственный own
владеть pain
боль painful
болезненный
painless
безболезненный painfully
болезненно
painlessly
безболезненно patience
терпение
impatience
нетерпение
patient
пациент patient
терпеливый
impatient
нетерпеливый patiently
терпеливо
impatiently
нетерпеливо participant
участник
participation
участие participating
участвующий participate
принимать участие particulars
подробности particular
особенный particularly
особенно perfection
совершенство perfect
совершенный, идеальный
imperfect
несовершенный perfect
совершенствовать, улучшать perfectly
отлично, безупречно period
период, срок periodical
периодический periodically
периодически performance
представление; исполнение
performer
исполнитель perform
исполнять, выполнять, совершать peace
мир, спокойствие peaceful
мирный peacefully
мирно permission
разрешение
permissiveness
вседозволенность
permit
пропуск permissive
позволяющий permit
позволять permissively
с позволением pleasure
удовольствие pleasant
приятный
pleased
довольный
displeased
недовольный please
доставлять удовольствие pleasantly
приятно point
точка; пункт pointed
остроконечный, нацеленный
pointful
уместный, удачный
pointless
бесцельный point
указывать, направлять pointedly
остро, по существу politeness
вежливость polite
вежливый
impolite
невежливый politely
вежливо popularity
популярность popular
популярный
unpopular
непопулярный popularise
популяризировать possession
владение, собственность
possessor
обладатель, владелец possessive
собственнический possess
владеть, обладать possibility
вероятность, возможность possible
возможный
impossible
невозможный possibly
возможно power
сила, мощь powerful
мощный
powerless
бессильный empower
уполномочивать preference
предпочтение preferable
предпочтительный
preferential
пользующийся препочтением prefer
предпочитать preferably
предпочтительно preparation
подготовка prepared
подготовленный
unprepared
неподготовленный prepare
подготовить preparedly
с готовностью prestige
престиж prestigious
престижный prestigiously
престижно profession
профессия professional
профессиональный professionally
профессионально profit
выгода profitable
выгодный
unprofitable
не приносящий выгоды profit
получать выгоду profitably
выгодно progress
прогресс, продвижение progressive
прогрессивный progress
продвигаться вперед progressively
постепенно, продвигаясь вперед proposal
предложение proposed
предложенный propose
делать предложение prosperity
процветание prosperous
процветающий prosper
процветать prosperously
процветающе public
общественность public
общественный publicise
разглашать publicly
открыто, публично quickness
быстрота quick
быстрый quicken
убыстрять quickly
быстро reality
реальность
realization
реализация, осуществление real
реальный, настоящий
unreal
нереальный realize
реализовать, осуществлять really
действительно, в самом деле recognition
признание, узнавание recognised
признанный recognise
узнавать; признавать reduction
снижение, понижение reduced
уменьшенный; сниженный reduce
снижать; сбавлять relaxation
отдых, расслабление relaxed
расслабленный
relaxing
отдыхающий; расслабляющий relax
отдыхать, расслабляться relaxedly
расслабленно reliability
надежность reliable
надежный
unreliable
ненадежный rely
доверять, полагаться reliably
надежно religion
религия religious
религиозный reluctance
нежелание, неохота reluctant
неохотный reluctantly
неохотно regularity
регулярность
irregularity
нерегулярность regular
регулярный, правильный
irregular
неправильный; нестандартный regulate
регулировать regularly
регулярно remark
замечание remarkable
замечательный remark
замечать, отмечать remarkably
замечательно representation
представление
representative
представитель representative
представительный represent
представлять reproach
упрек irreproachable
безупречный reproach
упрекать reproachingly
с упреком reputation
репутация reputated
имеющий хорошую репутацию, почтенный
disreputable
имеющий плохую репутацию repute
давать репутацию
disrepute
компрометироватъ resistance
сопротивление resistible
ударопрочный;
irresistible
неотразимый
resistant
прочный resist
сопротивляться irresistibly
неотразимо respect
уважение respectful
уважительный respect
уважать respectfully
с уважением rest
отдых restless
беспокойный rest
отдыхать restlessly
беспокойно reward
награда rewarding
стоящий награды
unrewarded
невознагражденный reward
награждать riches
богатства
richness
богатство rich
богатый enrich
обогащать richly
богато risk
риск risky
рискованный risk
рисковать sadness
грусть sad
грустный sadden
огорчать sadly
грустно safe
сейф
safety
безопасность safe
безопасный
unsafe
опасный save
спасать; экономить safely
безопасно satisfaction
удовлетворение
dissatisfaction
неудовлетворенность; недовольство satisfied
довольный
dissatisfied
недовольный
satisfactory
удовлетворительный
unsatisfactory
неудовлетворительный satisfy
удовлетворять
dissatisfy
разочаровывать; огорчать research
исследование search
искать, осуществлять поиск security
безопасность secure
безопасный
insecure
находящийся в опасности secure
охранять, гарантировать securely
безопасно seriousness
серьезность serious
серьезный seriously
серьезно science
наука
scientist
ученый scientific
научный scientifically
научно sense
чувство
insensibility
отсутствие чувствительности sensitive
чувствительный
insensitive
несочувствующий
sensible
разумный
insensible
нечувствительный, неосознающий sense
ощущать sensitively
чувствительно
sensibly
разумно service
услуга, обслуживание
servant
слуга served
обслуженный; поданный на стол serve
служить, обслуживать, подавать на стол significant
значительный
insignificant
незначительный signify
иметь значение significantly
значительно similarity
сходство, похожесть similar
похожий, подобный similarly
похоже, подобно sincerity
искренность sincere
искренний
insincere
неискренний sincerely
искренне shorts
шорты short
короткий shorten
укорачивать shortly
кратко sleep
сон
sleeper
спящий; спальный вагон sleeping
спящий
sleepless
бессонный sleep
спать sleeplessly
без сна solution
решение; раствор solved
решенный; растворенный solve
решать; находить выход; растворять speciality
специальность; фирменное блюдо
specialty
особенность special
особенный; специальный
specific
специфический specify
точно определять
specialize
специализировать(ся) specially
специально
specifically
специфично strength
сила strong
сильный strengthen
укреплять strongly
сильно stress
стресс stressful
стрессовый stress
ударять, ставить ударение stressfully
в состоянии стресса success
успех successful
успешный
unsuccessful
безуспешный succeed
преуспевать successfully
успешно sufñcience
достаточность
insufñcience
недостаточность sufficient
достаточный
insufficient
недостаточный suffice
быть достаточным sufficiently
достаточно suitable
подходящий
unsuitable
неподходящий suit
подходить, устраивать suggestion
предложение suggest
предлагать suspect
подозреваемый suspicious
подозрительный suspect
подозревать suspiciously
подозрительно swimmer
пловец
swimming
плавание swimming
плавающий, плавательный swim
плавать sympathy
сочувствие, понимание sympathetic
сочувствующий sympathize
сочувствовать sympathetically
с пониманием; сочувственно sureness
уверенность sure
уверенный
unsure
неуверенный
assured
обеспеченный; уверенный
self-assured
уверенный в себе ensure
обеспечивать; гарантировать
assure
уверять, обеспечивать surely
конечно; уверенно
assuredly
с уверенностью surrounding
окружение surrounded
окруженный surround
окружать talk
беседа, разговор talkative
разговорчивый talk
беседовать taste
вкус
distaste
отсуствие вкуса tasteful
сделанный со вкусом; обладающий вкусом
tasteless
безвкусный taste
пробовать tastefully
со вкусом
tastelessly
без вкуса terror
террор
terrorist
террорист terrible
ужасный
terrific
потрясающий
terrifying
ужасающий
terrified
напуганный terrify
ужасать terribly
ужасно
terrifically
потрясающе thirst
жажда thirsty
испытывать жажду tights
колготки tight
плотный, тесный tighten
сжимать, натягивать tightly
тесно, плотно thought
мысль thoughtful
задумчивый
thoughtless
бездумный think
думать, иметь мнение thoughtfully
задумчиво tragedy
трагедия tragic
трагичный
tragical
трагический tragically
трагично travelling
путешествие
traveller
путешественник travelling
путешествующий travel
путешествовать truth
правда
untruth
неправда true
правильный; настоящий
untrue
неверный, не соответствующий действительности
truthful
правдивый truly
по-настоящему, искренне
truthfully
правдиво value
ценность valued
ценимый
valuable
ценный value
ценить, оценивать variety
разнообразие
variability
изменчивость, непостоянство variable
изменяемый
invariable
неизменный vary
менять, разнообразить invariably
неизменно year
год yearly
ежегодный yearly
ежегодно understanding
понимание
misunderstanding
непонимание; недоразумение understandable
понятный understand
понимать use
польза
misuse
неправильное использование;
usage
использование useful
полезный
useless
бесполезный
used
использованный
unused
неиспользованный use
использовать, пользоваться usefully
полезно
uselessly
бесполезно week
неделя weekly
еженедельный weekly
еженедельно width
ширина wide
широкий widen
расширять widely
широко will
воля, желание; завещание willing
жаждущий, желающий
unwilling
не желающий will
проявлять волю, желать willingly
охотно, с удовольствием
unwillingly
неохотно wind
ветер windy
ветренный
windless
безветренный wisdom
мудрость wise
мудрый
unwise
неблагоразумный wisely
мудро
unwisely
неблагоразумно worth
стоимость, ценность worthy
достойный
worthless
не имеющий ценности

suffixes

Some added letters at the end of a word can also make a word by themselves

DEFINITION OF ENGLISH SUFFIXES

A suffix is a kind of subdivision found in some words. It is likely to be:

(i) Added onto the end of an existing English word, modifying its meaning.

(ii) Meaningful.

(iii) Present in numerous different words.

(iv) Unable to be used alone as a word.

Well-known examples of suffixes are -s on nouns and verbs, -ness and -tion on some nouns, -ing and -fy on verbs, and -ly on some adverbs. A major reason for studying suffixes is that familiarity with them can make it easier to guess the meanings of unfamiliar words in a text (see 177. How to Guess Meanings in a Text).

Some suffixes are considered to belong to grammar, others to vocabulary. Grammar ones normally create different forms of the same word, vocabulary ones new words altogether. The suffix -s is of the former kind – see and sees are different forms of the same verb SEE, showing respectively plural and singular meaning. The suffix -ly, on the other hand, is of the latter kind: sad and sadly are two different words, one an adjective and one an adverb.

The last of the four characteristics above helps suffixes to be differentiated from “roots” – meaningful word parts that are more than just additions to another word, such as -work in homework (see 26. One Word or Two?). However, some word endings that may be best thought of as suffixes (of the vocabulary-like kind) can also occur by themselves. One reason for still classifying them as suffixes is that they are very widely used in different words.

This post is about suffixes that resemble roots. I wish first to examine the occurrence of -ful and -less, which are quite widespread in English, and then to consider some others that are not so frequent. Other posts that contain information about suffixes are 41. Unexpected Vowels in Derived Words,  135. French Influences on English Vocabulary172. Multi-Use Suffixes,  249. Action Noun Endings255. Nouns Made from Adjectives and 304. Adjectives Made from a Verb. For information about prefixes, see 146. Some Important Prefix Types.

.

THE SUFFIXES “-ful” AND “-less”

The suffixes -ful and -less can be used at the end of numerous English nouns to change them into adjectives. For example, the noun joy can be made into the adjectives joyful and joyless. The former means “happy” (“full of joy”), the latter “unhappy” or “unattractive” (“lacking joy”). Most -ful and -less adjectives can then be made into new nouns by the addition of -ness (e.g. joyfulness: see 255. Nouns Made from Adjectives).

Unfortunately, the use of -ful and -less is not trouble-free. The main problems are that many nouns do not allow them at all, that some words with -ful are nouns rather than adjectives, that some nouns allow only one of the two suffixes but not both, and finally that some words ending in -ful or -less , such as baleful and reckless, are not also a word when the ending is removed.

Words with -ful that are nouns rather than adjectives include spoonful, cupful, glassful and mouthful. The ability of a particular English suffix to make words of different classes is not so unusual (see 172. Multi-Use Suffixes). Fortunately, -ful nouns are quite easy to recognise from the fact that the noun they are made from is usually the name of a container.

Probably the best way to learn which nouns allow -ful and -less and which do not is simply to gain exposure to as much English in use as possible. However, there can also be merit in seeing many examples of the words presented together in lists. Here is a sample of adjectives with -ful. Those that can replace -ful with -less are underlined.

.

Adjectives Ending in “-ful”

awful, baleful, bashful, beautiful, bountiful, careful, colourful, delightful, doubtful, dreadful, dutiful, eventful, faithful, fateful, fearful, forceful, frightful, harmful, hateful, helpful, hopeful, hurtful, joyful, masterful, meaningful, merciful, mindful, painful, peaceful, pitiful, playful, plentiful, powerfulremorseful, resentful, respectful, restful, rightful, spiteful, stressful, successful, tactful, tasteful, tearful, thankful, thoughtful, truthful, useful, vengeful, wishful, wistful, wonderful, wrongful, youthful, zestful.

Adjectives that one might expect to end with -ful but in fact have a different suffix include angry, risky, dirty, irksome, troublesome, charitable, problematic, flawed and loving.

Adjectives ending in -less seem slightly more numerous than the -ful ones. In the following list, the underlined ones again have a -ful equivalent.

Adjectives Ending in “-less”

aimless, *blameless, *bloodless, bottomless, careless, ceaseless, childless, *cloudless, clueless, colourless, defenceless, *doubtless, *effortless, emotionless, endless, expressionless, faithless, *faultless, *fearless, *flawless, hapless, *harmless, heartless, heedless, helpless, hopeless, joyless, landless, lifeless, meaningless, merciless, mindless, *motionless,*odourless, *painless, penniless, pitiless, pointless, powerless, *priceless, reckless, relentless, remorseless, restless, ruthless, senseless, sleepless, soundless, speechless, tactless, tasteless, tearless, thankless, thoughtless, *timeless, *tireless, *topless, toothless (etc.), useless, worthless.

The “(etc.)” in this list next to toothless is because many other names of body parts besides tooth can have -less, for example headless and hairless. An interesting feature of the list as a whole is that most of the words are negative in their meaning (see 13. Hidden Negatives and 16. Ways of Distinguishing Similar Words, #2). Exceptions are marked *.

It is unfortunately not always the case that -ful and -less create opposite meanings in the way that they do in joyful and joyless. Important exceptions include:

doubtful = “doubting” or “untrustworthy”) / doubtless = “undoubtedly”
helpful = “providing help” / helpless = “unable to act”
hopeful = “hoping” / hopeless = “not giving hope”
pitiful = “deserving pity” / pitiless = “not feeling pity”
remorseful = “feeling regret” / remorseless = “unstoppable”
thankful = “grateful” / thankless = “unrewarding”
useful = “possessing a good use” / useless = “inept” or “failing”

Special care is needed with useless, which can cause offence. To meet the politeness demands of formal writing, a preferable alternative is something like not very useful or of no use (see 166. Appropriacy in Professional English).

For more on doubtless, see 157. Tricky Word Contrasts 5, #1. For more on useless, hopeless, priceless and hateful, see 284. Words with a Surprising Meaning, #3, #6, #8 and #12. For more on hopeful, see 296. Tricky Word Contrasts 12, #2.

Another suffix with similar meaning to -less is -free. It is found (with a hyphen in front) in words like sugar-free, risk-free and trouble-free. The suggestion here is always positive – a feature that makes -free a particular favourite with advertisers!

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OTHER ROOT-LIKE SUFFIXES

Suffixes like -less, -ful and -free are different from those like -ly and -ness in that they closely resemble ordinary words. However, they seem better classifiable as suffixes than as roots like -work because they combine with ordinary words more widely than roots do.

Here is a list of some interesting word-like suffixes that I have gathered. Many need to follow a hyphen in the same way that -free does (rules for having or not having a hyphen are hard to find – see 223. Uses of Hyphens, #3 and #4). Most of the suffixes in the list create adjectives, but some (indicated) make adverbs.

-ABLE (or -IBLE): advisable, understandable, accessible, divisible (for a valuable use of this suffix, see 27. How to Avoid Passive Verbs)

-EVER: however, whenever, whatever (see 272. Uses of “Ever”)

-FRIENDLY: child-friendly, user-friendly, car-friendly

-LIKE: childlike, insect-like, soldier-like, flu-like (see 149. Saying How Things are Similar)

-PRONE: accident-prone, disaster-prone, flood-prone

-PROOF: accident-proof, fireproof, waterproof, idiot-proof, leak-proof

-RICH: butter-rich, cash-rich, vitamin-rich, colour-rich, time-rich 

-SHY: camera-shy, crowd-shy, publicity-shy

-SOME: fearsome, gruesome, handsome, irksome, tiresome, troublesome

-STYLE/-FASHION (adj/adv.): American-style, sports-style, skyscraper-style

-TIGHT: watertight, airtight

-TYPE: flu-type, racing-type, British-type

-WIDE (adj/adv.): countrywide, nationwide, institution-wide

-WISE(1) (manner- or direction-showing adv.): crabwise, lengthwise, clockwise

-WISE(2) (= “regarding” adv.): accommodation-wise, cost-wise (see 121. Sentence-Spanning Adverbs)

-WORTHY: newsworthy, noteworthy, praiseworthy

In addition, there are many suffixes that look like a verb in the “participle” form (with -ing or -ed: see 52. Participles Placed Just after their Noun). However, they and their partner noun together make not a verb but an adjective (see 245. Adjectives with a Participle Ending). One typical use is for naming physical properties of things (e.g. water-borne, action-packed, bitter-tasting, rough-looking – see 163. Ways of Naming Properties).

Outside of property-naming, more suffix-like participles seem to have –ing than -ed. Examples are -taking (pains-, liberty-), -seeking (pleasure-, answer-), -grabbing (money-, headline-), -causing (trouble-, disease-), -supporting (government-, football-), -seeming (innocent-, friendly-), -loving (fun-, sport-), -looking (good-, green-, suspicious-), -setting (trend-, example-), -breaking (law-, record-), -sounding (positive-, promising-) and -eating (meat-, ant-).

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