English Grammar
NEGATIVE PREFIXES
The meaning of commonly-used negative prefixes in English.
A prefix is a group of letters added to the beginning of a word to form a new word
with a different meaning.
In English, one way to make negative statements
(as opposed to affirmative statements) is by adding negative prefixes to nouns, adjectives and verbs.
When a negative prefix is added to a word, the newly-formed word means the opposite of the root word, or ‘wrong’/‘bad’/'erroneous'.
For example, 'impolite' means 'not polite',
'misbehaviour' means 'bad behaviour'.
Here are some examples of commonly-used negative prefixes.
NEGATIVE PREFIXES IN ENGLISH |
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| DIS- | DE- | MIS- | UN- |
| disable disagree discontinue disobey disqualify dissatisfy |
deactivate decompose decontaminate deflect demotivate depopulate |
misbehave misinform misjudge misquote misspell mistrust |
unable unavoidable unfit unfortunate unnecessary unpopular |
| IM- | IN- | IL- | IR- |
| imbalance immature immobile immoral imperfect impolite |
inaccurate inactive incompetent indecent inexact insecure |
illegal illegible illegitimate illicit illiterate illogical |
irrational irregular irreconcilable irrelevant irresistable irresponsible |
| A- | ANTI- | NON- | EX- |
| acellular achromatic amoral apolitical asexual asymmetric |
antibiotic antibody anticlimax anticoagulant antiseptic antispam |
nonconformist nonessentiel nonexistent nonpartisan nonrestrictive nonsense |
exclude exfoliate exstipulate ex-member ex-president ex-pupil |