35 Most Common Prefixes in English

Prefixes are placed before the words to modify their meanings; like suffixes, they are
groups of letters that rarely serve a purpose unless attached to a word. Following is a
common prefix list to give you an idea of how to identify them.

PREFIX LIST
 ex-
 dis-
 anti-
 pre-
 mis-
 post-
 auto-
 re-
 un-
 im-
 ir-
 over-
 semi-
 tri-
 in-
 non-
 inter-
 sub-
 super-
 trans-
 under-
 fore-
 mid-

PREFIXES MEANING AND EXAMPLES

Ex–

 Meaning; Former, older, out of, away from, lacking

 Example Words; exhale, ex-wife, exauthorize, excentral
 Example Sentence; His ex-wife was supposed to meet you at a friend’s home.

Dis–

 Meaning; Not, opposite of, reverse

 Example Words; disagree, disappear, disregard, disqualified
 Example Sentence; She was disqualified from that football competition.

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 Anti–

 Meaning; Against
 Example Words; antifreeze, antipathy, antibiotic, antisocial, anti-war
 Example Sentence; She took part in the anti-war demonstration.

Pre–

 Meaning; Before
 Example Words; prefix, preschool, pre-intermediate, pre-tax
 Example Sentence; Preschool prepares children for kindergarten.

Mis–

 Meaning; Wrong, wrongly

 Example Words; misunderstand, misfire,
 Example Sentence; I’m sorry but you misunderstood me.

Post–

 Meaning; Later
 Example Words; post-office, postgraduate
 Example Sentence; I will do my postgraduate work at Toronto University.

Auto–

 Meaning; Self,
 Example Words; automatic, automobile
 Example Sentence; Do you drive a manual or automatic?

Re–

 Meaning; Again
 Example Words; return, remainder, re-useable.
 Example Sentence; This vehicle is certainly re-useable.

Un–

 Meaning; Not
 Example Words; unhappy, unfriendly
 Example Sentence; You must careful about him. Him attitudes are unfriendly.

Im–

 Meaning; Not
 Example Words; impolite, impossible
 Example Sentence; I’m sorry but You are very impolite person.

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 Ir–

 Meaning; Not
 Example Words; irrelevant, irregular
 Example Sentence; You can use this page about irregular verbs.

Over–
 Meaning; Too, in excess of
 Example Words; overlook, overdose
 Example Sentence; This is too important to overlook.

Semi–

 Meaning; Half
 Example Words; semifinal, semicircle, semi-final
 Example Sentence; To reach the semifinal is a big achievement for our team.

Tri–

 Meaning; Three
 Example Words; triangle
 Example Sentence; You must study topics related to triangle.

In–

 Meaning; Not
 Example Words; infield, innocent, injuctice
 Example Sentence; He must speak out against injustice.

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LIST OF PREFIXES

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