ROOTS, PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES*

A Helpful List

ROOTS

Som = sleep Take Sominex to sleep. If you have insomnia, you can’t sleep. (The prefix in- = not.)

Sop = sleep A glass of warm milk is soporific. So is a boring teacher.

Son = sound A sonic boom breaks the sound barrier. Dissonance is clashing sounds.

Phon = sound Phonics helps you to sound out words. Cacophony is bad sound; euphony is good
sound. Homophones are words that sound the same, such as red and read.

Path = feeling Something pathetic arouses sympathy or a feeling of pity. To sympathize is to share
the feelings. Antipathy is a dislike – literally, a feeling against, as in: You may
harbor antipathy toward the jerk that backed into your car.

Mut = change The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mutated, or changed, from mild-mannered turtles
to pizza-gobbling crime fighters. Something immutable is not changeable but
remains constant. (Don’t confuse mut (change) with mute (silent).

Meta = change, transformation A metamorphosis is a change of shape.

Morph = shape Something amorphous is without shape. Morphology is the study of shape.

Loq, log, loc, lix = speech or talk Someone who is loquacious talks a lot. A dialogue is talk or conversation
between two people. Elocution is proper speech. A prolix person is very talkative.
(Pro-means big or much. Literally, he or she engages in big, or much, talk.)

cred = trust or belief Something incredible is unbelievable. If you are credulous, you are trusting and
naïve (literally, full of trust). Do not confuse the words credible and credulous.
Something credible is trustable or believable. A credible excuse can get you out of
trouble if you come home late for curfew. Credulous, on the other hand, means full
of trust, naïve, or gullible. The more credulous your parents are, the less credible that
excuse needs to be.

Gyn = woman A gynecologist is a physician who treats women. A misogynist is a person who hates
women.

Andro = man Commander Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation is an android; he’s a robot shaped
like a man. Someone androgynous exhibits both male (andro) and female (gyn)
characteristics – for example, the character Pat on Saturday Night Live is
androgynous.

Anthro = human or mankind Anthropology is the study of humans (not just men or women, but humans in
general). A misanthrope hates humans.

* Excerpted from The SAT1 for Dummies, 4th Edition, Suzee Vlk, IDG Books Worldwide, 1999, pp. 43-46.
Pac = peace, calm Why do you give a baby a pacifier? To calm him or her down. To get its name, the
Pacific Ocean must have appeared calm at the time it was discovered.

Plac = peace, calm To placate someone is to calm him or her down or to make peace with that person.
You placate your irate sweetheart, for example, by sending a dozen roses. Someone
implacable is someone you are not able to calm down – or someone really stubborn.

Pug = war, fight Someone pugnacious is ready to fight. A pugilist is a person who likes to fight - such
as a professional boxer.

Bellu, belli = war, fight If you’re belligerent, you’re ready to fight – in fact, you’re downright hostile. An
antebellum mansion is one that was created before the Civil War. (Remember that
ante- means before.)

gnos = knowledge A doctor shows his or her knowledge by making a diagnosis (analysis of the
situation) or a prognosis (prediction about the future of the illness). An agnostic is a
person who doesn’t know whether a god exists. Differentiate an agnostic from an
atheist. An atheist is literally without God, a person who believes there is no god. An
agnostic is without knowledge, believing that a god may or may not exist.

Scien = knowledge A scientist is a person with knowledge. Someone prescient has forethought or
knowledge ahead of time – for example, a prognosticator. After you learn these roots,
you’ll be closer to being omniscient – all-knowing.

Greg – group, herd A congregation is a group or herd of people. A gregarious person likes to be a part of
a group – is sociable. To segregate is literally to make away from the group. Se-
means apart or away from, as in separate, sever, sequester, and seclusion.

Luc, lum, lus = light,clear Something luminous is shiny and full of light. Ask the teacher to elucidate something
you don’t understand (literally, to make clear). Lustrous hair reflects the light and is
sleek and glossy.

Ambu = walk, move In a hospital, patients are either bedridden or ambulatory (they can walk and move
about). A somnambulist is a sleepwalker. Som- means sleep; -ist is a person; ambu- is
to walk or move. A somnambulist, therefore, is a person who walks or moves in his
or her sleep.

* Excerpted from The SAT1 for Dummies, 4th Edition, Suzee Vlk, IDG Books Worldwide, 1999, pp. 43-46.
 PREFIXES

A- = not or without Someone amoral is without morals. Someone atypical is not typical. Somone
pathetic is without feeling, or uncaring.

Ab- = away from Your parents ask you to abstain from drinking and driving. What does a queen do
when she abdicates the throne? She goes away from it. When a thief absconds with
your valuables, he takes them away from you.

Ad- = toward, addition When you advocate a point of view, you go toward it. Because you are hopelessly
addicted to the SAT, you are drawn to it.

An- = not or without An anaerobic environment is without oxygen. Anarchy is without rule or
government.

Eu- = good A eulogy is a good speech, usually given for the dearly departed at a funeral. A
euphemism is a polite expression.

Ben-/bon- = good A benefit is something that has a good result, an advantage. Someone benevolent is
good and kind; a benevolent father lets you take his new car on a date rather than
your old junker. Bon vogage means have a good voyage; a bon vivant is a person
who lives the good life.

Caco- = bad Something cacophonous is bad-sounding, such as nails scratching on a chalkboard.

Ne-/mal- = bad Something negative is bad, like a negative attitude. Someone nefarious is “full of
bad,” or wicked and evil. Something malicious also is “full of bad,” like a malicious
rumor. A malapropism is a ridiculous use of words.

Im- = not Something impossible is not possible. Someone immortal is not going to die but will
live forever. Someone implacable is not able to be calmed down, stubborn. Notice
that im- can also mean inside (immerse means to put into), but that meaning is not as
common on the SAT. First think of im- as meaning not; if that doesn’t seem appro-
priate, switch to Plan B and see whether it can mean inside in the context of the
question.

In- = not Something inappropriate is not appropriate. Someone inept is not adept, not skillful.
somone insolvent has no money, is bankrupt, like most students after the prom. In-
can also mean inside (innate means something born inside of you) or beginning (the
initial letters of your name are the beginning letters). However, its most common
meaning is not. Think of that one first; if it doesn’t seem to work, try the others.

Ante- = before When the clock tells you that it’s 5 a.m., the a.m. stands for ante meridian, which
means before the middle, or the first half of the day. Antebellum means before the
war. Tara in Gone with the Wind was an antebellum mansion, built before the Civil
War. antediluvian literally means before the flood, before Noah’s deluge.

Post- = after When the clock tells you it’s 5 p.m., the p.m. stands for post meridian. It means after
the middle, or the second half of the day. Something postmortem occurs after death.
A postmortem exam is an autopsy.

* Excerpted from The SAT1 for Dummies, 4th Edition, Suzee Vlk, IDG Books Worldwide, 1999, pp. 43-46.
Pro- = big, much Profuse apologies are big, much – in essence, a lot of apologies. A prolific writer
produces a great deal of written material. Note: Pro has two additional meanings less
commonly used on the SAT. It can mean before, as in “A prologue comes before a
play.” Similarly, to prognosticate is to make known before or to predict. A
prognosticator is a fortune teller. Pro can also mean for. Someone who is pro
freedom of speech is in favor of freedom of speech. Someone with a proclivity
toward a certain activity is for that activity or has a natural tendency toward it.

De- = down from, away from (to put down) To descend or depart is to go down from or away from. to
denounce is to put down or to speak badly of. Many unknown words on the SAT that
start with de mean to put down in the sense of to criticize or bad-mouth. Here are just
a few: demean, denounce, denigrate, derogate, deprecate, decry.

Ex- = out of, away from An exit is literally out of or away from it – ex-it. To extricate is to get out of
something. You can extricate yourself from an argument by pretending to faint. To
exculpate is to get off the hook – literally to make away from guilt (culp means
guilt). If the dean of students wants to know who egged his house last weekend, you
can claim that you and your friends are not culpable.

SUFFIXES

-ette = little A cigarette is a little cigar. A dinette table is a little dining table. A coquette is a little
flirt (literally, a little chicken).

-illo = little An armadillo is a little armored animal. A peccadillo is a little sin.

-ous = full of (very) Someone joyous is full of joy. Someone amorous is full of amor, or love, and is very
loving. Someone pulchritudinous is full of beauty, beautiful.

-ist = a person A typist is a person who types. A pugilist is a person who fights (pug- means war or
fight), a boxer. A pacifist is a person who believes in peace, a noncombatant (pac-
means peace or calm.

-ify (-efy) = to make To beautify is to make beautiful. To ossify is to make bone. To deify is to make into a
deity, a god.

-ize = to make To alphabetize is to make alphabetical. To immunize is to make immune. To

-ate = to make To duplicate is to make double. To renovate is to make new again (nov- means new).
To placate is to make peaceful or calm (plac- means peace or calm).

-ity – noun suffix that doesn’t actually mean anything; it just turns a word into a noun Jollity is the noun
form of jolly. Serenity is the noun form of serene. Timidity is the noun form of timid.

* Excerpted from The SAT1 for Dummies, 4th Edition, Suzee Vlk, IDG Books Worldwide, 1999, pp. 43-46.