Meaning of privative adjective | Babel Free

Definitions

1. An adjective indicating that a noun refers to an object that is not of the class which that noun ordinarily refers to.
2. An adjective indicating that a noun lacks some other noun, or a quality of that noun; usually formed in English by the affixation of the suffix -less or suffixoid -free to the noun that is absent.

Equivalents

Examples

“That's fake news.”

“Isn't that a toy sword?”

“finger + -less → fingerless”

“hope + -less → hopeless”

“heart + -less → heartless”

“sugar + -free → sugar-free”

CEFR level