-er

//ə// suffix, slang

suffix, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Suffix
  1. 1
    A person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun. morpheme

    "read + -er → reader"

  2. 2
    Suffix used to form the plural of a small number of English nouns. idiomatic, morpheme, obsolete

    "childer, calver, lamber, linder ("loins")"

  3. 3
    More; used to form the comparative. morpheme

    "hard + -er → harder"

  4. 4
    More; used to form the comparative. morpheme
  5. 5
    Frequently; used to form frequentative verbs. morpheme

    "twitter, clamber, bicker, mutter, wander, flutter, flicker, slither, smother, sputter"

Show 14 more definitions
  1. 6
    Instance of (the verbal action); used to form nouns from verbs. morpheme

    "disclaim + -er → disclaimer"

  2. 7
    Used to form diminutives. morpheme

    "shive + -er → shiver"

  3. 8
    Used to form slang or colloquial equivalents of words. morpheme

    "association + -er → soccer (“association football”)"

  4. 9
    A suffix creating adjectives from verbs, indicating aptitude, proneness, or tendency toward a specified action dialectal, morpheme

    "clive + -er → cliver (“apt to cleave or adhere to, tenacious, expert as seizing”)"

  5. 10
    Junior, child, younger person. (Attached to a name, usually one syllable of the given name.) Chinese, morpheme

    "Li’er said hello to his father."

  6. 11
    A person or thing to which the root verb is done or can be done satisfactorily. informal, morpheme

    "look + -er → looker (“an attractive person”)"

  7. 12
    A person whose occupation is the root noun; (more broadly, occasionally with adjectives) a person characterized by the root. morpheme

    "astrology + -er → astrologer"

  8. 13
    A person or thing to which a certain number or measurement applies. morpheme

    "six + -er → sixer"

  9. 14
    Used to form nouns shorter than more formal synonyms. morpheme, slang

    "percent + -er → percenter (“commission agent”)"

  10. 15
    A person who is associated with, or supports a particular theory, doctrine, or political movement. morpheme

    "birth + -er → birther"

  11. 16
    A thing that is related in some way to the root, such as by location or purpose. morpheme

    "bacon + -er → baconer (“pig raised for bacon”)"

  12. 17
    Indicates a correspondence or coincidence between the action or condition indicated by the root and the noun being described. morpheme, slang

    "piss + -er → pisser (“a hilariously funny event or situation”)"

  13. 18
    Suffix denoting a resident or inhabitant of (the place denoted by the proper noun); used to form a demonym. morpheme

    "New York + -er → New Yorker"

  14. 19
    Suffix denoting residency in or around a place, district, area, or region. morpheme

    "island + -er → islander"

Synonyms

All synonyms
le

Antonyms

All antonyms
ee

Example

More examples

"look + -er → looker (“an attractive person”)"

Etymology

Etymology 1

Etymology tree Latin -ariusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er Inherited from Middle English -ere, -er, from Old English -ere, from Proto-West Germanic *-ārī, from Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz, usually thought to have been borrowed from Latin -ārius; see Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz for an alternate theory. Reinforced by Middle English -er, from Old French -ier, also from Latin -ārius; compare the synonymous but unrelated Old French -or, -eor (Anglo-Norman variant -our), from Latin -(ā)tor, from Proto-Indo-European *-tōr. The "inhabitant" sense is sometimes connected to Middle English -wær(r)e, -ware, from Old English -ware (suffix denoting residency), from Proto-West Germanic *-wari, from Proto-Germanic *warjaz (“inhabitant”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to protect”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian -er, West Frisian -er, Dutch -er, German Low German -er, German -er, Danish -er, Swedish -are and Icelandic -ari.

Etymology 2

From Middle English -re, -er, from Old English -ru (plural suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-izō (plural suffix). Cognate with Dutch -er (plural ending), German -er (plural ending). See also -ren.

Etymology 3

From Middle English -ere, from Old English -ra, from Proto-West Germanic *iʀō, *-ōʀō, from Proto-Germanic *-izô or Proto-Germanic *-ōzô (a derivative of Etymology 4, below); related to superlative -est.

Etymology 4

From Middle English -er, from Old English -or, from Proto-West Germanic *-ōʀ, Proto-Germanic *-ōz.

Etymology 5

From Middle English -eren, -ren, -rien, from Old English -erian, -rian, from Proto-West Germanic *-rōn, *-iʀōn, from Proto-Germanic *-rōną or *-izōną. Cognate with West Frisian -erje, Dutch -eren, German -eren, -ern, Danish -re, Swedish -ra.

Etymology 6

From Middle English -er, from Anglo-Norman -er, Old French -er, the infinitive verbal ending.

Etymology 7

From Middle English -er, -ere (diminutive suffix). Compare -el.

Etymology 8

Attested in the UK since the 19th century. Originally Rugby School slang. Later adopted by Oxford University and then wider British society.

Etymology 9

From Middle English -er, from Old English -er, -or, from Proto-Germanic *-raz. Compare -le.

Etymology 10

From Mandarin -兒 /-儿 (-ér).

More for "-er"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.