Dis-

//dɪs// prefix

prefix ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Prefix
  1. 1
    Not, the reverse of. (Especially forming words with a negative connotation) morpheme

    "dis- + agree → disagree"

  2. 2
    Expressing separation or removal. morpheme

    "dis- + card → discard (“to throw out a card”)"

  3. 3
    Used as an intensifier. morpheme

    "dis- + embowel → disembowel"

  4. 4
    Alternative form of dys- (“incorrect”). alt-of, alternative, morpheme

    "dis- + function → disfunction"

Synonyms

All synonyms
aandeinnonun

Example

More examples

"dis- + satisfied → dissatisfied"

Etymology

From Middle English dis-, borrowed from Latin dis-, from Proto-Indo-European *dwís. Piecewise doublet of bis-; further related to bi-, di-, and twi-. Often confused with the etymologically unrelated prefix dys-.

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