20 Most Common Prefixes Found in Frequently Used Prefixed Words
prefix
common
meaning
examples
# words
percentage
un-
1. not
2. opposite of,
contrary to
1. unhappy
2. unrest
782
26.4%
re-
1. again, anew
2. backwards,
back
1. rebuild
2. react
401
13.6%
in-, im-, ir-, il-
1. not
1. inactive, immobile,
irrational, illegal
313
10.6%
dis-
1. not
2. opposite of
3. remove
1. dissimilar
2. disfavor
3. discolor
216
7.3%
en-, em-
1. put or go into
or onto
2. to cause to
be
1. encage, embed
2. endear, emblaze
132
4.5%
non-
1. not
1.nonhuman
126
4.3%
in-, im
1. into, inside,
within
1.inbound, immerge,
illuminate
105
3.5%
over-
1. above, too
much
1.overuse
98
3.3%
mis-
1. bad, wrong
2. failure, lack
1. misconduct
2. misfire
83
2.8%
sub-
1. below, under
2. secondary
3. less than
complete
1. subsoil
2. subplot
3. subhuman
80
2.7%
pre-
1. before, in
front of
1. prehistoric
79
2.7%
inter-
1. between,
among
1. international
77
2.6%
fore-
1. before, in
front of
1. forerunner
76
2.5%
de-
1. make
opposite of
2. remove
3. reduce
1. decriminalize
2. dethrone
3. declass
71
2.4%
trans-
1. across,
beyond
2. change
3. through
1. transatlantic
2. transcribe
3. transfer
47
1.6%
super-
1. above, over
1. superimpose
43
1.5%
