Words with the prefix anti-
anti- means “against; opposing”, from Greek.
16 examples of the prefix anti-
- antiwaranti- + waropposing war
- antifuranti- + furopposing fur use
- antigunanti- + gunopposing guns
- antivirusanti- + virusacting against viruses
- antidoteanti- + dote (given)remedy given against poison
- antifreezeanti- + freezesubstance preventing freezing
- antisocialanti- + socialagainst social norms or interaction
- antibioticanti- + biotic (life)acting against bacterial life
- anticlimaxanti- + climaxdisappointing letdown opposing climax
- antidepressantanti- + depressantdrug countering depression
- antipathyanti- + pathy (feeling)strong feeling against something
- antithesisanti- + thesisdirect opposite of a proposition
- antigenanti- + gen (produce)substance triggering immune response against it
- antiperspirantanti- + perspirantproduct acting against sweating
- antiheroanti- + heroprotagonist opposing heroic qualities
Also: antibody
How anti- works
The prefix 'anti-' typically attaches to nouns or adjectives without changing their part of speech, though it can shift a noun into an adjective (e.g., antiwar). Unlike 'in-', the prefix 'anti-' does not assimilate to the following consonant, retaining its form consistently across words.
Watch out: The word 'anticipate' looks like it contains 'anti-' but actually derives from Latin 'anticipare' (to take before), with 'ante-' (before) at its root, not 'anti-' (against).
To see prefixes combine with other parts, try the word dissector and root builder, or test yourself in the vocabulary quiz.
Other common prefixes
Questions people ask
What does the prefix anti- mean?
anti- means “against; opposing”. It comes from Greek. The prefix 'anti-' typically attaches to nouns or adjectives without changing their part of speech, though it can shift a noun into an adjective (e.g., antiwar). Unlike 'in-', the prefix 'anti-' does not assimilate to the following consonant, retaining its form consistently across words.
What are some examples of words with the prefix anti-?
antiwar, antifur, antigun, antivirus, antidote, antifreeze, antisocial, antibiotic. The full list of 16 examples, with what each one literally means, is above.
Which words look like they have the prefix anti- but don’t?
The word 'anticipate' looks like it contains 'anti-' but actually derives from Latin 'anticipare' (to take before), with 'ante-' (before) at its root, not 'anti-' (against).
What is a prefix?
A prefix is a word part added to the front of a base word or root to change its meaning, like un- in unhappy or re- in rewrite. It does not usually change the part of speech.