Words with the suffix -er
-er means “one who performs an action; comparative degree”, from Old English -ere (agent); Old English -ra (comparative). It makes a word into a noun or adjective.
15 examples of the suffix -er
- teacherteach + -erone who teaches
- playerplay + -erone who plays
- runnerrun + -erone who runs
- writerwrite + -erone who writes
- fasterfast + -ermore fast
- tallertall + -ermore tall
- builderbuild + -erone who builds
- strongerstrong + -ermore strong
- swimmerswim + -erone who swims
- employeremploy + -erone who employs others
- strangerstrange + -ermore strange
- ographergraph + -erone who records images
- researcherresearch + -erone who researches
- challengerchallenge + -erone who challenges
- philosopherphilosoph + -erone who loves wisdom
How -er works
The suffix '-er' converts verbs into agent nouns (one who performs the action) or forms the comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs; it often triggers spelling changes such as doubling a final consonant before a short vowel (run→runner, swim→swimmer) or dropping a final silent 'e' (write→writer, strange→stranger). It does not change stress pattern in most cases and attaches productively to native English stems.
Watch out: Words like 'water,' 'butter,' 'sister,' 'corner,' 'dinner,' and 'finger' end in '-er' but are not derived from any English base plus this suffix—they are single, indivisible roots borrowed or inherited whole.
To see suffixes combine with other parts, try the word dissector and root builder, or test yourself in the vocabulary quiz.
Other common suffixes
- -able · capable of
- -ible · capable of
- -tion · act
- -ness · state
- -ly · in a specified manner
- -ment · result
- -ful · full of
- -less · without
- -ous · having the quality of
- -ity · state
- -ism · doctrine
- -ist · one who practices or believes in
- -ize · to make or cause to become
- -al · of
- -ance · action
- -ence · action
- -ive · tending to
- -ship · state
Questions people ask
What does the suffix -er mean?
-er means “one who performs an action; comparative degree”. It comes from Old English -ere (agent); Old English -ra (comparative). The suffix '-er' converts verbs into agent nouns (one who performs the action) or forms the comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs; it often triggers spelling changes such as doubling a final consonant before a short vowel (run→runner, swim→swimmer) or dropping a final silent 'e' (write→writer, strange→stranger). It does not change stress pattern in most cases and attaches productively to native English stems.
What are some examples of words with the suffix -er?
teacher, player, runner, writer, faster, taller, builder, stronger. The full list of 15 examples, with what each one literally means, is above.
Which words look like they have the suffix -er but don’t?
Words like 'water,' 'butter,' 'sister,' 'corner,' 'dinner,' and 'finger' end in '-er' but are not derived from any English base plus this suffix—they are single, indivisible roots borrowed or inherited whole.
What is a suffix?
A suffix is a word part added to the end of a word. It often changes the part of speech: -ness turns the adjective kind into the noun kindness, and -ly turns quick into the adverb quickly.