List of English back-formations

Back-formation is either the process of creating a new lexeme (less precisely, a new "word") by removing actual or supposed affixes, or a neologism formed by such a process. Back-formations are shortened words created from longer words, thus back-formations may be viewed as a sub-type of clipping.

Each back-formation in this list is followed by the original word from which it was back-formed.

A

 * abduct probably from abduction
 * abscess (v.) from abscessed
 * aborigine from aborigines, mistaken for a plural noun
 * accord (n.) from Old French acorde, acort, a back-formation from acorder
 * accrete from accretion (root: accrescere)
 * acculturate from acculturation
 * addict from addicted (root: addicere)
 * admix from admixt
 * Adirondack Mountains from Adirondacks, mistaken for a plural noun
 * adsorb from adsorption
 * adolesce from adolescence
 * adulate from adulation
 * advect from advection
 * advisor perhaps from advisory
 * aerate (meaning "expose to air") probably from aeration
 * aesthete from aesthetic
 * aggress from aggression
 * air-condition from air conditioning
 * alley
 * alliterate from alliteration
 * allotrope from allotropy
 * amaze from Middle English amased
 * ambivalent from ambivalence
 * ameliorate perhaps from amelioration in some cases
 * annunciate perhaps from annunciation in some cases
 * anticline from anticlinal
 * antipode from antipodes (non-standard)
 * appeal (n.) from Old French apel, back-formation from apeler
 * apperceive (in modern psychological use) from apperception
 * aristocrat from French aristocrate, a back-formation from aristocratie
 * assent (n.) from Old French assent, a back-formation from assentir
 * attrit from attrition
 * auto-destruct from auto-destruction (cf. auto-destroy)
 * automate from automation
 * aviate from aviation
 * avid partly from avidity
 * awe-strike perhaps from awestruck

B

 * babysit from babysitter
 * back-form from back-formation
 * bartend from bartender
 * beg from beggar
 * benefact from benefactor (and also the derived benefactee, cf. benefactor)
 * bibliograph from bibliography
 * bicep from biceps (non-standard)
 * biograph from biography
 * bird (verb) from bird watcher
 * blockbust from blockbuster
 * book-keep from book-keeping
 * brainwash from brainwashing
 * bulldoze from bulldozer
 * bum possibly from bummer
 * burgle from burglar
 * bus ("to clear dirty dishes from table") from busboy
 * bushwhack from bushwhacker
 * buttle from butler

C

 * cadge from cadger
 * caretake from caretaker
 * cavitate from cavitation
 * chain-smoke from chain-smoker
 * chalant from nonchalant
 * Chess (river) from Chesham
 * choate from inchoate
 * choreograph from choreography
 * chupacabra from Spanish chupacabras (both a plural and a singular in Spanish)
 * claustrophobe from claustrophobia
 * cohese from cohesion (disambiguation) (cf. cohere)
 * commentate from commentator
 * committal from non-committal
 * complicit from complicity
 * computerize from computerized
 * contracept from contraception (cf. rare contraceive)
 * contrapt from contraption
 * convect from convection
 * conversate from conversation or conversing
 * cose from cosy
 * couth from uncouth
 * co-vary from covariation
 * cross multiply from cross multiplication
 * cross-refer from cross-reference
 * curate (verb) from curator
 * custom-make from custom-made

D

 * dapple from dappled
 * darkle from darkling
 * decadent from decadence
 * deconstruct from deconstruction
 * dedifferentiate from dedifferentiation
 * demarcate from demarcation
 * demograph from demographics
 * destruct from destruction
 * diagnose from diagnosis
 * diffract from diffraction
 * dinge from dingy
 * diplomat from diplomatic
 * dishevel from disheveled
 * donate from donation
 * drear from dreary
 * drowse from drowsy (possibly a backformation)
 * dry-clean from dry cleaning

E

 * eave from eaves
 * eavesdrop from eavesdropper
 * edit from editor (from Latin stem edere, to bring forth)
 * electrocute from electrocution
 * elocute from elocution
 * emote from emotion
 * enthuse from enthusiasm
 * escalate from escalator
 * eutrophicate from eutrophication
 * evaluate from evaluation
 * extradite from extradition
 * extrapose from extraposition

F

 * fine-tune from fine tuning
 * flab from flabby
 * flappable from unflappable
 * flake ("eccentric person") from flaky
 * floss ("to show off") from flossy
 * fluoresce from fluorescence
 * fragmentate from fragmentation
 * free-associate from free association (backformed adjective-verb compound)
 * funk (quality of music) from funky

G

 * gamble from gambler
 * gestate from gestation
 * ghostwrite from ghostwriter
 * gid from giddy
 * gladiola from gladiolus
 * gnarl from gnarled
 * goaltend from goaltender
 * godsend from god-sent
 * greed from greedy (the noun was originally "greediness")
 * grid from gridiron
 * grovel from groveling
 * grunge from grungy
 * gruntle from disgruntle

H

 * handwrite from handwriting
 * hard-boil from hard-boiled
 * hawk (meaning "to sell") from hawker
 * haze from hazy
 * headhunt from headhunter
 * headquarter from headquarters
 * helicopt from helicopter
 * herptile (a reptile or amphibian) from herpetology
 * herpe (a single herpes sore) from herpes
 * housebreak from housebroken
 * houseclean from housecleaning
 * housekeep from housekeeper
 * hustle from hustler

I

 * inadvertent from inadvertence
 * ideologue from ideology
 * incent from incentive
 * indice from indices (cf. index)
 * injure from injury
 * intercept from interception (possibly a backformation)
 * interfluve from interfluvial
 * interlineate from interlinear
 * intuit from intuition
 * isolate from isolated

J

 * jell from jelly
 * jerry-build from jerry-built

K

 * kidnap from kidnapper
 * kudo from kudos (some commentators regard it non-standard)

L

 * lase from laser
 * laze from lazy
 * legislate from legislator
 * letch from lecher
 * liaise from liaison
 * loaf (meaning "to be idle") from loafer
 * logroll from logrolling
 * luminesce from luminescent

M

 * manipulate from manipulation
 * mase from maser
 * mentee from mentor
 * mix from mixt (adj. from Old French, misconstrued as past participle of verb)
 * mottle from motley
 * moonlight (the verb, work on second job) from moonlighter
 * multimillion from multimillionaire

N

 * nake from naked
 * nitpick from nit-picking
 * notate from notation

O

 * obsess (meaning "to behave obsessively") from obsessive


 * obligate (as a verb meaning "oblige") from obligation
 * one-up or one-upman from one-upmanship
 * orate from oration
 * orientate from orientation

P

 * panhandle (meaning "to accost") from panhandler
 * paramedic from paramedical
 * partake from partaker
 * patriation from repatriation
 * pea from Middle English pease
 * peddle from peddler
 * peeve from peevish
 * pettifog from pettifogger
 * phosphoresce from phosphorescent
 * pleb from plebs
 * ply from reply
 * preempt from preemption
 * process from procession
 * prodigal from prodigality
 * proliferate from proliferation
 * proofread from proofreader
 * pugn from impugn

Q

 * quadrumvir from quadrumvirate
 * quantitate from quantitative

R

 * raunch from raunchy
 * recurse from recursion
 * reminisce from reminiscence
 * resurrect from resurrection
 * ruly from unruly
 * rotovate from rotovator

S

 * sass (impudence) from sassy
 * scavenge from scavenger
 * sculpt from sculptor
 * secrete (meaning "to produce and emit") from secretion
 * secretive from secretiveness
 * sedate (the verb) from sedative
 * self-destruct from self-destruction (cf. self-destroy)
 * semantic (adjective) from semantics
 * sharecrop from sharecropper
 * shoplift from shoplifter
 * sightsing from sightsinging
 * sightsee from sightseeing
 * sipid from insipid
 * sleaze from sleazy
 * sleepwalk from sleepwalking
 * smarm from smarmy
 * sorb from sorption (also a back-formation)
 * soft-land from soft landing (backformed adjective-noun compound)
 * sorption from adsorption and absorption
 * spectate from spectator
 * stargaze from stargazer
 * statistic from statistics
 * stave (the noun) from staves (the original singular is staff)
 * steamroll from steamroller
 * stridulate from stridulation
 * suburb from suburban
 * suckle from suckling
 * sulk from sulky
 * summate from summation
 * sunburn (the verb) from sunburned
 * superannuate from superannuated
 * surreal from surrealism
 * surveil from surveillance
 * swashbuckle from swashbuckler
 * swindle from swindler
 * syncline from synclinal

T

 * tamale, as a singular of tamales (plural form of tamal)
 * tase from Taser
 * taxon from taxonomy
 * televise from television
 * tongue-lash from tongue-lashing
 * transcript (verb) from transcription (cf. verb transcribe)
 * tricep from triceps (non-standard)
 * trickle-irrigate from trickle-irrigation (possibly backformed from verb-noun compound but may also be verb-verb compound)
 * tweeze from tweezers
 * typewrite from typewriter

U

 * underwhelming as a supposed antonym of overwhelming
 * unit from unity
 * upholster from upholstery
 * ush from usher

V

 * vaccinate from vaccination
 * vend as in vend out (meaning to contract out to a vendor), derived from vendor
 * verse from versus
 * vinify from vinification
 * vint (meaning to make wine) from vintage and vintner
 * vivisect from vivisection

W

 * wiretap from wiretapper