List of English back-formations
# 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.

* Top
* 0–9
* A
* B
* C
* D
* E
* F
* G
* H
* I
* J
* K
* L
* M
* N
* O
* P
* Q
* R
* S
* T
* U
* V
* W
* X
* Y
* Z

## 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
* 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
* explicate (meaning "explain") from explicable
* 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
* vinify from vinification
* vint (meaning to make wine) from vintage and vintner
* vivisect from vivisection

## W

* wiretap from wiretapper
