privative adjective
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English
[edit]Noun
[edit]privative adjective (plural privative adjectives)
- (grammar) An adjective indicating that a noun refers to an object that is not of the class which that noun ordinarily refers to.
- That's fake news.
- (literally, “That is not news.”)
- Isn't that a toy sword?
- (literally, “That is not a genuine sword.”)
- (grammar) An adjective indicating that a noun lacks some other noun, or a quality of that noun; usually formed in English by the affixation of the suffix -less or suffixoid -free to the noun that is absent.
- finger + -less → fingerless
- hope + -less → hopeless
- heart + -less → heartless
- sugar + -free → sugar-free
Antonyms
[edit]- possessional adjective (indicating possession of a noun or quality)
Translations
[edit]privative adjective
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