What are the most common words with the suffix -hood?
In this post we’ll look at common words which contain the suffix –hood.
A suffix is something we add to the end of an existing word to form a new word.
In some cases, a word ending in –hood suggests a family role (motherhood, fatherhood). Other times it refers to a period of our life (childhood).
There are also some –hood words that refer to neither family nor a period of our life; neighbourhood and knighthood are two such examples.
Here are some of the most common –hood words in English:
Family-related and periods in life
- parenthood
- fatherhood
- motherhood
- adulthood
- childhood (also boyhood and girlhood)
- manhood, womanhood
Other
- neighbourhood (the area where we live)
- likelihood (synonym for probability)
- knighthood (the state of being a knight)
- livelihood (the way we earn money to live)
Kids enjoying their childhood
We asked members of our Google+ Learn English community to tell us some of the –hood words they know. Here’s the post (click on the speech bubble icon to see the comments):
Do you know all the words in the list? Feel free to leave a comment below if you’d like to discuss any other –hood words.
Chris Ngomani - September 29, 2015, 6:08 am
Here are other “hood” words ….Priesthood, Spinsterhood, bachelorhood, and jailhood,
George - July 29, 2022, 3:48 pm
Anytime you or anyone or anything participates in a common endeavor or can be characterized as a member of a definable group, it can be said you or the subject are in the “group-hood” and sharing that common characteristic or common experience. This can even be said of the word “likelihood.” The group in this case are those things that are characterized as probable or “likely.”