Standard Lemma guide

hyper-

prefix · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈhaɪpə/
  • General-American: /ˈhaɪpəɹ/
  • Canada: /ˈhaɪpəɹ/
  • Canada: [ˈhʌɪpɚ]
  • Australian: /ˈhɑɪpə/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

prefix

Meaning 1

Forms augmentative forms of the root word.

over, above

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

prefix

Meaning 2

Forms augmentative forms of the root word.

much, more than normal

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

prefix

Meaning 3

Forms augmentative forms of the root word.

excessive

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Examples

  • hyper- → hyperactive

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

prefix

Meaning 4

Forms augmentative forms of the root word.

intensely, extremely, exceptional

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

prefix

Meaning 5

Forms augmentative forms of the root word.

big, huge, giant

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

prefix

Meaning 6

Used to create forms that are found beyond the root.

beyond

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Examples

  • hyper- → hypersonic

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

prefix

Meaning 7

Used to create forms that are found beyond the root.

existing in more than three spatial dimensions

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Topics: mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics, sciences

Examples

  • hyper- → hyperspace

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

prefix

Meaning 8

Used to create forms that are found beyond the root.

linked non-sequentially

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • hyper- → hypertext

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Hellenic *hupér Ancient Greek ῠ̔πέρ (hŭpér) Ancient Greek ῠ̔περ- (hŭper-)der. English hyper- From Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér, “over”), from Proto-Indo-European *upér (“over, above”) (English over), from *upo (“under, below”) (whence English up). Doublet of over-, super-, sur-, and uber-.

Across languages

Translations

53 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: hiper- — over, above, beyond
  • Chinese Mandarin: 高 (gāo) — over, above, beyond
  • Czech: nad- — over, above, beyond
  • Faroese: yvir- — over, above, beyond
  • Finnish: yli- — over, above, beyond
  • Finnish: hyper- — over, above, beyond
  • French: hyper- — over, above, beyond
  • Greek: υπερ- (yper-) — over, above, beyond
  • Icelandic: yfir- — over, above, beyond
  • Ido: hiper- — over, above, beyond
  • Irish: hipear- — over, above, beyond
  • Italian: iper- — over, above, beyond
  • Japanese: 超 (chō) — over, above, beyond
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hyper- — over, above, beyond
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: hyper- — over, above, beyond
  • Polish: hiper- — over, above, beyond
  • Polish: nad- — over, above, beyond
  • Polish: ponad- — over, above, beyond
  • Russian: ги́пер- (gíper-) — over, above, beyond
  • Russian: сверх- (sverx-) — over, above, beyond
  • Spanish: hiper- — over, above, beyond
  • Swedish: hyper- — over, above, beyond
  • Vietnamese: siêu — over, above, beyond
  • Vietnamese: qua — over, above, beyond
  • Vietnamese: quá — over, above, beyond
  • Catalan: hiper- — excessive
  • Czech: hyper- — excessive
  • Greek: υπερ- (yper-) — excessive
  • Ido: hiper- — excessive
  • Indonesian: hiper- — excessive
  • Japanese: 超 (chō) — excessive
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hyper- — excessive
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: hyper- — excessive
  • Polish: hiper- — excessive
  • Polish: nad- — excessive
  • Portuguese: hiper- — excessive
  • Russian: ги́пер- (gíper-) — excessive
  • Russian: сверх- (sverx-) — excessive
  • Spanish: hiper- — excessive
  • Swedish: hyper- — excessive
  • Catalan: hiper- — existing in more than three spatial dimensions
  • Greek: υπερ- (yper-) — existing in more than three spatial dimensions
  • Japanese: 超 (chō) — existing in more than three spatial dimensions
  • Polish: hiper- — existing in more than three spatial dimensions
  • Polish: nad- — existing in more than three spatial dimensions
  • Portuguese: hiper- — existing in more than three spatial dimensions
  • Russian: ги́пер- (gíper-) — existing in more than three spatial dimensions
  • Spanish: hiper- — existing in more than three spatial dimensions
  • Catalan: hiper- — linked non-sequentially
  • Greek: υπερ- (yper-) — linked non-sequentially
  • Polish: hiper- — linked non-sequentially
  • Portuguese: hiper- — linked non-sequentially
  • Spanish: hiper- — linked non-sequentially