Colloquial Variant guide

-osity

suffix · 2 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: /ˈɒ.sɪ.ti/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈɑ.sə.ti/
  • General-American: /-ɾi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

suffix

Meaning 1

Forming nouns, usually abstract, and usually from adjectives in -ous or -ose.

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

suffix

Meaning 2

Forming nouns from other adjectives for humorous effect.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, morpheme

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English -ouste, from Old French -ouseté, from Latin -ōsitās; later modified to the current form. It is equivalent to -ose or -ous + -ity.