Word.ws English Dictionary

-ie

UK/-iː/US/-i/

-ie suffix: forming diminutive or affectionate forms of nouns or names. Also the alternative spelling of -y.

Suffix (1)

-ie

  1. Forming diminutive or affectionate forms of nouns or names.
    • “Polly, I wish you ’d let me call you Marie,” said Fanny one day, as they were shopping together. ¶ “You may call me Mary, if you like; but I won’t have any ie put on to my name. I’m Polly at home and I’m fond of being called so; but Marie is Frenchified and silly.” ¶ “I spell my own name with an...1869, Louisa May Alcott, An Old-Fashioned Girl
    • dear → dearie
    Synonyms:
    -cule, -ee, -el, -et, -ette, -icle, -kin, -le, -let, -ling
  2. Forming feminine or gender‐neutral forms of given names.
    • Jesse → Jessie
    • Bill → Billie
  3. (Australia, New Zealand, UK) Forms colloquial clippings (often functioning as familiarizers), truncating the root to a single stressed syllable.
    • Australia/Australian → Aussie
    • mosquito → mozzie
  4. (occasionally derogatory) Forming colloquial nouns signifying the person or thing associated with the suffixed noun or verb.
    • bike → bikie
    • fridge → fridgie (“fridge magnet”)
  5. Forming nouns relative to an adjective.
    • slow → slowie
    • small → smallie
  6. Forming colloquial interjections or phrases.
    • alright → alrightie
    • eww → ewwie

Suffix (2)

-ie

  1. A photograph, especially a selfie.

Also used as

-ie is also the alternative spelling of -y.

Synonyms of -ie

6 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of -ie

alternative form-ee
alternative form-ey

Origin of -ie

Variant spelling of -y, with the spelling possibly influenced by the cognate Scots -ie.

Variant spelling of -y (adjectival suffix).

English selfiebf. English -ie Back-formation from selfie.

Words that rhyme with -ie

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about -ie

What does -ie mean?
-ie means forming diminutive or affectionate forms of nouns or names.
What part of speech is -ie?
-ie is a suffix.
How do you pronounce -ie?
-ie is pronounced /-iː/ (UK).

Words near -ie in the dictionary

  1. -idian
  2. -idine
  3. -idion
  4. -idium
  5. -ido
  6. -ie
  7. -ied
  8. -ienne
  9. -iennes
  10. -ier
  11. -ies

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: -ie (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “-ie.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/-ie. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.