-free

From Middle English -fre, -freo (as in scotfre, gauelfre, gafolfreo, etc.), from Old English -frēo ("free; free from"; as in scotfrēo, gafolfrēo), from Proto-West Germanic *-frī (“-free”). Compare Dutch -vrij (“-free”), German -frei (“-free”), Danish -fri (“-free”), Swedish -fri (“-free”), Norwegian -fri (“-free”). More at free.

• IPA^(key): /fɹiː/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophone: free

-free (adjective-forming suffix, not comparable)

1. Free from; devoid of; without.
   • 2022 March 25, Sandee LaMotte, “Dangerous chemicals found in food wrappers at major fast-food restaurants and grocery chains, report says”, in CNN‎^[1], archived from the original on 11 July 2024:

     Sweetgreen told CNN the company was “proud to share that we are currently in the process of rolling out new PFAS-free focaccia bags that will be available in all Sweetgreen locations by the end of Q2.”

• In words where the suffix -less implies a lack of something that should be there, -free is sometimes used to reframe that absence as an intentional or beneficial state. For example, childless and childfree, saltless and saltfree, or carless and carfree.

• (without): an-, ex-, -less

See also translations of individual words formed from this combining form

• feer, fere, reef