-inho

• -im, -in', -in, -inh (pronunciation spelling)
• -zinho

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese -ỹo. Compare Italian -ino, French -in, both diminutive suffixes. Doublet of -ino.

• Rhymes: -iɲu, (Brazil) -ĩɲu

-inho m (noun-forming suffix, plural -inhos, feminine -inha, feminine plural -inhas)

1. forms the diminutive of nouns; -ie; -y; -ling; -let
   1. indicates smallness, shortness, youth, fewness, etc.

      ‎casa (“house”) + ‎-inha → ‎casinha (“small house”)

      ‎criança (“child”) + ‎-inha → ‎criancinha (“young child”)

      ‎texto (“text”) + ‎-inho → ‎textinho (“short text”)

      ‎pipoca (“popcorn”) + ‎-inha → ‎pipoquinha (“small portion of popcorn”)

      Synonyms: -culo, -ete, -ito, -ulo

      Antonym: -ão

   2. belittles the suffixed noun; -let

      ‎time (“sports team”) + ‎-inho → ‎timinho (“bad sports team”)

      ‎país (“country”) + ‎-inho → ‎paisinho (“country of little importance”)

      Synonyms: -culo, -eco, -ilho

   3. indicates affection; -ie; -y

      ‎cachorro (“dog”) + ‎-inho → ‎cachorrinho (“doggy”)

      ‎terra (“land”) + ‎-inho → ‎terrinha (“homeland”)

-inho (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -inha, masculine plural -inhos, feminine plural -inhas)

1. (somewhat informal) forms the diminutive of adjectives and adverbs, roughly equivalent to English somewhat or kind of

   Synonym: meio

   ‎feio (“ugly”) + ‎-inho → ‎feiinho (“somewhat ugly”)

2. forms the augmentative of adjectives and adverbs

   ‎limpo (“clean”) + ‎-inho → ‎limpinho (“very clean”)

-inho (adjective-like pronoun-forming suffix, feminine -inha, masculine plural -inhos, feminine plural -inhas)

1. (informal) forms the diminutive of pronouns
   1. indicates smallness

      ‎aquele (“that one”) + ‎-zinho → ‎aquelezinho (“that small one”)

      Synonym: mesmo

   2. intensifies or emphasises personal pronouns

      ‎eu (“I”) + ‎-zinho → ‎euzinho (“little old me”)

-inho

1. (Brazil, colloquial, regional) forms the diminutive of gerunds, indicating a lack of intensity or seriousness

   ‎chovendo (“raining”) + ‎-inho → ‎chovendinho (“drizzling”)

   ‎namorando (“dating”) + ‎-inho → ‎namorandinho (“having an uncommitted romantic relationship”)

• This suffix retains the gender of the root word and usually its final ⟨a⟩ or ⟨o⟩ too, even if the former ends a masculine word or the latter ends a feminine one:^[1][2][3]

  ‎problema (“problem”) + ‎-inho → ‎probleminha (“little problem”), not *probleminho

  ‎tribo (“tribe”) + ‎-inho → ‎tribinho (“tribelet”), not *tribinha

  • This is always true in prescriptive grammar; however, some informal formulations deviate from this pattern, such fotinha, from foto. Brazilian grammarian Evanildo Bechara additionally deems -inha valid if the root is a clipping of a feminine word ending with ⟨a⟩, such motinha from moto, in turn a clipping of motocicleta.
• The suffixes -inho, -ão, and -mente do not alter the vowel qualities in the root word:

  ‎certo (“accurate”) + ‎-inho → ‎certinho (“precisely correct”, with /ɛ/); compare certeiro (with /e/ or /ɨ/)

• “-inho”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “-inho”, in Dicionário Eletrônico Houaiss [Houaiss Electronic Dictionary] (in Portuguese), São Paulo: UOL, 2004–2026
• “-inho”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “-inho”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “-inho”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026