Words Ending in OUS

The -OUS Ending: Latin's Gift to English Adjectives

If you want to turn a Latin noun into an English adjective, -OUS is your go-to suffix. DANGER becomes DANGEROUS, GLORY becomes GLORIOUS, NERVE becomes NERVOUS. This pattern is so productive that over a thousand English words use it. The suffix traces back to Latin -OSUS, meaning "full of" — so FAMOUS literally means "full of fame" and GENEROUS means "full of noble birth" (its original meaning before it shifted to mean giving freely).

For word game players, -OUS words tend to be long (7-12 letters), which makes them prime candidates for Scrabble bingo plays. JEALOUS, OBVIOUS, and NERVOUS are all seven letters — rack-clearers that earn the 50-point bonus. In crosswords, -OUS adjectives show up constantly because they pair with clues that are themselves adjectives: "envious" for JEALOUS, "clear" for OBVIOUS, "perilous" for DANGEROUS. One useful trick: if a crossword clue is a synonym adjective and the answer space is 7+ letters, try fitting -OUS at the end. You'll be right more often than you'd expect. The -OUS pattern also intersects with words ending in QUE in interesting ways — GORGEOUS has that soft G sound. Compare with words ending in ED for past-tense adjective forms, and explore words starting with RE for words like RIOTOUS and RIGOROUS.

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