Morphemes in “awesome”
“awesome” has 2 morphemes: awe + -some.
awe
root
+
some
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are awe + -some.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| awe | free root | free | an overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration |
| -some | derivational suffix | bound | tending to, causing |
How the word is built
awe → awesome
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “awe” is where the chain starts.
Break any word into morphemes
Prefixes, roots and suffixes with glosses, free and in your browser.
Open the morphological analyzer →Related words
Segmentation derived from MorphyNet (Batsuren, Bella & Giunchiglia, 2021; CC BY-SA 3.0, built from Wiktionary), with hand-written affix glosses and root meanings from WordNet. Reviewed for classroom use; tell us if you spot an error.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many morphemes are in "awesome"?
"awesome" has two morphemes: awe + -some.
How do you break "awesome" into morphemes?
awe + -some. The root is "awe"; -some is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "awesome"?
The root of "awesome" is "awe", built up as awe → awesome.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.