Morphemes in “dishonestly”
“dishonestly” has 3 morphemes: dis- + honest + -ly.
dis
prefix
+
honest
root
+
ly
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are dis- + honest + -ly.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| dis- | derivational prefix | bound | not, apart, away; reverse the action |
| honest | free root | free | not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent |
| -ly | derivational suffix | bound | in the manner of; every (as in daily) |
How the word is built
honest → dishonest → dishonestly
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “honest” is where the chain starts.
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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 "dishonestly"?
"dishonestly" has three morphemes: dis- + honest + -ly.
How do you break "dishonestly" into morphemes?
dis- + honest + -ly. The root is "honest"; dis- is a derivational prefix, -ly is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "dishonestly"?
The root of "dishonestly" is "honest", built up as honest → dishonest → dishonestly.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.