Morphemes in “unhealthy”
“unhealthy” has 3 morphemes: un- + health + -y.
un
prefix
+
health
root
+
y
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are un- + health + -y.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| un- | derivational prefix | bound | not, opposite of; reverse the action |
| health | free root | free | a healthy state of wellbeing free from disease |
| -y | derivational suffix | bound | characterised by, full of, like (adj); also small/familiar (noun) |
How the word is built
health → healthy → unhealthy
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “health” 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 "unhealthy"?
"unhealthy" has three morphemes: un- + health + -y.
How do you break "unhealthy" into morphemes?
un- + health + -y. The root is "health"; un- is a derivational prefix, -y is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "unhealthy"?
The root of "unhealthy" is "health", built up as health → healthy → unhealthy.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.