Words Ending in NESS

NESS Words: Turning Anything Into a Noun

NESS is English's favorite noun factory. Take any adjective, bolt NESS onto the end, and you've created a noun: DARK becomes DARKNESS, SAD becomes SADNESS, HAPPY becomes HAPPINESS. This suffix is so productive that the dictionary contains thousands of NESS words, from the obvious (GOODNESS, WEAKNESS) to the oddly specific (COYNESS, APTNESS, WRYNESS). Shakespeare invented dozens of NESS words that stuck -- LONELINESS and EYELESS among them.

In word games, NESS words are bingo machines. Because most are 8+ letters, they naturally use all 7 tiles on your rack plus at least one tile on the board. APTNESS (7 letters) and BADNESS (7 letters) are the shortest common ones, hitting that magic bingo length exactly. For crossword solvers, shorter NESS words like NESS itself (a headland or promontory) appear in grids -- it's often clued as "Cape" or "Scottish lake monster's home" (Loch Ness). Tip: when you're stuck on a crossword ending, try adding NESS to any adjective that fits the crossing letters. Explore words ending in ED for the adjective forms that feed into NESS, or check words starting with S for SADNESS and SICKNESS. Words starting with Z gives you ZEALOUSNESS and other uncommon options.

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