Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A suffix attached to nouns to form adjectives denoting ‘full of …,’ ‘having…,’ as artful, awful, graceful, harmful, hopeful, peaceful, sinful, etc.
  • noun A quasi-suffix attached to nouns denoting a containing thing, to form nouns expressing the amount or volume contained, as handful, armful, cupful, glassful, spoonful, bucketful, tubful, etc., meaning ‘as much as the hand, arm, spoon, etc., can contain or hold.’
  • A simplified spelling of full.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • A suffix signifying full of, abounding with.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • suffix Used to form adjectives from nouns. An adjective derived by this suffix implies a thorough and certain possession of the quality of that noun, not a metaphorical fullness with it by degree or quantity. One who is wakeful is fully awake, not frequently waking; what is changeful is uncertain, not transformed; what is harmful may do a single and a mild injury.
  • suffix Used to form nouns from nouns meaning “as much as can be held by what is denoted by the noun”

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a family of languages of the Fulani of West Africa and used as a lingua franca in the sub-Saharan regions from Senegal to Chad; the best known of the West African languages

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English meaning "full of".

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Examples

  • One young girl from the power -ful Alouite family was out playing in the street when she was kidnapped.

    A House in Fez SUZANNA CLARKE 2007

  • One young girl from the power -ful Alouite family was out playing in the street when she was kidnapped.

    A House in Fez SUZANNA CLARKE 2007

  • One young girl from the power -ful Alouite family was out playing in the street when she was kidnapped.

    A House in Fez SUZANNA CLARKE 2007

  • One young girl from the power -ful Alouite family was out playing in the street when she was kidnapped.

    A House in Fez SUZANNA CLARKE 2007

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