cintura waist cinturón belt
oferta offer ofertón bargain
dulce sweet dulzón sickly sweet
fácil easy facilón dead easy
A characteristic usage of the -ónsuffix is to attach it to the stem of a verb
after removing the infinitive ending, thereby creating a noun or an adjec-
tive expressing the action of the verb to an excessive degree:
faltar be absent faltón regular absentee
mirar look mirón starer
Note: As an example of the pitfalls awaiting foreign users of Spanish suffixes, -ón
in some cases denotes a diminutive(rather than an augmentative) meaning: rata
‘rat’ > ratón‘mouse’, torre‘tower’ > torreón‘turret’.
(b)-azo/-aza
As an augmentative, this suffix increases the size of what a noun or adjec-
tive denotes. It adopts the gender of the noun or adjective:
cupón lottery ticket cuponazo special lottery
bueno/a good buenazo/a very kindly
In some parts of Latin America, -azo is used as an alternative to the superla-
tive suffix -ísimo: feazo‘very ugly’, cansadazo ‘very tired’.
For other uses of -azo, see 29.1.4.
(c)-ote/-ota
This suffix can imply excessive size and often coarseness:
libro book librote boring tome
palabra word palabrota swear word
Note: In some cases -otedenotes a diminutivemeaning: isla ‘island’ > islote ‘islet’.
(d) Augmentatives with exclusively pejorative meaning
These suffixes are employed above all for their ability to convey concepts
such as dislike, contempt, unpleasantness and misery. They include: -aco,
-acho, -ajo, -astro, -ucoand -ucho:
casa house casucha hovel
rico rich ricacho filthy rich person
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