What this suffix does
-en turns the name of a material into an adjective: golden, wooden, woolen, silken. golden, wooden and brazen are the most common today; the rest (oaken, waxen, silvern) are more literary or archaic.
ESEN
Suffix · forms material adjectives
-en (adj. from material)
From Old English "-en": turns material nouns into adjectives meaning made of or having the qualities of that material. Golden, silken, brazen, ashen, leaden, wooden.
In Spanish: de + material / golden / silkenIntermediate
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
Trap: "iron" does not take -en
"iron" is NOT turned into "ironen": it is used directly as an adjective, "iron will", "iron curtain".
How it is formed
Material noun + en. Produces adjectives meaning "made of" or "having the qualities of" that material.
- metal + engold = goldenbrass = brazenlead = leadensilver (silv) = silvern (poetic)
- natural material + enwood = woodenwool = woolensilk = silkenearth = earthenwax = waxenoak = oaken
- ash/state + enash = ashenflax = flaxen (flax-coloured = pale golden)
Many -en material adjectives are archaic or literary: silvern, oaken, waxen, flaxen. Golden, wooden and brazen are the most used in modern English. Note: "iron" as an adjective does not use -en: "iron will", "iron curtain" (not "ironen").
How it is pronounced
-en (adj. from material)/ən/ · sounds like un
Tap the button to hear how the ending sounds. Each word in the table has its own audio.
Examples
Base word
With -en (adj. from material)
In a phrase
- goldgoldenThe beach was covered in golden sand.
- woodwoodenThey built a small wooden cabin in the woods.
- woolwoolenShe wore a warm woolen sweater in winter.
- silksilkenThe dress was made of soft silken fabric.
- earthearthenThe old pot was made of earthen clay.
- ashashenHis face went ashen when he heard the bad news.
- brassbrazenIt was a brazen lie, and everyone could tell.
- waxwaxenThe patient's waxen skin worried the doctor.
- oakoakenThe old oaken table had been in the family for generations.
- leadleadenThe sky turned leaden grey just before the storm.
Common mistakes
golden = physically made of gold
golden = having gold-like qualities; gold = the physical material
"a gold ring" = a ring physically made of gold. "golden hair" = hair the colour of gold (not literally gold). "the golden age" = an era of great prosperity. -en stresses quality, not material.
brazen = only made of brass (the material)
brazen in modern English almost always = shamelessly bold
"a brazen lie" = a lie told without any shame. "brazen impudence." The literal "made of brass" meaning is archaic and poetic today.
wooden = only made of wood
wooden also means expressionless and stiff (of a performance or person)
"a wooden performance" = a stiff, expressionless performance, lacking emotion. "a wooden smile" = a forced, lifeless smile. The figurative use is very common.
A trick to remember it
"-en" turns a material into an adjective directly: gold + en = golden, wood + en = wooden. Trap: "iron" does not take -en, it stands alone ("iron will"), the one exception that breaks the pattern.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
"A brazen lie" means...
Exercise 3 · Pick the right one
"A wooden performance" means...
Frequently asked questions
What does the suffix -en (adj. from material) mean in English?
The suffix -en (adj. from material) from Old English "-en": turns material nouns into adjectives meaning made of or having the qualities of that material. Golden, silken, brazen, ashen, leaden, wooden. In Spanish it usually maps to de + material / golden / silken.
How do you pronounce -en (adj. from material)?
The ending -en (adj. from material) is pronounced /ən/ · sounds like un. For example, "golden".
Can you give an example of a word with -en (adj. from material)?
"gold" becomes "golden". It is a typical example of the -en (adj. from material) suffix.
Other useful suffixes
-en (verb)
From Old English "-nian": turns adjectives into causative verbs meaning to make more X or to become X. Darken, enlighten, deepen, strengthen, heighten.
-esque
From Italian "-esco": means "in the style of" or "reminiscent of". Kafkaesque, picturesque, grotesque.
-ian / -ean
Turns proper nouns into style or period adjectives: Orwellian = relating to Orwell's ideas of surveillance and totalitarianism.
Learn every English suffix
-tion, -ness, -ful, -ly, -able... every ending you need to understand thousands of words at once.