Learn English – Suffix for ‘likely to do’

suffixes

What brought this up was sabotage, is there a general modifier for a noun (so not necessarily a suffix) to describe someone as about to perform an act of that noun?

So if we did it to sabotage, I could call someone that and the meaning would be you're a person likely to commit sabotage.
But someone who is yet to, not someone who currently practices or has already done it (saboteur).

The only one I can think of is -al for suicidal, someone thinking about/considering suicide.
Maybe sabotage in particular is difficult, are there any more of these noun-adjective pairs?

Best Answer

Sabotagical is a slang word used to convey the meaning of "having characteristics of sabotage or a saboteur." Otherwise, one would just use that phrase or paraphrase. For example, one would say, "he's likely to sabotage;" "he's often a saboteur;" or "he's sabotaging." Indeed, -ing is probably the closest applicable suffix to what you're looking for, but this only applies the qualities of the noun, not the specific meaning of "likely to sabotage." "He's abusing;" "he's loving;" and "he's questioning" are examples with other words. Compare abusive, affectionate, and inquisitive.

Sabotage-prone has a similar meaning, but I don't think it conveys intent. Someone who is accident-prone does not intend to commit accidents, for instance. If they did, they wouldn't be accidents.

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