-ster

¹ American  

1. a suffix used in forming nouns, often derogatory, referring especially to occupation, habit, or association.

   gamester; songster; trickster.

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ster. ² American  

abbreviation

1. sterling.

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-ster British  

suffix

1. indicating a person who is engaged in a certain activity Compare -stress

   prankster

   songster

2. indicating a person associated with or being something specified

   mobster

   youngster

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Usage

What does -ster mean? The form -ster is a suffix that marks an agent noun. Agent nouns are nouns that indicate a person who does an action, and broadly speaking, -ster means "doer." The suffix -ster is similar to -er, another agent noun, but -ster sometimes implies a more negative feeling about the doer. This suffix is used in a wide variety of informal terms. The suffix -ster comes from the Old English -estre, where it denoted female agent nouns. The equivalent for male agent nouns was -er, as mentioned above, which has not developed the negative connotation that the traditionally feminine -ster has. What are variants of -ster?When agent nouns ending in -ster are used to refer to a feminine-gendered element, -ster becomes -stress, as in seamstress (a female seamster). Similar suffixes include -ess, as in stewardess (a female steward), and -euse, as in chanteuse (a female chanteur, or singer). Want to know more? Read our Words That Use -euse and -stress articles.

Etymology

Origin of -ster

Middle English; Old English -estre; cognate with Dutch -ster, Middle Low German -( e ) ster

Example Sentences

When the older -en and -ster went out of use as the distinctive mark of the feminine, the ending -ess, from the French -esse, sprang into a popularity much greater than at present.

From An English Grammar by Sewell, James Witt

Apart from making sure that the last four letters of your service's name are not "-ster," I am hard-pressed to advise you.

From The Public Domain Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by Boyle, James

The ending -ster had then lost its force as a feminine suffix; it has none now in the words huckster, gamester, trickster, punster.

From An English Grammar by Sewell, James Witt

The native suffixes to indicate the feminine were -en and -ster.

From An English Grammar by Sewell, James Witt

Sometimes the -ess has been added to a word already feminine by the ending -ster; as seam-str-ess, song-str-ess.

From An English Grammar by Sewell, James Witt