Meanings
-x1
- Used to represent a value that may vary: see x.
I teach all of the 30x classes.
-x2
- USinformalUsed to replace a /ks/ sound, especially in monosyllabic words ending in -cks or -ks.
blax (“blacks”), clox (“clocks”), fax (“facts”), folx (“folks”), hax (“hacks”), pix (“pics”), punx (“punks”), shox (“shocks”), snax (“snacks”), sox (“socks”), stix (“sticks”), tix (“tickets”), trax (“tracks”)
-x3
- An abbreviation marker.
Dx (“diagnosis”), elex (“election”), Hx (“history”), pax (“passenger”), RX (“receive”), TX (“transmit”)
-x4
- neologismUsed to replace a gendered suffix.
alumnx, Chicanx, Latinx
-X5
- abbreviationhobbiesAbbreviation of -cross.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
-x · suffix
The letter x is prototypically pronounced [ks] in English; it therefore serves as a convenient shorthand for the digraphs (cs, ks, etc.) or trigraphs (cks etc.) that would otherwise represent that consonant cluster.
Full word history & related roots →-x · suffix
From the use of x as a neutral or nonspecific placeholder.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
-x. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-x
“-x.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-x. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-x,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-x.
Source: -x on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.