This post is another great chance to easily improve your English vocabulary by understanding the meaning of the suffix -hood. Learn 17 words, what they mean, and read real example sentences so you can easily use these words in your own conversations.
- adulthood – the state of being an adult
- bachelorhood – the time in a man’s life when he has never been married
- boyhood – the time in a man’s life when he is a boy
- brotherhood – The meaning of Brotherhood is not just about brothers or family, it’s friendship and understanding between people
- childhood – the period of somebody’s life when they are a child
- falsehood – the state of not being true; the act of telling a lie OR a statement that is not true
- fatherhood – the state of being a father
- girlhood – the time when somebody is a girl; the fact of being a girl
- godhood – the state of being a god
- knighthood – the rank or title of a knight
- likelihood – the chance of something happening; how likely something is to happen
- livelihood – a means of earning money in order to live
- manhood – the state or time of being an adult man rather than a boy
- neighborhood – a district or an area of a town; the people who live there
- parenthood – the state of being a parent
- priesthood – the job or position of being a priest
- womanhood – the state of being a woman, rather than a girl
Learn some different uses for the word HOOD, plus more interesting information about famous characters with HOOD in their name. Popular movies too. Keep reading.
- What Is A Hood?
- How To Use The Suffix -hood
- Words With The Suffix -hood
- Famous HOODs
- Idioms with HOOD
What Is A Hood?
The word Hood actually has a few different uses.
hood_1 noun – OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com
1) a part of a coat, etc. that you can pull up to cover the back and top of your head
- “It started snowing so I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head to keep my hair dry.”
*A sweatshirt with a hood is often called a “hoodie”
2) the metal part over the front of a vehicle, usually covering the engine
- “I lifted the hood to get a better look at my car’s engine. It has been making a funny noise for the last 2 days.”
3) a cover placed over a device or machine, for example, to protect it
- “We replaced the range hood over the stove. The old one was cracked.”
4) (North American English, slang) short for hoodlum (= a violent criminal, especially one who is part of a gang)
- “I don’t like to go downtown at night anymore. There are too many hoods hanging around and causing trouble.”
5) (North American English, slang) a neighborhood, especially a person’s own neighborhood – Usually an inner-city neighborhood where people don’t have much money.
- “There are a lot of gang members living in my hood.”
How To Use The Suffix -hood
The suffix -hood is used to make nouns in English. Words with the suffix show either the state or quality of the word joined with -hood [falsehood] or refer to a group [godhood].
hood_2 suffix – OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com
Words With The Suffix -hood
Please look at the following examples.
adulthood – the state of being an adult
- “Different cultures have different ways of celebrating when a child reaches adulthood.”
bachelorhood – the time in a man’s life when he has never been married
- “I did enjoy my bachelorhood but I love being married. It’s great to wake up beside someone you love every morning.”
boyhood – the time in a man’s life when he is a boy
- “Most of my boyhood heroes were professional hockey players. Hockey was very popular where I grew up.”
Did you know?
In North America, we don’t say ice hockey. Hockey is naturally played on ice.
Hockey that is not played on ice will have a special name like field hockey, floor hockey, or street hockey.
To me, saying “Let’s play ice hockey.” is the same as saying “Let’s play grass soccer.“ It’s strange!
brotherhood – The meaning of Brotherhood is not just about brothers or family, it’s friendship and understanding between people
- “After I joined the organization I could feel a real spirit of brotherhood in the group.”
childhood – the period of somebody’s life when they are a child
- “I had a great childhood. I feel I was very lucky to grow up in such a safe environment. I know many children are not as fortunate as I was.”
- Martin’s father was a university professor. Martin spent most of his childhood in Germany where his father was doing research.”
falsehood – the state of not being true; the act of telling a lie OR a statement that is not true
- “I like social media as a way to connect with the world. The downside is that there are so many falsehoods being pushed on these platforms.”
fatherhood – the state of being a father
- “Ron has become a very responsible and helpful member of the community. Since his son was born he has a completely new attitude, fatherhood has totally changed him.”
Fatherhood is the name of a 2021 Netflix movie about a father who brings up his baby girl as a single dad. Fatherhood – IMDb
girlhood – the time when somebody is a girl; the fact of being a girl
- “The movie is about three 11-year-old girls on their summer vacation in France. It’s a nice coming-of-age film about girlhood.”
godhood – the state of being a god or God
- “Achilles was a great warrior but he could never achieve godhood. Both of his parents were mortal humans.”
knighthood – the rank or title of a knight
- “Famous Jame Bond actor Sean Connery was awarded knighthood for his services to film and drama in the year 2000.”
likelihood – the chance of something happening; how likely something is to happen
- “Regular exercise reduces the likelihood of suffering a heart attack.”
Expression with likelihood
– in all likelihood (= very probably) – “The manager is busy with a client today. In all likelihood, today’s meeting will be canceled.”
*The meeting will very probably be canceled.
livelihood – a means of earning money in order to live
- “Many people were sad after the factory closed down. Many in the community depended on that factory for their livelihood.”
manhood – the state or time of being an adult man rather than a boy
- “The idea of manhood has changed over the decades.”
neighborhood – a district or an area of a town; the people who live there
- “I grew up in a quiet neighborhood in a medium-sized city outside of Toronto.”
- “Houses in that neighborhood were always very expensive. Only the rich could live there.”
parenthood – the state of being a parent
- “The young couple was overwhelmed by the joys and the responsibilities of parenthood.”
priesthood – the job or position of being a priest
- At the age of 20, he decided to enter the priesthood.
womanhood – the state of being a woman, rather than a girl
- “My sister has a book on her bookshelf called ‘135 Empowering Women Quotes To Celebrate Womanhood.’ I’ve never read it but it looks interesting.”
Famous HOODs
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally from old English stories. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. Images of Robin Hood have often shown him wearing green. He is said to have robbed from the rich and given to the poor. LINK
Over time, the story of Robin Hood has been made into many different movies, animations, and even video games!
Here’s a link to the Internet Movie Database list of 17 Robin Hood Movies.
This site has a list of more than 10 video games inspired by the story of Robin Hood.
Robin Hood video games – Wikipedia
Little Red Riding Hood
“Little Red Riding Hood” is a European fairy tale about a young girl who is going to her grandmother’s house in the woods to bring her some food. (Her grandmother is ill.)
In the story, Little Red Riding Hood meets a wolf in the woods.
The wolf learns Little Red Riding Hood’s plan and runs ahead to her grandmother’s house and takes her place in bed. The wolf plans to eat Little Red Riding Hood.
There are many different versions of the story but modern versions often end with a lumberjack coming to Grandma’s house and saving Little Red Riding Hood from the wolf.
Little Red Riding Hood – Wikipedia
Here’s a link to the Internet Movie Database list of 50 movies adapted from the story of Little Red Riding Hood.
Boyz in the Hood
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post the word hood is used to refer to low-income areas in an inner city. Boyz n the Hood is a popular movie from 1991 that showed 3 men living in the inner-cities of Los Angeles. It was nominated for two Academy Awards.
Idioms with HOOD
All Good In The Hood
Slang = Everything is good; There are no problems with me
L: “Hey Gareth, how are doing my friend?”
G: “Hi Liam, I’m great. I got a new job and I just got a cool new car. It’s all good in the hood.”
A Modern-day Robin Hood
A person today who has the chance to help poorer people. The same way Robin Hood helped the poor.
In The NEWS
This Macedonian Modern Day Robin Hood Fights Digital Inequality One Computer at a Time
This is a story about a computer repair man who fixes old computers and gives them to people who need a computer but can’t afford one. (He helps poor people, just like Robin Hood.)
Under The Hood
Beneath the obvious surface level, how things work inside
- “We need to get under the hood and fix this problem at the source. If we don’t, the problems will just come back.”
In the NEWS –
Apple reportedly introduced major under-the-hood security updates to macOS this year
Learn more about PREFIXES and SUFFIXES at the great posts below
- CO Prefix (23 Real Examples – Video – Free PDF)
- The Suffix -wise (Real Examples – PDF Download – Video)
- The Prefixes EN- and EM- (31 Examples – PDF guide)
- How do you use the suffix -al? (Examples, Free PDF, Video)
- The Suffix Able – 32 Real Examples (PDF wordlist + Video)
- The Prefix Trans- (Definitions, 52 Examples, Video, PDF)
- The Prefix SUB- (32 Examples・Free 9-page PDF・Video)
