Go to 'thermo-' entry Go to 'dino-' entry Go to 'chondro-' entry Go to 'aero-' entry Go to '-logy' entry Go to 'thaumato-' entry Go to 'nano-' entry Go to '-sophy' entry Go to 'bucco-' entry Go to '-ism' entry Go to '-lysis' entry Go to 'galacto-' entry Go to '-anthropy' entry Go to 'pneumo-' entry Go to '-ploitation' entry Go to '-lithic' entry Go to '-sepalous' entry Go to 'onco-' entry Go to '-parous' entry Go to 'dermato-' entry Go to 'multi-' entry Go to 'dodeca-' entry Go to '-zoon' entry Go to 'vermi-' entry Go to 'crystallo-' entry Go to 'biblio-' entry Go to 'eco-' entry Go to 'juxta-' entry Go to 'facio-' entry
Affixes: the building blocks of English
Affixes: the building blocks of English
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über- or uber-.

Superior.

[German über, over.]

The model for this combining form is German Übermensch, superman, which dates from the beginning of the twentieth century. From the 1980s, there has been a growing trend for new words to be created using this prefix to suggest a superior version of a given idea or personal type, frequently in a mildly derogatory or tongue-in-cheek way. A few show staying power — überbabe, uberblogger, ubergeek, ubersexual — but most have been invented for a single use or have proved short-lived: überconcept, überchef, übercouple, über-guitarist. As the examples show, the umlaut is frequently omitted.

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