# Which is the Strongest Prefix?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-strongest-prefix/742673>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 10, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-strongest-prefix/742673 "2016-01-10T05:38:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-strongest-prefix/742673/1 "2016-01-10T05:38:23Z")

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Out of _un_,_mis_ or _dis_ which is strongest?

I tend to rank them - weakest to strongest - mis, un and then dis.

I do this based on nothing but exposure and personal opinion. I’m curious as to what is the actual weight given to each.

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Zeke

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**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-strongest-prefix/742673/2 "2016-01-10T05:55:39Z")

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Unplaced  
Misplaced  
Displaced

In what way are they synonyms?

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**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-strongest-prefix/742673/3 "2016-01-10T06:18:29Z")

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> [@penultima\_thule](#):
>
> Unplaced  
> Misplaced  
> Displaced
> 
> In what way are they synonyms?

They aren’t. Generally, un- denotes a simple negative; mis- implies some wrongness (“misplaced” means put in the wrong place); and dis-generally means reversing an action (but can mean a few other things as well).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-strongest-prefix/742673/4 "2016-01-10T06:45:02Z")

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Indeed.

The prefixes are doubleplusungood candidates for Newspeak