HYPHENED AND NON-HYPHENED WORDS[21]
Reading edition
HYPHENED AND NON-HYPHENED WORDS[21]
The hyphen need not, as a rule, be used to join an adverb to the adjective which it qualifies: as in—
a beautifully furnished house, a well calculated scheme.
When the word might not at once be recognized as an adverb, use the hyphen: as—
a well-known statesman, an ill-built house, a new-found country, the best-known proverb, a good-sized room.
When an adverb qualifies a predicate, the hyphen should not be used: as—
this fact is well known.
Where either (1) a noun and adjective or participle, or (2) an adjective and a noun, in combination, are used as a compound adjective, the hyphen should be used:
a poverty-stricken family, a blood-red hand, a nineteenth-century invention.
A compound noun which has but one accent, and from familiar use has become one word, requires no hyphen. Examples:
bláckbird býname býword háirbrush háirdresser háirpin
hándbook hándkerchief mántelpiece nówadays schóolboy schóolgirl
seáport téapot tórchlight upstáirs wátchcase whéelbarrow
The following should also be printed as one word:
aglow anybody anyhow anything anywhere bedroom childbed coeval coexist coextensive coheir cornfield downhill downstairs evermore everyday (as adj.)
everything everyway (adverb) everywhere eyewitness fairyland fatherland footsore footstep freshwater (as adj.) godlike goodwill harebell hopscotch horseshoe indoor
ladylike lambskin lifetime maybe meantime meanwhile midday motherland newfangled noonday offprint offsaddle offshoot onrush outdoor overleaf oversea
percentage reappear reimburse reinstate
reopen seaweed selfsame uphill
wellnigh widespread wrongdoing zigzag
Compound words of more than one accent, as—ápple-trée, chérry-píe, grável-wálk, wíll-o’-the-wisp, as well as others which follow, require hyphens:
aide-de-camp air-man air-ship a-kimbo alms-house arm-chair battle-field bird-cage bi-weekly by-law by-way child-birth come-at-able common-sense (as adj.) co-adjust co-declination co-operate co-ordinate court-plaster cousin-german death-bed death-rate ding-dong dumb-bell ear-rings farm-house farm-yard
first-hand foot-note foot-stone foot-stool free-will get-at-able good-bye good-day good-humoured good-natured guide-book gutta-percha half-crown half-dozen half-hour half-way handy-man harvest-field head-dress head-foremost head-quarters hey-day high-flyer hill-side hill-top hoar-frost hob-a-nob
hour-glass hymn-book ill-fated india-rubber jaw-bone key-note knick-knack life-like looking-glass man-of-war never-ending new-built new-comer new-mown note-book note-paper off-hand oft-times one-and-twenty one-eighth ore-weed out-and-out out-of-date out-of-door over-glad pre-eminent quarter-day race-course
re-bound[22] (as a book) re-cover (a chair) re-enter re-form (form again) rolling-pin sea-breeze
sea-shore second-hand small-pox son-in-law starting-point step-father such-like table-land text-book
title-deeds title-page to-day top-mast topsy-turvy up-to-date[23] water-course week-day year-book
Half an inch, half a dozen, &c., require no hyphens. Print the following also without hyphens:
any one cast iron common sense (adj. and noun together) court martial dare say easy chair
every one fellow men for ever good humour good nature good night head master[24] high priest high road
ill health ill luck ill nature no one plum pudding post office revenue office some one union jack
