Reference List of Phrasal Adjectives — aka Compound Adjectives or Compound Modifiers
We offer the list of phrasal adjectives below to readers as a helpful reference tool. The first list contains reliable examples of correctly hyphenated phrasal adjectives. The second list illustrates some key exceptions to the rule, showing when hyphens should not be used.
When teaching business writers the fine points of hyphenating phrasal adjectives, I find that my audience “gets it” when they see a big list with numerous and diverse examples. This clearly illustrates how it’s done. The long list of examples seals the lesson. Then we offer the second list illustrating the main exceptions.
Properly Hyphenated Reference List of Phrasal Adjectives:
| Health-care-related issues | Twenty-hour-a-day schedule |
| End-of-the-year doldrums | Ear-jarring sound |
| First-year graduate students | Waiver-of-subrogation clauses |
| Rank-and-file employees | The no-waiver-of-royalty clause |
| Fifty-page document | Fourth-quarter projections |
| A twelve-member jury | Air-conditioned trailer |
| Small-town high school | Anti-Iraq coalition |
| Apply the common-law mirror-image rule | Bankruptcy-law protection |
| Big-spending cowboy | Bikini-clad rock star |
| Blue-jeans-and-T-shirt crowd | Boom-to-bust business adventure |
| Call-in television show | Business-related lawsuits |
| Career-destroying scandal | Civil-rights lawsuit |
| Cut-rate prices | Day-care center |
| One-party strongholds | Credit-card statement |
| Cease-fire agreement | Electoral-college strategies |
| Dog-eat-dog world | Forest-products stocks |
| Equal-protection clause | Five-day mystery tour |
| Full-time employees | Gay-rights activists |
| Get-out-the-vote activities | Health-care products |
| Junk-bond rating | Late-afternoon selloff |
| Latin-stock strategist | Limited-liability company |
| Long-term, job-intensive projects | Minimum-height requirement |
| Money-market rates | commonly-talked-about strategies |
| Non-capital-intensive service sector | Off-the-shelf operation |
| Pay-in-kind preferred stock | Per-share earnings |
| Price-earnings multiple | Racial-discrimination suit |
| Second-quarter operations plan | State-of-the-art semiconductor |
| Six-day, eight-state investigation tour | Third-largest steelmaker |
| 30-second sound bites | Stronger-than-expected second-quarter profit |
| Weaker-than-usual results | Top-line growth |
| U.S.-built tractors | Year-on-year decline |
| Year-over-year increase | White-collar workers |
| Weaker-than-usual results | Subchapter-S corporation |
| Tax-law risk | Take-it-or-leave-it proposition |
| 65.5-million-dollar projection | the four-story, 50-unit complex |
| Across-the-board cuts | Big-is-better philosophy |
| Blue-blood, country-club Republicans | Energy-trading colossus |
| Client-confidentiality rules | Mom-and-pop retail outlet |
| Third-largest oil producer | Round-the-clock bargaining |
| Quality-enhancing advantages | Sealed-bid basis |
| Market-share trends | New-economy industries |
| Much-argued-over issue | County-approved billboard-siting restriction |
| 24-hour-a-day doctor-supervised care | Lawyer-client relationship |
For more examples see: Garner’s Modern American Usage, Third Edition (2009).
Key Exceptions to the Rule — Examples of When to Omit the Hyphen:
| Example | Reason/Rule |
| Popular opinion polls | Opinion polls is a compound noun. |
| He was well trained | No hyphen when modifier follows what it modifies |
| A widely known executive | No hyphen when phrasal adjective contains adverb ending in -ly |
| Had a firmly held opinion | Drop hyphen when phrasal adjective contains adverb ending in -ly |
| Granted most favored status. | No hyphen when modifying word is very, most, least, or less |
| Marine cargo insurance policy | Both modifying words can independently modify the noun |
| This rule is well worn | No hyphen when modifier follows the noun it modifies |
| Very hot day | No hyphen when modifying word is very, most, least, or less |
| Tired old dog | Both modifying words can independently modify the noun |
| A claim of bad faith | No hyphen when modifier follows the noun it modifies |
| The United States official resigned | No hyphen when modifying phrase contains a proper noun |
| An impressive Pablo Picasso painting | No hyphen when modifying phrase contains a proper noun |
| A very slightly flared handle | No hyphen when modifying word is very, most, least, or less, or when phrasal adjective contains adverb ending in –ly |