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Hyphens in Compound modifiers

English compound modifiers are constructed in a very similar way to the compound noun. Blackboard
Jungle, leftover ingredients, gunmetal sheen, and green monkey disease are only a few examples.

A compound modifier is a sequence of modifiers of a noun that function as a single unit. It consists
of two or more words (adjectives, gerunds, or nouns) of which the left-hand component modifies the
right-hand one, as in "the dark-green dress": dark modifies the green that modifies dress.

Solid compound modifiers

There are some well-established permanent compound modifiers that have become solid over a longer
period, especially in American usage: earsplitting,  eyecatching, and downtown.

However, in British usage, these, apart from  downtown, are more likely written with a hyphen: ear-
splitting, eye-catching.

Other solid compound modifiers are for example:

 Numbers that are spelled out and have the suffix -fold added: "fifteenfold", "sixfold".
 Points of the compass: northwest, northwester, northwesterly, northwestwards. In British
usage, the hyphenated and open versions are not uncommon: north-wester, north-westerly, north
westerly, north-westwards.

Hyphenated compound modifiers

Major style guides advise consulting a dictionary to determine whether a compound modifier should
be hyphenated; the dictionary's hyphenation should be followed even when the compound modifier
precedes a noun. Hyphens are unnecessary in other unambiguous, regularly used compound
modifiers.

Generally, a compound modifier is hyphenated if the hyphen helps the reader differentiate a
compound modifier from two adjacent modifiers that modify the noun independently. Compare the
following examples:

 "small appliance industry": a small industry producing appliances

 "small-appliance industry": an industry producing small appliances

The hyphen is unneeded when capitalization or italicization makes grouping clear:

 "old English scholar": an old person who is English and a scholar, or an old scholar who
studies English
 "Old English scholar": a scholar of Old English.
 "De facto proceedings" (not "de-facto")
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If, however, there is no risk of ambiguities, it may be written without a hyphen: Sunday morning walk.

Hyphenated compound modifiers may have been formed originally by an adjective preceding a noun,
when this phrase in turn precedes another noun:

 "Round table" → "round-table discussion"

 "Blue sky" → "blue-sky law"
 "Red light" → "red-light district"
 "Four wheels" → "four-wheel drive" (historically, the singular or root is used, not the plural)

Others may have originated with a verb preceding an adjective or adverb:

 "Feel good" → "feel-good factor"

 "Buy now, pay later" → "buy-now pay-later purchase"

Yet others are created with an original verb preceding a preposition.

 "Stick on" → "stick-on label"

 "Walk on" → "walk-on part"
 "Stand by" → "stand-by fare"
 "Roll on, roll off" → "roll-on roll-off ferry"

The following compound modifiers are always hyphenated when they are not written as one word:

 An adjective preceding a noun to which -d or -ed has been added as a past-

participle construction, used before a noun:
 "loud-mouthed hooligan"
 "middle-aged lady"
 "rose-tinted glasses"
 A noun, adjective, or adverb preceding a present participle:
 "an awe-inspiring personality"
 "a long-lasting affair"
 "a far-reaching decision"
 Numbers, whether or not spelled:
 "seven-year itch"
 "five-sided polygon"
 "20th-century poem"
 "30-piece band"
 "tenth-storey window"
 "a 20-year-old man" (as a compound modifier) and "the 20-year-old" (as a compound
noun) – but "a man, who is 20 years old"
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 A numeral with the affix -fold has a hyphen (15-fold), but when spelled out takes a solid
construction (fifteenfold).
 Numbers, spelled out or not, with added -odd: sixteen-odd, 70-odd.
 Compound modifiers with high- or low-: "high-level discussion", "low-price markup".
 Colours in compounds:
 "a dark-blue sweater"
 "a reddish-orange dress".
 Fractions as modifiers are hyphenated: "five-eighths inches", but
if numerator or denominator are already hyphenated, the fraction itself does not take a hyphen: "a
thirty-three thousandth part". (Fractions used as nouns have no hyphens: "I ate only one third of
the pie.")
 Comparatives and superlatives in compound adjectives also take hyphens:
 "the highest-placed competitor"
 "a shorter-term loan"
 However, a construction with most is not hyphenated:
 "the most respected member".
 Compounds including two geographical modifiers:
 "Afro-Cuban"
 "African-American" (sometimes)
 "Anglo-Indian"
 But not
 "Central American".

The following compound modifiers are not normally hyphenated:

 Compound modifiers that are not hyphenated in the relevant dictionary or that are
unambiguous without a hyphen.
 Where there is no risk of ambiguity:
 "a Sunday morning walk"
 Left-hand components of a compound modifier that end in -ly and that modify right-hand
components that are past participles (ending in -ed):
 "a hotly disputed subject"
 "a greatly improved scheme"
 "a distantly related celebrity"
 Compound modifiers that
include comparatives and superlatives with more, most, less or least:
 "a more recent development"
 "the most respected member"
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 "a less opportune moment"

 "the least expected event"
 Ordinarily hyphenated compounds with intensive adverbs in front of adjectives:
 "very much admired classicist"
 "really well accepted proposal"

Using a group of compound nouns containing the same "Head"
Special rules apply when multiple compound nouns with the same "Head" are used together, often
with a conjunction (and with hyphens and commas if they are needed).

 The third- and fourth-grade teachers met with the parents.

 Both full- and part-time employees will get raises this year.
 We don't see many 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children around here.

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