hyphenate

American  

[hahy-fuh-neyt, hahy-fuh-nit, -neyt] / ˈhaɪ fəˌneɪt, ˈhaɪ fə nɪt, -ˌneɪt /

verb (used with object)

hyphenates, present (3rd person singular) hyphenated, past participle, past hyphenating present participle

1. to join by a hyphen.

2. to write or divide with a hyphen.

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adjective

1. of or relating to something of distinct form or origin that has been joined; connected by a hyphen.

noun

1. Informal. a person working or excelling in more than one craft or occupation.

   He's a film-industry hyphenate, usually listed as a writer-director-producer.

hyphenate British  

/ ˈhaɪfəˌneɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to separate (syllables, words, etc) with a hyphen

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hyphenation
  noun

Conjugated Forms

Present

• has hyphenated
  perfect 3rd person singular
• have hyphenated
  perfect
• have been hyphenating
  perfect progressive
• hyphenates
  singular 3rd person
• are hyphenating
  progressive
• hyphenating
  participle
• is hyphenating
  progressive 3rd person singular
• has been hyphenating
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• am hyphenating
  progressive 1st person singular

Past

• had hyphenated
  perfect
• had been hyphenating
  perfect progressive
• hyphenated
  simple
• was hyphenating
  progressive singular
• hyphenated
  participle
• were hyphenating
  progressive plural

Future

• will hyphenate
  simple
• will have hyphenated
  perfect
• will have been hyphenating
  perfect progressive
• will be hyphenating
  progressive

Etymology

Origin of hyphenate

First recorded in 1850–55; hyphen + -ate ¹

Explanation

When you hyphenate a word, you use a punctuation mark that resembles a dash to connect two words into one or separate a word's syllables. To write the word old-fashioned, you have to hyphenate it. When you write words like deep-fried and record-breaking, you hyphenate them, or add a hyphen to join their separate parts into one word. Another common reason to hyphenate words is when you reach the end of a line and need to split the word you're writing into two parts, continuing the second part on the next line. The rule here is to hyphenate between complete syllables.

Example Sentences

The guild’s list of work a hyphenate cannot do includes the following:

From Los Angeles Times • May 2, 2023

Hello Carolyn: Our son’s wife of several years chose to hyphenate our last name with her maiden name.

From Washington Post • Sep. 4, 2022

Some people on Twitter shared a clip of King interviewing Julia Louis-Dreyfus where he asked her about having a "man’s name," seemingly mistaking the hyphenate for a middle name.

From Fox News • Jan. 25, 2021

If this latecomer is worried about distinguishing herself from you, she can hyphenate her existing surname with your ex-husband’s or keep it as it is.

From New York Times • Mar. 17, 2020

Back then women didn’t keep their own names or hyphenate them.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson