hyphenate

American  

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

verb (used with object)

hyphenated, hyphenating

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

• hyphenation
  noun

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

Earlier this year, Martin, who is from Toronto, spent a dozen years in London before moving to L.A., pulled another hyphenate out of their hat by releasing an indie rock album.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2025

If he saw himself more as savior than artist, Bispo certainly deserves an extended hyphenate: artist-historian-autobiographer-cartographer-documentarian and illuminator of his own idiosyncratic manuscripts.

From New York Times • May 5, 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

I know this very well, as I never changed my last name to my husband’s—nor did I hyphenate our two names.

From Slate • Mar. 28, 2021

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

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson