hyphenate

[ verb hahy-fuh-neyt; adjective, noun hahy-fuh-nit, -neyt ]

/ verb ˈhaɪ fəˌneɪt; adjective, noun ˈhaɪ fə nɪt, -ˌneɪt /

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verb (used with object), hy·phen·at·ed, hy·phen·at·ing.

to join by a hyphen.

to write or divide with a hyphen.

adjective

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

noun

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.

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Origin of hyphenate

First recorded in 1850–55; hyphen + -ate¹

OTHER WORDS FROM hyphenate

hy·phen·a·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hyphenate in a sentence

On Thanksgiving, tweet about how much you love the cornbread, one word, made by your mother-in-law, hyphenated.
How To Know If A Term Is One Word Or Two Words|Brigid Walsh|July 24, 2020|Everything After Z
Indeed, the main motivation for Zionism was that a critical mass of Jews no longer wanted to live under such hyphenation.
Learning from Israeli Druze Hamad Amar|Samuel Lebens|May 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Inconsistent hyphenation and inconsistent use of -ise and -ize spellings have been left as in the original.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
Spacing after punctuation standardized, inconsistent hyphenation and archaic spelling retained.
A Brief History of the U. S. S. Imperator, one of the two Largest Ships in the U. S. Navy.|Anonymous

Spelling, hyphenation, punctuation, and indentation inconsistencies have been retained from the original book.
Enthusiasm and Other Poems|Susanna Moodie
Inconsistencies in hyphenation and spelling have been retained.
Elements of Plumbing|Samuel Dibble
All Native American words have been kept as originally printed, including those with variation in hyphenation or spelling.
Folk-Lore and Legends: North American Indian|Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for hyphenate

hyphenate

hyphen

/ (ˈhaɪfəˌneɪt) /

verb

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

Derived forms of hyphenate

hyphenation, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012