hyphen

Punctuation mark (-) used to join certain words together (sister-in-law, brigadier-general) and to hyphenate long words broken up by justification in word processed or printed text. Adjectival compounds (see adjective) are hyphenated because they modify the noun jointly rather than separately (‘a small-town boy’ is a boy from a small town; ‘a small town boy’ is a small boy from a town).

The use of hyphens with adverbs is redundant unless an identical adjective exists (well, late, long): ‘late-blooming plant’ but ‘brightly blooming plant’. Phrasal verbs are not hyphenated (‘things turned out well’, ‘it washed up on the beach’) unless used adjectivally (‘a well-turned-out crowd’, ‘a washed-up athlete’). Nouns formed from phrasal verbs are hyphenated or joined together (‘a good turnout tonight’, ‘please do the washing-up’). In the use of certain prefixes, modern style is moving towards omitting the hyphen (noncooperation).