phrasal adjective
A phrasal adjective (also known as an adjective phrase or compound adjective) is a phrase that modifies a noun.
Phrasal adjective before a noun
When a phrasal adjective precedes a noun, use a hyphen or (for phrases of three or more words) hyphens. This makes things easier for your reader and helps prevent miscues—for example:
. . . razor-sharp wit and over-the-top characters to create a twang-tinged, toe-tapping twist . . .
We make exceptions for phrasal adjectives beginning with -ly adverbs:
Phrasal adjective hyphenation
When two closely related phrasal adjectives have similar ending elements, remove the ending element from the first phrase and leave the hyphen, like so:
the four- or five-year-old girl
Most phrasal adjectives that follow their nouns are left unhyphenated. However, there are few conventional exceptions—for example:
That would be ill-advised.
Phrasal adjectives and units
When a phrasal adjective denotes an amount, a number, or a duration, the unit is singular:
