Words with Hyphenation

Commonly used hyphenated words Hyphened words are combination of two or more than two words in a way so as to give one meaning.

About-face or About-turn: a change of direction Ad-libbed: to speak in public without having planned what to say All-out: complete and with as much effort as possible Avant-garde: the leaders in new and unconventional movements, esp. in the arts; vanguard; of such movements, ideas, etc. Blue-chip: designating any high-priced stock with a good record of earnings and price stability; excellent, valuable, etc. Blue-stocking: a learned, bookish, or pedantic woman who spends most of her time studying and is therefore not approved of by egoistic and chauvinistic men Booby-trap: any scheme or device for tricking a person unawares; a bomb or mine that is set to be exploded by some action of the intended victim, as when some seemingly harmless object is lifted Bric-a-brac: small, rare, or artistic objects placed about a room for decoration; knick-knacks; gimcracks Card-carrying: owning a membership card in a specified organization; an active and involved member of any organization Cast-off: over used, discarded, worthless Court-martial: a court of personnel in the armed forces for the trial of persons accused of breaking military law; a trial by a court-martial; a conviction by a court-martial; to try by a court-martial; to convict by a court-martial Cul-de-sac: a situation which leads nowhere; dead end; a short road which is blocked off at one end Derring-do: daring action taken without considering consequences; reckless courage Drop-dead: to die suddenly and unexpectedly Double-cross: to deceive someone by working only for ones own advantage; treachery Five-and-ten-cent-store: a store that sells a wide variety of inexpensive merchandise, original wioth many articles priced at five or ten cents Fly-leaf: an empty page at the beginning or end of a book next to the cover Forward-looking: anticipating or making provision for the future; progressive Free-for-all: a contest, race, etc. that anyone may enter; a disorganized fight in which many take part; brawl; open to anyone Fuddy-duddy: a fussy, critical person; an old-fashioned person Go-for-broke: daring, enterprising Grass-roots: the common people, original those esp. Of rural or non urban areas, thought of as best representing the basic, direct political interests of the electorate Gross-out: to offend, disgust, shock, etc. Hard-liner: a person who takes a hard-line position Half-mast: the position of a flag lowered about halfway down, a mast, staff, etc., esp. as a sign of mourning; to fly (a flag) at half-mast Hanger-on: a follower or dependent; a person who joins another, some group, etc. although not wanted; a follower who seeks personal gain; sycophant; parasite Have-nots: a person or nation with little wealth, or poor resources Heavy-handed: using too much force in dealing with someone: clumsy or tactless; cruel, oppressive, or tyrannical Heebie-jeebies: strong feelings of fear or anxiety Helter-skelter: in haste and confusion; in a disorderly, hurried manner; hurried and confused;

disorderly High- minded: having very high moral standards of behaviour Ho-hum: an expression showing boredom or unwillingness Hocus-pocus: meaningless words used as a formula by conjurers; a magicians trick or trickery; sleight of hand; legerdemain; any meaningless action or talk drawing attention away from some deception; trickery; deception Hugger-mugger: a confusion; muddle; jumble (Archaic) secrecy; confused; muddled, jumbled, (Archaic) secret; in a confused or jumbled manner; (Archaic) secretly; to keep sec ret Hurly-burly: noisy activity Jekyll-and-Hyde: a person with two very different sides to their personality, one good and the other evil Jerry-builder: maker of poorly built materials of cheap quality Last-ditch: made, done, used, etc. in a final, often desperate act of resistance or opposition Lock-step: a way of marching in such close file that the corresponding legs of the marchers must keep step precisely Mock-up: a scale model, usually a full-sized replica, of a structure or apparatus used for instructional or experimental purposes Namby-pamby: weak, foolish or silly Off-the-cuff: to speak without having prepared or thought about ones words first Pent-up: held in check; curbed; confined Per-diem: by the day; daily; a daily allowance, as for expenses Pell-mell: a very fast and disorganized movement or action Plea-bargaining: pretrial negotiations in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for having more serious charger dropped Point-blank: used before noun aimed horizontally, straight at a mark, at such close range that rise and fall in the projectiles flight need not be considered; of or suitable for such fire; straightforward; plain; blunt (such as point-blank answer) in a direct line; straight; without hesitation or quibbling; directly; bluntly( such as to refuse point-blank) Pre-empt: to door say something before anyone else can, excluding others; appropriate before hand Put-up: to show or express a particular type of opposition to something Rank-and-file: the ordinary workers in a company or the ordinary members of an organization Roly-poly: short and plump; pudgy; a roly-poly thing or person, especially a child Run-ins: a quarrel, fight, etc. Run-of-the-mill: ordinary, not exclusive or exciting Scot-free: without receiving the deserved or expected punishment; without being harmed Second-string: sports that is the second or a substitute choice for play at the specified position; subordinate or inferior in rank, importance, etc. Self-effacing: not making oneself noticeable, modest Shell-shock: mental illness caused by experience of war Silver-tongued: eloquent; persuasive way of expressing oneself Skinny-dip: a swim in the nude Stage-struck: to be extremely interested in the theatre/film Stand-in: a person who serves as a substitute for a motion-picture or television actor or actress as while lights and cameras are being adjusted; any substitute for another Strung-out: experience the strong effects of drugs such as heroin or cocaine Tongue-in-cheek: amusing, humorous Topsy-turvy: upside down; in a reversed condition; in confusion or disorder; a topsy-turvy condition; inverted state; a state of confusion Tug-of-war: a contest in which two teams pull at opposite ends of a rope, each trying to drag the other across a central line; any power struggle between two parties Union-jack: the red, white and blue flag of the UK

Up-and-coming: likely to achieve success soon or in the near future Washed-up: cleaned up; tied; exhausted; (slang) finished; done for; having failed Well-nigh: almost or very nearly Whizz-bang: (old slang) a high expensive shell of great speed whose sound explosion occurs immediately after its sound of light; also, a fireworks device suggestive of this Witch-hunt: an investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover disloyalty, subversive political activity, etc., usually conducted with much publicity and often relying upon inconclusive evidence and capitalizing on public fear of unpopular opinions Word-of-mouth: communicated orally

Colour Metaphors
BLACK
Black tainted, impure, wicked Black belt symbol of a very high standard in the sport of judo or karate Black book a book containing names of those blacklisted Black box a small machine that records information about an aircraft during its flight and which is used to discover the cause of an accident Black comedy a film, play, etc. that looks at the amusing side of things we usually consider very serious, like death and illness Black humour an amusing way of looking at or treating something that is serious or sad The Black Death (history) disease that killed an extremely large number of people in Europe and Asia in the 14th century The Black Country the industrial area in the West Midlands of England Black economy business activity and income which people do not record in order to avoid paying tax on it Black-hearted wicked Black hole a region in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light can escape/an imaginary place in which things are lost The Black Hole of Calcutta an unpleasantly full and hot room Black look face full of anger and hatred Black mood a very unhappy feeling Black tie clothes worn for formal social occasions Black Mass a ceremony in which the Devil is worshipped instead of Christian God To be in the black to be out of financial danger Black magic wicked magic Black future depressing or without hope To look as black as thunder extreme anger (this is a simile, not a metaphor) Black market illegal trading of goods Black sheep a person who brings disrespect and bad name to his family Black mark disgrace; notoriety; shame To be in the black to have money in the bank and not to be in debt (if a bank account is in the black, it contains some money, and if a person or business man is in the black, they have money in the bank and are not in debt) To see things in black and white to have a simple view of what is right and what is wrong or good and bad To paint a black picture of something or somebody to present/describe a situation or person as extremely bad

BLUE

To be/feel blue to be sad, to be in depression Blue baby a baby born with slightly blue skin, usually because of some heart related problem Blue blood/blue blooded a person born into a royal family or belonging to the highest social class Blue chip a company or investment designating and high-priced stock with a good record of earnings and price stability; (colloq.) excellent, valuable, etc. Blue eyed boy (the British English equivalent of US English fair haired boy) a boy/man who is particularly liked or is treated well by someone, especially high authority (derogatory sense) Blue law a law that limits activities which are considered to be immoral for religious reasons, such as shopping or working in Sundays Blue ribbon/blue riband the highest prize in a competition or event True-blue completely loyal to a person or belief Blue skies happiness To be blue in the face to be exasperated (not a metaphor) Out of the blue/a bolt from the blue completely unexpected Once in a blue moon very rarely To scream/shout blue murder to show ones annoyance especially by shouting or complaining very loudly Talk a blue streak to talk quietly and without stopping The blues sad songs Singing the blues being sad, being melancholy Blue balls - a pain in the testicles from lack of ejaculation Blue movie/blue joke pornographic or indecently referring to sex Blue-collar workers physical or unskilled workers To be between the devil and the deep blue sea to have two choices, both equally unpleasant or inconvenient

GRAY
Gray area lack of clarity Gray matter a persons intelligence The gray pound/grey dollar the money which all old people as a group have available to spend Gray eminence (also eminence grise) someone without an official position who has power or influence over rulers or people who make decisions Gray market a market, as for imported goods, operating outside the authorized system of distribution

GREEN
To be green to be immature; to be new at something Greenie a newbie, a novice; a neophyte Green thumb/fingers skill at growing plants Greens green vegetables (though this is not a metaphor yet commonly used in English language) Green light safe to proceed To look/go green nausea and vomiting tendency To be green about the gills to look ill and pale To turn green (with envy) to envy Green tourism/Green Party care for the environment Green audit an official examination of the effects a company or an organization has on the environment especially the damage that it causes Green belt a trip of countryside round a city or town where construction is not allowed Green card (work) a document giving a foreigner permission to live and work in the United States Green card (car) a document which insures your car against accidents (financially) when travelling

to other countries Green paper a document prepared by the British Government for anyone interested to study and make suggestions about, especially before a law is changed or a new law is made Green room a waiting room in some theatres or concert halls, especially to be used into a series of hole for entertainment/practice for the game of golf

PURPLE
Purple heart bravery Purple in the face/purple with rage extremely angry Purple prose a piece of writing which is complicated or sounds false because the writer may have tried too hard to make the style interesting

RED
To see red to be angry To be in the red to be in financial danger Red alert danger or warning of imminent anger; declaring emergency Red card foul (can be used as a linguistic metaphor as well as a symbol) Red carpet as in roll out the red carpet, royal treatment; treat like royalty Red flag as in red flag going up which means danger A red letter day most important or memorable day in ones life Red point of view left wing in politics Redbait to denounce (a person or group) as being communist, esp. with little or no evidence Red-brick designating or of a British university or college other than Oxford or Cambridge; esp., any of the newer ones in the provinces, often connoting social inferiority Redcap a baggage porter, as in a railroad station; a military policemen (British colloquial) Red cent trivial amount Redcoat a British soldier in a uniform with a red coat, as during the American Revolution Red dwarf a star that is collar on its surface, smaller, and of fainter luminosity than the sun

WHITE
Lily white/whiter than white innocent; pure White as the driven snow pure white (this is a simile, not a metaphor) White glove inspection (comes from the military, where inspectors use white gloves to inspect the cleanliness of rooms) Whities Caucasians (those with pale skin) (this is a metonymy, not a metaphor) White head a pimple with a white top (this is a metonymy(white), mixed with a metaphor, head) White as a sheet being pale (this is a simile, not a metaphor) White knuckle terrifying experience White-collar workers people who work in offices or those who need mental rather than physical effort White magic righteous magic or magic which is used only to do good things White noise a sound containing a blend of all the audible frequencies distributed equally over the range of the frequency band White elephant something that has cost a lot of money but has no useful purpose White lie a lie concerning a trivial matter, often one told to spare someones feelings White flag a white banner or cloth hoisted as a signal of truce or surrender White goods large electrical home appliances such as cookers, washing machines, refrigerators, stoves, etc./household linens, as sheets, pillowcases, towels, etc.

White heat very high temperature at which metal gives out a white light White hope any person who is expected to bring honour, glory, etc. to some group, place, etc. White horses tides or waves which are white at the top White pages a book that lists the names, addresses and telephone numbers of people living and businesses operating in a city or area

YELLOW
To be yellow/yellow streak to be cowardly Yellow card warning Yellow pages the selection or volume of a telephone directory, usually printed on yellow paper, containing classified listings of subscribers according to business, profession, etc. Yellow fever an infectious tropical deadly disease which causes the skin to become yellow Yellow journalism the use of cheaply sensational or unscrupulous methods in newspapers, etc. to attract or influence readers Yellow-dog contract an employer-employee contract, now illegal, by which an applicant for a job agrees not to be a labour-union member while employed Yellow jack a yellow flag used as a sign of quarantine/ and edible, gold-and-silver marine jack fish (Caranx bartholomaei) found near Florida and the West Indies Yellow peril a threat to Western civilization presented by Asian people, esp. those of China and Japan; widely believed in during the late 19th and early 20th cent. in North America, Europe , and Australia Yellow race the Mongoloid group of mankind, usually a term of prejudice (derogatory sense) Yellow rain a highly toxic, yellowish, powdery substance found in SE Asia c. 1975-85, alleged by some to be a chemical warfare agent dropped from airplanes and by others to be contaminated bee excrement

rds for human character & personality

Altruistic concerned for the welfare of others; unselfish Biased prejudiced; unduly or unfairly influenced Captious quick to find fault, especially overt petty matters; carping Conscientious governed by, or made or done according to, what one knows is right; scrupulous; honest; showing care and precision; painstaking Contrite sorrowful for a misdeed that one has committed; deeply repentant Diffident lacking confidence; timid; shy Disdainful feeling or expressing disdain; scornful and aloof; scornful, contemptuous, supercilious, dismissive Effusive expressing excessive emotion in an unrestrained manner; too demonstrative; anyone who gives an exaggerated expression of pleasure, praise or gratitude Excitable easily excited by things; sensitive high-strung, neurotic, easily excited, peevish, irritable, edgy, impatient, intolerant, moody or touchy Garrulous one who talks too much, especially about unimportant things; talkative, loquacious or chattering Gregarious seeking or enjoying the company of others; sociable Gullible easily deceived or tricked; credulous Haughty having or showing great pride in oneself and disdain contempt or scorn for others; proud; arrogant; supercilious

Impassive feeling or revealing no emotion; calm; unmoved Impetuous acting suddenly without forethought; rash, impulsive Impulsive impelling; driving forward; acting likely to act on impulse such as an impulsive person; produced by or resulting from a sudden impulse such as an impulsive remark Indolent not afraid; bold; dauntless Intrepid not afraid; bold; dauntless Irrational not rational (capable of reasoning); illogical; absurd; senseless Obsequious much too attentive (to a superior); excessively submissive; servile; fawning Obstinate unreasonably determined to have ones own way; not yielding to reason oe plea; stubborn; dogged; mulish; resisting remedy or treatment such as an obstinate fever; not easily subdued, ended, etc. Obstreperous excessively noisy; boisterous; unruly Opinionated holding obstinately to ones own opinion Parsimonious extremely frugal; miserly; stingy Pushy annoyingly aggressive and persistent; someone who always selfishly keeps; promoting ones own position or interests Sanguine confidently optimistic; hopeful Sceptical disbelieving; doubting; not easily convinced Supercilious showing haughty contempt; disdainful; full of pride and scorn Taciturn almost always silent; not liking to talk; uncommunicative; someone who is reserved or says very little Unscrupulous someone who lacks in moral principles and is prepared to do bad things to any extent; not scrupulous; not restrained by ideas of right and wrong; unprincipled Vindictive inclined to seek vengeance; unforgiving; spiteful

Words and figurative expression in English language

Burn the midnight oil to work or study for long hours in the night Bury the hatchet to settle a disagreement, make peace Busymans holiday holiday spent in an activity the same as, or similar to, ones occupation, as a bus driver who takes his family for a Sunday drive Come home to roost - to have disagreeable repercussions; boomerang Dutch treat meal or entertainment which each participant pays his or her own share Eat crow - to be forced into a humiliating or extremely disagreeable situation Fish or cut bait - to proceed wholeheartedly or drop out altogether; stop procrastinating or temporizing French leave unauthorized hasty or secret departure Go begging to be in little demand Have an ax to grind to have a selfish motive or ulterior purpose to promote Have a bone to pick to have something to argue or complain about Hold a candle to compare favourably with Have a chip on ones shoulder to have a disposition or quarrel Hold water to remain sound, logical, or consistent; stand up Lame duck elected official who remains in office for a brief period after a successor has been elected Pay the piper to suffer the unfavourable consequences of ones actions Play possum to pretend to be dead or asleep Play the devils advocate to uphold the wrong side of a cause for the sake of argument

Poker face expressional face, as that of an experienced poker player Red herring something used to distract attention from the real issue (from the practice of drawing a red herring across a trail to confuse hunting dogs) Roll out the red carpet to show impressive courtesy Stick in ones craw to be intolerable and unacceptable to one Stick to ones last to keep to ones trade or field (from the proverb "Let the cobbler s tick to his last, a last being a shaped form on which a shoe is made or repaired) Whistle in the dark to put up a show of confidence in the face of impending danger or defeat; try to keep up ones courage White elephant possession entailing expensive and trouble far greater than its usefulness to the owner