Meaning & use
multi-hyphenates
Last updated
“multi-hyphenates” is a form of “multi-hyphenate”.
Meaning
nounpluralinformal
People who have successful careers in several different fields at the same time, such as acting, music, and business.
Grammar: This is the plural; the singular is 'multi-hyphenate' and takes a singular verb: a multi-hyphenate is...
Patterns
- a multi-hyphenate (singular)
- multi-hyphenates in Hollywood
- a multi-hyphenate career
Many multi-hyphenates in Hollywood act, sing, and run their own companies.
The magazine listed ten multi-hyphenates who work in fashion and tech.
Young multi-hyphenates often build a personal brand across several platforms.
Word forms
| singular | multi-hyphenate |
|---|
Common combinations
- a multi-hyphenate career
- She has built a multi-hyphenate career as a writer, director, and producer.
- Hollywood multi-hyphenates
- Hollywood multi-hyphenates rarely stay in just one role.
- a multi-hyphenate star
- He is a multi-hyphenate star who also designs video games.
- a generation of multi-hyphenates
- A generation of multi-hyphenates now earns money from several jobs at once.
Synonyms and how they differ
- polymath
- A more formal word for someone with deep knowledge in many subjects, usually academic rather than show business.
- all-rounder
- Common in British English for someone with many skills, especially in sport; less glamorous than 'multi-hyphenate'.
- slashie
- Very informal slang for a person with several jobs, written with a slash between them, e.g. 'model/DJ'.
Opposites
Word family
- multi-hyphenate noun
- The singular form, meaning one person with several careers.
Commonly confused: multi-hyphenates or multihyphenate?
multi-hyphenates vs multihyphenate
Some writers spell it without the hyphen; both forms appear, but the hyphenated spelling is more common in journalism.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses the word correctly.
Choose one answer.
Before 'a' you need the singular 'a multi-hyphenate'; the plural 'multi-hyphenates' cannot follow 'a', and the adjective use without 'a' is not standard.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “multi-hyphenates”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.