Meaning & use
multihyphenate
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person who works successfully in several different roles or fields, especially in entertainment or media.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a multihyphenate' or 'multihyphenates'.
Patterns
- a multihyphenate in something
- a multihyphenate who does something
She is a multihyphenate: actor, director, and screenwriter.
The festival invited several multihyphenates who move between music and film.
As a multihyphenate, he has built a career that crosses journalism and photography.
adjectivebefore a noun
Having several different professional roles or skills at the same time.
Grammar: Used before a noun: 'a multihyphenate career'.
Patterns
- a multihyphenate career
- a multihyphenate talent
Her multihyphenate career includes producing, writing, and acting.
The company looks for multihyphenate candidates who can handle several jobs.
Word forms
| plural | multihyphenates |
|---|
Common combinations
- a multihyphenate career
- He has had a multihyphenate career in both fashion and music.
- a multihyphenate talent
- The studio signed a multihyphenate talent who writes and performs.
- be known as a multihyphenate
- She is known as a multihyphenate because she directs and produces.
- a multihyphenate in the industry
- He is a respected multihyphenate in the industry.
Synonyms and how they differ
- slashie
- Informal and often used for people with several jobs at once, especially younger workers; multihyphenate sounds more professional and media-focused.
- polymath
- A person with wide knowledge in many subjects, not necessarily several paid roles; multihyphenate is about careers and job titles.
- generalist
- Someone with broad but not deep skills; multihyphenate suggests success and recognition in each separate role.
Opposites
Word family
- hyphenate noun
- A person, especially in the US, who has more than one nationality or identity; multihyphenate extends this idea to many roles.
- hyphenated adjective
- Describing something that contains a hyphen, or (of a person) having more than one identity.
Commonly confused: multihyphenate or hyphenate?
multihyphenate vs hyphenate
Hyphenate usually means a person with two identities or a word with a hyphen; multihyphenate stresses many professional roles.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'multihyphenate' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 uses the noun correctly for a person with several roles. Option 1 treats it as a verb, which it is not. Option 2 confuses it with a hyphenated word or a long word. Option 3 mistakes it for a punctuation mark.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “multihyphenate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.