Did you notice the words dark-eyed, dark-complexioned or sparkle-eyed in the previous exercise? These are compound adjectives which are made up of two or more words, normally with hyphens between them.
adj / adv + past participle
Adjective or adverb plus past participle is one of the most common patterns for forming compound adjectives. Some common examples would include:
| cold-blooded | kind-hearted | old-fashioned | open-minded |
| bow-legged | cross-eyed | red-haired | snub-nosed |
Most animals are warm-blooded but all reptiles are cold-blooded.
He was a cold-blooded murderer and showed no emotion of any kind.
She lived in an old-fashioned house, but was kind-hearted and open-minded.
There are sometimes many possible combinations, e.g. broad-minded, narrow-minded, absent-minded, strong-minded, as well as open-minded. It is partly a matter of knowing which adjectives or adverbs go with which participles and nouns. We have brightly-lit streets, but also brightly-coloured dresses.
Compound adjectives are regarded as productive features of English which means that use is not so restricted as it is in many categories of grammar. New combinations are always possible.
Match the compound adjectives with their explanations.