Dictionary

mishyphenate en · VERB

Etymology

From mis- + hyphenate.

Meanings

1. To hyphenate a word at an inappropriate point, especially one that is not between two syllables.
   • The initial story, “ In the presence of greatness: the Bukowski Barfly narrative," describes an encounter with “Hank” at the opening of Bukowski's movie, Barfly (we have this lamentable tendency to mishyphenate the word as “Barf - ly") . 1995, Sipapu - Volumes 25-26, page 14:
   • It did not mishyphenate any words, but it missed more hyphenation opportunities than any other program (20). 1990 January 1, “Product Comparison”, in InfoWorld, volume 12, number 1, page 51:
   • Good hyphenators strongly prefer Type II errors over Type I; they find fewer possibilities, but they rarely mishyphenate a word. 1988, Richard Rubinstein, Digital Typography, page 187:

Forms