As we know, an adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun by attributing a quality to it. A compound adjective and one that is comprised of two or more words. Those words are usually connected by a hyphen. For example, in the sentence "The six-year-old boy tried to cross the street on his own," we have the compound adjective "six-year-old" modifying the noun "boy".
In the sentence "The attorney general has warned people that secondhand smoke is dangerous to their well-being," the compound adjective "secondhand" is modifying the noun smoke. Secondhand is an alternative spelling for "second-hand". it is comprised of two words put together to modify a noun or a pronoun. Another example would be:
Dad saved enough money to buy me a second-hand bike back then, and I couldn't have been happier.
A compound adjective is an adjective made up of two or more words, in which either of those words can be a noun, an adverb, a verb in their past participle form or a verb in their present participle form. Most of the time, these words are joined by a hyphen. The word <em>secondhand</em>is an adjective because it describes the noun "smoke", and it is compound because it is made up f two nouns <em>second </em>and<em> hand</em>. This adjective can also be separated with a hyphen: <em>second-hand.</em>
The other word that may look like a compound adjective, but it is not one, is well-being, because it is a word made up of an adverb + the verb be in their present participle form, HOWEVER, it does not act as an adjective but as a noun.
