Compound adjectives: people and workplaces (B2 Vocabulary)
A large family of compound adjectives describes character, and most are built from a noun or adverb plus a past participle. Self-motivated means you get yourself working without being pushed. Level-headed means you stay calm and sensible under pressure. Open-minded means you are willing to consider ideas that are not your own. Down-to-earth means practical and unpretentious, easy to talk to. Two more follow the same shapes: high-profile takes no -ed, because it is built from the noun profile; well-informed takes one, because someone HAS BEEN informed. They go before the noun or after be: a level-headed manager, she is very down-to-earth.
Compounds that describe a person
self-motivated /ˌsɛlf ˈmoʊtəveɪtəd/ — We want a self-motivated candidate who does not need chasing.
level-headed /ˌlɛvəl ˈhɛdəd/ — She stayed level-headed while everyone else panicked.
open-minded /ˌoʊpən ˈmaɪndəd/ — A good reviewer is open-minded about unfamiliar approaches.
down-to-earth /ˌdaʊn tu ˈɜrθ/ — For a famous director, he is remarkably down-to-earth.
high-profile /ˌhaɪ ˈproʊfaɪl/ — She took a high-profile role in the campaign.
well-informed /ˌwɛl ɪnˈfɔrmd/ — His answers were well-informed and easy to follow.
Not ""She is a level-head manager."" — say ""She is a level-headed manager."". These compounds end in -ed even when no verb is involved: level-headed, open-minded. Dropping it leaves a noun where an adjective belongs.
Try it: A reference says: "When the server failed an hour before launch, he worked the problem calmly and never raised his voice." Which word fits? (level-headed / self-motivated / open-minded) Answer: level-headed — Staying calm in a crisis is exactly level-headed. Self-motivated would describe starting work without being told, and open-minded would describe accepting other people's ideas. Neither is what the crisis shows.
Compounds that describe a place or a job
The same pattern describes environments. Fast-paced means everything moves quickly and there is little idle time. High-pressure means the stakes and the demands are heavy. Hands-on means you do the work yourself rather than supervising it, so hands-on experience is experience you got by doing. Run-of-the-mill means ordinary, nothing special, and it is mildly negative. Note that hands-on keeps its s: not "hand-on".
fast-paced /ˌfæst ˈpeɪst/ — A newsroom is a fast-paced environment with constant deadlines.
high-pressure /ˌhaɪ ˈprɛʃər/ — Trading is a high-pressure job and burnout is common.
hands-on /ˌhændz ˈɑn/ — The internship gives you hands-on experience with real clients.
run-of-the-mill /ˌrʌn əv ðə ˈmɪl/ — It was a run-of-the-mill conference, nothing I had not heard before.
Not ""The internship gives you hand-on experience."" — say ""The internship gives you hands-on experience."". Hands-on is fixed in the plural. The image is both hands on the work, so the s never drops.
Try it: A course description says students spend every session building circuits themselves rather than watching demonstrations. What is that? (hands-on / run-of-the-mill / high-pressure) Answer: hands-on — Doing the work yourself is hands-on. Run-of-the-mill would call the course ordinary, and high-pressure would say it is stressful. Neither is about who does the building.