Compound adjectives: reviews and judgements (B2 Vocabulary)
Put a noun in front of an -ing form and you get an adjective describing the effect something has on you. Nail-biting means so tense you could chew your nails. Breath-taking means so beautiful or dramatic it stops your breath. Hard-hitting describes a report or film that is blunt and does not soften what it shows. Ground-breaking means it does something nobody has done before. The noun stays singular here: nail-biting, not nails-biting.
Compounds built from a noun plus -ing
nail-biting /ˈneɪl ˌbaɪtɪŋ/ — The final ten minutes of the match were nail-biting.
breath-taking /ˈbrɛθ ˌteɪkɪŋ/ — The view from the ridge was breath-taking.
hard-hitting /ˌhɑrd ˈhɪtɪŋ/ — The documentary is a hard-hitting look at the housing crisis.
ground-breaking /ˈɡraʊnd ˌbreɪkɪŋ/ — Their ground-breaking study changed how the illness is treated.
Not ""The view from the ridge was breath-taken."" — say ""The view from the ridge was breath-taking."". The view TAKES your breath, so the form is -ing. Switching to -taken reverses who is doing what to whom.
Try it: A review says the last ten minutes had the audience gripping their seats, unsure who would survive. Which word fits? (nail-biting / ground-breaking / breath-taking) Answer: nail-biting — Tension and suspense are nail-biting. Ground-breaking would mean nobody had done it before, and breath-taking describes beauty or scale rather than suspense.
Compounds that rank or judge
Some compounds place a thing on a scale. First-rate means excellent, of the highest quality, and second-rate means noticeably poor. Far-fetched means so unlikely you struggle to believe it, which makes it useful for plots and excuses. Action-packed means full of incident from start to finish, and spoiler-filled describes a review that gives away what happens. Watch the pair far-fetched and far-reaching: the first means implausible, the second means its effects spread widely. Longer compounds keep every word of the phrase behind them, articles included: state-of-the-art (the state of the art) and once-in-a-lifetime (once in a lifetime) never drop their the or a.
first-rate /ˌfɜrst ˈreɪt/ — The performances are first-rate throughout.
far-fetched /ˌfɑr ˈfɛtʃt/ — The ending is far-fetched, but the film is still enjoyable.
action-packed /ˈækʃən ˌpækt/ — It is an action-packed thriller with barely a quiet scene.
spoiler-filled /ˈspɔɪlər ˌfɪld/ — Avoid spoiler-filled reviews until you have seen it.
state-of-the-art /ˌsteɪt əv ði ˈɑrt/ — The lab is fitted with state-of-the-art equipment.
once-in-a-lifetime /ˌwʌns ɪn ə ˈlaɪftaɪm/ — It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to study abroad.
Not ""The ending is far-reaching, but the film is still enjoyable."" — say ""The ending is far-fetched, but the film is still enjoyable."". Far-fetched means hard to believe. Far-reaching means its consequences spread a long way, which is a comment on impact, not on plausibility.
Try it: A reviewer writes that the hero survives a fall from a plane without a scratch. How would they describe that plot point? (far-fetched / far-reaching / first-rate) Answer: far-fetched — Surviving that is hard to believe, which is far-fetched. Far-reaching would say the plot point has wide consequences, and first-rate would praise its quality. Neither comments on plausibility.