Question

Identify the compound adjective in the given sentence:
It was a highly embarrassing moment for John when he was insulted by his colleague in the office party.
A) It was
B) Highly-embarrassing
C) Insulted by
D) In the office party

Answer 1

Hint: A compound adjective is an adjective composed of multiple words. Although most of these adjectives are two-worded, they can be longer as well. Usually, they’re separated by a hyphen to show that the different words are connected and must be taken as a single adjective.

Complete answer:
To know the compound adjective let us analyze the given options:
Option (A) It was: Option ‘A’ is incorrect because it only shows the tense of the sentence and determines the event.
Option (B) Highly-embarrassing: Option ‘B’ is correct because it clearly shows the double adjective feature, i.e., the property of “how” john felt in the moment when he was being insulted.
Option (C) Insulted by: Option ‘C’ is incorrect because it shows the action, not the quality, which makes it a verb, not an adjective.
Option (D) In the office party: Option ‘D’ is incorrect because it shows the location of the event and nothing else.

Therefore the correct answer is option ‘B’.

Note: When working with adjectives, always keep the following tips in mind:
- Adjectives are words that show some feature or quality of a noun or a verb.
- Compound adjectives are simply multiple adjectives used simultaneously to increase the impact of whatever it is about.
- Most of the time, compound adjectives are separated by a hyphen (-), which makes them easier to identify.