When several words are combined to create a "new" single adjective, they need to be linked by hyphens as follows:
An eight-year-old child (BUT the child is eight years old)
A blue-eyed handsome man
A big-headed boastful bore
A soon-to-be-forgotten minor event
A fast-food restaurant
A ready-to-eat meal
An all-inclusive holiday package
An all-in-one solution
An Italian-made dish
An easy-to-install program
A fruit-filled pastry
To confuse matters (with the result that hardly anyone knows what is right), you do not need a hyphen if the preceding word is an adverb, as in the following examples:
A lazily flowing river
A quickly edited paper
A badly drawn picture
A foolishly dangerous enterprise
A carefully laid plan
A meticulously organized essay
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