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“-goer” is labelled as a suffix by the Cambridge dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/goer) (UK and US English). In particular, the example it uses is “moviegoer”.

Merriam-Webster doesn’t return a result for “-goer” – instead, the query returns with the verb “go”.

Google Dictionary (yes, I know – not to best source), says both forms (hyphenated and unhyphenated) are correct. For instance:

  • churchgoer or church-goer
  • moviegoer or movie-goer

I can’t find any explanation, apart from an unanswered forum post, on the Chicago Manual of Style website regarding this question. I found a tweet by the AP Style Book (struggling to find the link) that says no hyphen should be used with “-goer”.

What makes it more confusing is that certain “-goer” compounds (unhyphenated) in MS Word are marked as spelling mistakes when others are not.

What is considered best practice when you’re trying to construct a “-goer” compound when the noun is not usually used with such a construction? For instance:

  • seagoer / sea-goer (unhyphenated is incorrect in MS Word)
  • restaurantgoer / restaurant-goer (unhyphenated is incorrect in MS Word)

Additionally, is it correct in any situation to write “goer” without a hyphen (for example, “theater goer”)?

  • No “rules”, but a hyphen is preferred when the combination without to hyphen creates a pronounceable word. In other words, “sea-goer” not “seagoer” since “seagoer” might appear to be a single word (‘see-ago-er’?) rather than the intended compound word. If you are creating novel compounds rather than using idiomatic ones I’d always err on the side of caution and use a hyphen. For example, “I hate the fact that executive in this organization seems to fly to Canberra every week. I’m not a regular Canberra-goer and I’m proud of it!” – Orbital Aussie Feb 12 '20 at 11:22
  • Ignore what MS Word and other software tools suggest -- they're just there to suggest that the word MIGHT be misspelled. – Hot Licks Feb 12 '20 at 13:30
  • 'Google Dictionary' does not exist. I think the dictionary that usually appears at the top of a Google search for a word's meaning is Lexico, a very good dictionary (the default might have been CED a couple of years ago while ODO was rebranding as Lexico). // MS Word statements should never be regarded as the final word on these matters. // You have to look up individual words. And any non-obsloete variants found in different dictionaries are all valid. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 12 '20 at 15:41

1 Answers1

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It depends on what style guide you ascribe to and what your needs as a writer are. I'll run through a few of the variants to show the range of options.

Pragmatic: Chicago Manual of Style

Since you mention the Chicago Manual of Style, the manual's 17th edition has an entire subsection (7.81-7.89) on when to hyphenate words. The manual recommends that usage should depend on the situation and the writer's needs. Here are a few useful guidelines for hyphenating a suffix like -goer:

7.81 suggests looking in the dictionary for any examples documented there.

7.83 suggests that, over time, hyphenated compounds tend to become closed, though this tendency isn't universal.

7.84 suggests that the hyphen can be used to avoid mispronunciation or misreading:

A hyphen can make for easier reading by showing structure and, often, pronunciation. Words that might otherwise be misread, such as re-creation [compare recreation] or co-op [compare coop], should be hyphenated

So Chicago essentially makes a series of suggestions and gives the toolbox to its writers to determine when to use a hyphen with goer.

Absolutely No Hyphen: AP Style

If you prefer an absolute answer, AP has issued its recommendation in a tweet:

AP Style tip: No hyphen when adding -goer to a word: concertgoer, moviegoer, partygoer, theatergoer.

AP tends toward absolutes because the work of the Associated Press demands consistency. They would not put a hyphen.

Old School: A Dictionary of English Usage

If you want an old-school take on hyphens, the 2009 edition of Fowler's dictionary edited by David Crystal should prove useful. Fowler was dour about hyphens, starting his entry on them with the following:

The chaos prevailing among writers or printers or both regarding the use of hyphens is discreditable to English education.

Eventually Fowler sets down a series of rules. His first rule gives an instructive example:

A hyphen is a symbol conveying that two or more words are made into one ; the union may be for the occasion only (as in most of the examples above), or permanent (as in fire-irons, committee-man)

Committee-man is similar to movie-goer, as the second element in both uses refers to a person. That said, Fowler's second rule suggests that, over time, such a hyphen should tend to disappear unless mitigating circumstances arise to require its use:

The hyphen is not an ornament; it should never be placed between two words that do not require uniting & can do their work equally well separate ; & on the other hand the conversion of a hyphened word into an unhyphened single one is desirable as soon as the novelty of the combination has worn off, if there are no obstacles in the way of awkward spelling, obscurity, or the like.

In other words, even Fowler's advice admits that, decades later, either movie-goer or moviegoer could make sense, depending on whether the hyphen were seen as permanent and whether the novelty of the combination had worn off.

TaliesinMerlin
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