are exceedingly
numerous. It is not easy to ascertain how many there are of them; because
almost any simple participle may be set before a noun, and thus become an
adjective: as,

"Where _smiling_ spring its earliest visit paid,
And _parting_ summer's _ling'ring_ blooms delay'd."--_Goldsmith_.

OBS. 23.--Compound Adjectives, being formed at pleasure, are both numerous
and various. In their formation, however, certain analogies may be traced:
(1.) Many of them are formed by joining an adjective to its noun, and
giving to the latter the participial termination _ed_; as, _able-bodied,
sharp-sighted, left-handed, full-faced, flat-nosed, thick-lipped,
cloven-footed, high-heeled_. (2.) In some, two nouns are joined, the latter
assuming _ed_, as above; as, _bell-shaped, hawk-nosed, eagle-sighted,
lion-hearted, web-footed_. (3.) In some, the object of an active participle
is placed before it; as, _money-getting, time-serving, self-consuming,
cloud-compelling, fortune-hunting, sleep-disturbing_. (4.) Some, embracing
numerals, form a series, though it is seldom carried far; as, _one-legged,
two-legged, three-legged, four-legged_. So, _one-leaved, two-leaved,
three-leaved, four-leaved_: or, perhaps better as Webster will have them,
_one-leafed, two-leafed, &c_. But, upon the same principle, _short-lived_,
should be _short-lifed_, and _long-lived, long-lifed_. (5.) In some, there
is a combination of an adjective and a participle; as, _noble-looking,
high-sounding, slow-moving, thorough-going, hard-finished, free-born,
heavy-laden, only-begotten_. (6.) In some, we find an adverb and a
participle united; as, _ever-living, ill-judging, well-pleasing,
far-shooting, forth-issuing, back-sliding, ill-trained, down-trodden,
above-mentioned_. (7.) Some consist of a noun and a participle which might
be reversed with a preposition between them; as, _church-going,
care-crazed, travel-soiled, blood-bespotted, dew-sprinkled_. (8.) A few,
and those inelegant, terminate with a preposition; as, _unlooked-for,
long-looked-for, unthought-of, unheard-of_. (9.) Some are phrases of many
words, converted into one part of speech by the hyphen; as, "Where is the
_ever-to-be-honoured_ Chaucer?"--_Wordsworth_.

"And, with _God-only-knows-how-gotten_ light,
Informs the nation what is wrong or right."
--_Snelling's Gift for Scribblers_, p. 49.

OBS. 24.--Nouns derived from compound adjectives, are generally disapproved
by good writers