Most words containing prefixes or suffixes are written without hyphens: antiwar, Romanesque. Here are some exceptions:
| BEFORE CAPITALIZED BASE WORDS | un-American, non-Catholic |
| WITH FIGURES | pre-1960, post-1945 |
| WITH CERTAIN PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES | all-state, ex-partner, self-possessed, quasi-legislative, mayor-elect, fifty-odd |
| WITH COMPOUND BASE WORDS | pre-high school, post-cold war |
| FOR CLARITY OR EASE OF READING | re-cover, anti-inflation, un-ionized |
Re-cover means “cover again”; the hyphen distinguishes it from recover, meaning “get well.” In anti-inflation and un-ionized, the hyphens separate confusing clusters of vowels and consonants.