Take the tour ×  Is it spelled well thought-out, or well-thought
out, or well thought out?  share|improve this question add
comment  2 Answers  up vote 10 down vote accepted  It depends on
how you use it... if it's preceding the word it modifies, then
it should be hyphenated:  He paused for a bit, and then gave a
well-thought-out answer.  However, if it follows the word it
modifies, no hyphenation is necessary:  He paused for a bit,
wanting to make sure his answer was well thought out.  (My
source: Chicago Manual of Style, 14th Edition, sections
6.38–6.40)  share|improve this answer I would use well-thought-
out if it would means something different from well thought-out;
in the example sentence, well can only be applied to thought-
out, not to answer. –  kiamlaluno Feb 2 '11 at 5:15 I would
argue that "well thought out" is the complete compound
adjective, and as such, should be hyphenated (or unhyphenated,
as the case may be) in its entirety. m-w.com/dictionary/thought-
out agrees with me. :-) –  Hellion Feb 2