Fastfood, Fast food, or Fast-food? (Helpful Examples)

“Fast food” is something we all know about already. However, we might not know exactly how to write it down, and this article will help you with that. We’ll teach you whether it’s hyphenated or one or two words and why.

Fast food vs. Fast-food vs. Fastfood

“Fast food” is correct as a noun. We should write it as two separate words whenever we are talking about it as a standalone noun, and there is nothing to modify. However, “fast-food” is also correct if we use it as an adjective before another noun in the sentence.

According to Google Ngram Viewer, “fast food” is the more popular choice of all three options. However, you can see that “fast-food” in the hyphenated form is somewhat popular as well because it’s common to use as an adjective.

In The Cambridge Dictionary and the Oxford Dictionary, “fast food” is the officially recognized spelling variation. We use it as a phrasal noun to talk about food that can be prepared quickly.

However, “fast-food” in its hyphenated form is also mentioned by the dictionaries. In this form, we use it as an adjective to modify another noun that comes after it.

As a quick, helpful tip, you can refer to these two examples:

• Noun: I like to eat fast food whenever I’m traveling away.
• Adjective: The fast-food restaurants near me have all closed.

Is “Fastfood” One Word?

“Fastfood” is never written as one word. While the hyphenated and two-word options are both correct, we cannot group them into one word. You should avoid doing this because there are no instances in English where it makes sense.

You might benefit from the following to help you with it:

• Correct: I want to order some fast food. Do you want me to get you anything?
• Incorrect: I need to eat fastfood right now! I’m starving!
• Correct: The fast-food joint is offering a special deal for returning customers!
• Incorrect: Can we get fastfood for dinner, please?

As you can see, the hyphenated and two-word options are marked as correct, and that’s how they should remain.

Is “Fast food” Two Words?

“Fast food” is a phrasal noun. We use it as two words when we are describing food that we like to get shortly after ordering at specific restaurants. There is no need to hyphenate the two words when we use them in this noun form.

To some, the hyphen seems necessary as a noun phrase. However, it’s not important because we can already establish what the meaning of “fast food” is without it.

Since multiple English dictionaries already recognize it as a two-word spelling, we do not need the hyphen in these cases.

Some of these examples should help you out:

1. Is there anywhere around here that sells decent fast food?
2. I need fast food at a low price, and I need it right now!
3. Can you recommend any fast food for me? I’m really hungry, and I don’t fancy waiting.
4. The fast food I had yesterday isn’t sitting right with me. I think I need to go to the bathroom.

Is “Fast-food” Hyphenated?

You can hyphenate “fast-food” when using it as a compound adjective. In this case, common nouns like “restaurant” or “joint” tend to follow it (since we modify them). It’s important to remember the hyphen in these cases to show that the words are linked.

The AP Stylebook teaches us that we need to hyphenate multiple words when they work to modify the same noun. If both words can be combined into one meaning, it helps us to follow the AP rules to represent this.

Here’s how it works:

1. Would you care to try the job at the fast-food restaurant?
2. None of the fast-food places near me are open! I’m going out of my mind.
3. Fast-food joints are a sin! I wouldn’t go there again.
4. You should look into fast-food restaurants around here.

Is “Food” Capitalized In The Word “Fast-Food”?

There is no need to capitalize “food” in “fast-food” because it is not a proper noun. However, if you are writing the adjective form (with the hyphen) in a title, you might find it useful to capitalize it if it fits in with the rest of your title’s style.