# Adjectives that modify only one noun? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618 "2009-12-01T19:56:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/41 "2016-06-07T19:01:14Z")
Bodacious ta-ta’s Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/42 "2016-06-07T20:12:52Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Prodigal spending > Foregone earnings > Extenuating conditions > Fine-tooth saw > Ulterior purposes > > You got me on “Pyrrhic,” but “Pyrrhic victory” is essentially a fixed phrase. There’s the Pyrrhic War (during which the original Pyrrhic Victory happened). ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/43 "2016-06-07T20:23:59Z")
I’ve only ever heard arms described as akimbo. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/44 "2016-06-07T20:29:23Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > Riddled with bullets > (Not an adjective I know, but they go so well together) “I remember my body; flabby, pasty-skinned, riddled with phlebitis. A good Republican body! God, I loved it.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4zGAfEpXQrw/maxresdefault.jpg "Futurama :: Flabby, pasty, skinned :: A Head in the Polls") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zGAfEpXQrw) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/45 "2016-06-07T20:32:39Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I’ve only ever heard arms described as akimbo. [Guns akimbo](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GunsAkimbo): dual-wielding handguns or other single-hand firearms. A recent usage, coined in video gaming in the '90s, so not really good English. But it’s present in the culture, so it counts IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/46 "2016-06-07T20:33:16Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > How about “inclement” with “weather”? Inclement conditions Inclement days Inclement region Inclement winds > [@Biffster](#): > > Riddled with bullets > (Not an adjective I know, but they go so well together) Riddled with holes Riddled with anxiety Riddled with disease ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/47 "2016-06-07T20:34:31Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I’ve only ever heard arms described as akimbo. Legs can also be akimbo – somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/48 "2016-06-07T20:35:31Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I’ve only ever heard arms described as akimbo. [Legs can also be akimbo,](http://www.legs-akimbo.com/communities/3/004/012/777/213//images/4612626726.png) but that’s usually a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/49 "2016-06-07T20:46:04Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Articulate is only used to describe clean black people. It’s also used for a long bus with an accordian section in the middle. As a matter of fact, a bus can be “fully articulated.” ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/50 "2016-06-07T20:55:25Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [Legs can also be akimbo,](http://www.legs-akimbo.com/communities/3/004/012/777/213//images/4612626726.png) but that’s usually a joke. The (late? lamented?) comic strip _The Circus of P. T. Bimbo_ had a scantily-clad female character named Legs Akimbo. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/51 "2016-06-07T21:00:59Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > or fish, or fear, or hate, or whore I realise I’m responding to a very old post, but ‘monger’ also fits iron, and cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/52 "2016-06-07T22:02:30Z")
> [@Kingspades](#): > > I can’t recall ever hearing anything other than iron being described as **wrought**. Other than the Marconi telegraph, of course. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/53 "2016-06-07T23:55:11Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Riddled with disease That’s “ridden” with disease. Come to think, “ridden with” only works with “disease.” A horse can be ridden, a bus can be ridden, but only a disease can be “ridden with.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/54 "2016-06-07T23:58:27Z")
I can’t recall anything pied is used with in modern language, other than the piper. It might really be more of a proper name than a adjective-noun combo though. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/55 "2016-06-08T01:39:07Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > While not specifically adjectives or adverbs, [here is one list](http://www.gruts.com/misc/akimbos/akimbos.htm) of words that are typically tied to another word, although theoretically they don’t have to. Link has died. Let’s look for current ones. Some of the words submitted show up in the article on [Fossil Words](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_word) in wikipedia. From that, we could pull **wreak** havoc. Altho Inner Stickler already said it. I don’t agree with some of the words on [this list](http://www.chicagonow.com/lists-that-actually-matter/2012/05/10-words-you-hear-only-when-paired-with-a-certain-other-word/). But they do have **broach** , which goes with subject or topic. The only one that isn’t wrong, one way or another, [in this list](http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/the-top-ten-words-used-only-with-one-other-word-9006083.html)is **unsung**. I suppose it could be deeds as well as heroes. This [list of fossils](http://mentalfloss.com/article/51150/12-old-words-survived-getting-fossilized-idioms) provides **roughshod**. > [@Biffster](#): > > Bodacious ta-ta’s . . . Uncounted many things can be bodacious. Just maybe not in your neck of the woods. > [@kunilou](#): > > It’s also used for a long bus with an accordian section in the middle. As a matter of fact, a bus can be “fully articulated.” Synonym for ‘jointed’. > [@wolfman](#): > > I can’t recall anything pied is used with in modern language, other than the piper. It might really be more of a proper name than a adjective-noun combo though. Often used to describe birds and other animals. (Pied-billed Grebe, Pied Butcherbird, Pied Stilt, . . . ) Can be used to describe costume clothing. I got beaten to the ones I came to post. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/56 "2016-06-08T02:35:04Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I can’t recall anything pied is used with in modern language, other than the piper. It might really be more of a proper name than a adjective-noun combo though. I’ve heard “pied” used for horses, short for “piebald”. > **[Piebald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piebald)** > > A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white background is not pigmented. > Location of the unpigmented spots is dependent on the migration of melanoblasts (primordial pigment cells) from the neural crest to paired bilateral locations in the skin of the early embryo. The resulting pattern appears symmetrica... ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/57 "2016-06-08T03:19:04Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > That’s “ridden” with disease. > > Come to think, “ridden with” only works with “disease.” A horse can be ridden, a bus can be ridden, but only a disease can be “ridden with.” _Riddled with disease_ and _ridden with disease_ both make sense, and the former is about 3 times more frequent per [Google ngram](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=ridden+with+disease%2C+riddled+with+disease&case_insensitive=on&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cridden%20with%20disease%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Criddled%20with%20disease%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Briddled%20with%20disease%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BRiddled%20with%20disease%3B%2Cc0) corpus. Also, _ridden_ can go with _guilt_. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/58 "2016-06-08T03:59:55Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > That’s “ridden” with disease. > > Come to think, “ridden with” only works with “disease.” A horse can be ridden, a bus can be ridden, but only a disease can be “ridden with.” No, that’s wrong. Both words go with disease. And you aren’t using the correct definition of “ridden,” either. You’re thinking of the past participle of the verb _ride_; the other sense is an adjective. From Merriam-Webster: > [@](#): > > ridden > adjective > : filled with or containing something unpleasant or unwanted > : extremely concerned with or burdened by \ \ “Riddled with disease” on the other hand comes from this sense of the verb _riddle_: > [@](#): > > riddle > verb > : to spread through : permeate \ If you are riddled with disease you are permeated with it. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/59 "2016-06-08T04:48:53Z")
_Cheese-eating_ only goes with _surrender monkey_. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618/60 "2016-06-08T07:24:46Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I realise I’m responding to a very old post, but ‘monger’ also fits iron, and cheese. And coster. Who would mong us our costers if we didn’t have costermongers? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectives-that-modify-only-one-noun/519618.md?page=4)