modifier

[ mod-uh-fahy-er ]

noun

1. a person or thing that modifies.
2. Grammar.
   1. a word, phrase, or sentence element that limits or qualifies the sense of another word, phrase, or element in the same construction.
   2. the immediate constituent of an endocentric construction that is not the head.

modifier

/ ˈmɒdɪˌfaɪə /

noun

1. Also calledqualifier grammar a word or phrase that qualifies the sense of another word; for example, the noun alarm is a modifier of clock in alarm clock and the phrase every day is an adverbial modifier of walks in he walks every day
2. a person or thing that modifies

modifier

1. A word or group of words that describes or limits a verb , noun , adjective , or adverb . Modifiers applied to nouns are adjectives. Modifiers applied to verbs or adjectives are adverbs. Those that are applied to adverbs themselves are also called adverbs.

Grammar Note

See dangling participle, misplaced modifier.

Word History and Origins

Origin of modifier¹

First recorded in 1575–85; modify + -er ¹

Example Sentences

On the summer programming spectrum, it skewed more towards “just plain silly,” sans the “but still curious” modifier.

From The Daily Beast

But not effortlessly charming, which is usually the modifier when someone uses "charming" as an adjective.

From The Daily Beast

The ‘Zionist’ modifier is crucial because it differentiates between the situation in Israel/Palestine and Afrikaaner Apartheid.

From The Daily Beast

Chateaubriand was a kind of continuer and modifier of a celebrated French writer that preceded him.

From Project Gutenberg

Change the order of words in the following sentences, placing each modifier as closely as possible to the word which it modifies.

From Project Gutenberg

Those groups in which the first part is the principal one, followed by a word or phrase making a modifier.

From Project Gutenberg

Both of these are now used side by side; sometimes they are used together, as one modifier, making a double possessive.

From Project Gutenberg

That is, do not place between two parts of a sentence a modifier that may attach itself to either.

From Project Gutenberg