No Hyphen After -ly Adverbs or More/Most/Less

Do not use a hyphen between an adverb ending in -ly and a participle (newly completed, professionally oriented, wholly owned). The test: remove the participle — if what remains makes no sense on its own, the -ly word is an adverb and no hyphen is needed. If the sentence still makes sense, the -ly word is an adjective and a hyphen is required (worldly-minded, homely-faced, family-oriented).

Do not use a hyphen between the adverbs more, most, or less and an adjective (most compelling, more important, less restrictive). However, other superlative or comparative forms of adverbs are hyphenated to participles or adjectives that precede nouns (best-known author, highest-ranking officer), though dictionaries vary on whether some have grown together (bestselling vs. best-selling).