A lot of writers have been skulking around this word, hoping that no one notices they don’t know which one is correct. Time to smell the tulips, authors!

Tiptoe and tiptoeing are one word. That means no space no hyphen between tip and toe.

Perhaps because of the rhythm of the word, tiptoe seems to need a hyphen. Of the most common reasons for using a hyphen (compound adjective, unusual compound nouns, ages, etc.), tiptoe doesn’t fit any of them, however.

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 300 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the 7 Minutes a Day… writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.