How do you spell royalty-free?

R-O-Y-A-L-T-Y hyphen F-R-E-E

Royalty-free is spelled R-O-Y-A-L-T-Y hyphen F-R-E-E. The extra i in royality is the mistake to watch for, and the hyphen belongs whenever the phrase modifies a noun. All the royalty-free photos here are downloaded under one standing license.

Spelling tip

Use the hyphen before a noun (royalty-free license); royalty ends -alty, not -ality.

What it means

Royalty-free is a licensing model in which no per-use fee, or royalty, is owed after the initial grant.

Common misspellings

• royality-free → royalty-free
• royalty free → royalty-free
• royaltyfree → royalty-free
• royaltee-free → royalty-free
• roylaty-free → royalty-free