Words like densely-populated are compound adjectives and they are

made up of two or more words, normally with hyphens between them. Something that
is dense contains a lot of things or people in a small area. Thus a densely-populated
town or city is one with a high population count within the city boundaries. A
densely-wooded hill would be one that is difficult to get through because the trees
are so close together.
adj / adv + past participle
Adjective or adverb plus past participle is one of the most common patterns for
forming compound adjectives. Some common examples would include:
cold-blooded

kind-hearted

old-fashioned

open-minded

brightly-lit

deeply-rooted

densely-populated

well-behaved

Most animals are warm-blooded but all reptiles are cold-blooded.

He was a cold-blooded murderer and showed no emotion of any kind.

She lived in an old-fashioned house, but was kind-hearted and openminded.

Nevertheless, she held deeply-rooted beliefs about the sanctity of marriage.

The dimly- / brightly-lit streets in our town encourage / discourage

burglars.

Note that adverb / past participle combinations when they are used with a copular verb
like be or seem, and come after the noun they modify, are not hyphenated:

The streets in our town are dimly / brightly lit and encourage / discourage
burglars.

There are sometimes many possible combinations, e.g. broad-minded, narrowminded, absent-minded, strong-minded, as well as open-minded. It is partly a
matter of knowing which adjectives or adverbs collocate or go with which participles
and nouns. We have brightly-lit streets, but also brightly-coloured dresses or
swimsuits or sweets.

Compound adjectives are regarded as productive features of English which means

that use is not so restricted as it is in many categories of grammar. New

combinations are always possible, so if you think something may work, try it out
with your English-speaking friends, Tokmokje, and see if it is meaningful. For example,
brightly-patterned curtains illustrates the productive nature of this combination, as
would brightly-shining stars, and here we come to a new pattern, which is also very
common:
Adj / adv / noun + present participle
Here are some common examples:
good-looking

hard-wearing

free-standing

far-reaching

long-lasting

never-ending

labour-saving

mouth-watering

record-breaking

The good-looking chef was dressed in hard-wearing clothing and sitting in

front of a free-standing cooker.

The dishes he had prepared with all the labour-saving devices at his
disposal were all mouth-watering.

We signed a long-lasting agreement for his services which we hoped would

be never-ending.

Other common patterns for compound adjectives include:

noun + past participle: shop-soiled, tongue-tied, sun-dried,

noun + adjective: trouble-free, lead-free, world-famous,

adj + noun: deep-sea, full-length, last-minute,

number + noun: two-door, twenty-page, forty-mile.

When they refused to exchange the shop-soiled item, I was tongue-tied and
didn't know what to say.

If you want trouble-free motoring, make sure you use only lead-free
petrol.

The sun-dried tomatoes that we sell are world-famous.

She was wearing a full-length dress, quite unsuitable for deep-sea diving.

The forty-mile journey in the two-door, open-top convertible was illadvised in such inclement weather.

Try out other combinations of these patterns for yourselves, e.g. four-door saloon,
five-page document, well-advised, etc. Make a note of compound adjectives that
you come across in your reading and note the way they are used with particular nouns