hard-to-find

The word is a modern English compound adjective, directly formed from the common adjectival phrase "hard to find". Its logic is entirely transparent and syntactic, combining the adjective 'hard' (from Old English 'heard', meaning solid, severe, difficult) with the infinitive phrase 'to find' (from Old English 'findan', meaning to come upon, discover). The hyphenation signals its fixed, attributive function, transforming a descriptive clause into a pre-modifying adjective. This process of creating compound adjectives from frequent collocations is a standard feature of English, allowing for efficient modification of nouns, as seen in similar forms like 'easy-to-use' or 'hard-to-swallow'.

This is a compound adjective formed from the phrase "hard to find". It is not segmentable into classical morphemes but is a lexicalized phrase functioning as a single unit.