In grammar, a modifier is a word or group of words that adds extra information about another word. An adjective can be a modifier: fierce in the fierce dog tells you what kind of dog. An adverb can be one: loudly in the dog barked loudly tells you how. A phrase can be one too: with a short tail in the dog with a short tail. The word being painted is the main word; the modifier hangs on it. Though actually, real sentences often stack modifiers (the small fierce dog with a short tail). English likes the modifier to sit near the word it belongs to. If it sits too far away, readers may attach it to the wrong thing — that is the old school warning about a “misplaced modifier.” This entry is the grammar word, not every other job the letters can do.