A word or phrase that does not clearly refer to another word or word group in the sentence. Even though arriving we arrived at the theater early, the movie started late.

a modifying word or phrase (often a participial phrase) that is not grammatically connected to any part of the sentence: e.g., Walking to school, the street was slippery.

a word or phrase apparently modifying an unintended word because of its placement in a sentence: e.g., `when young' in `when young, circuses appeal to all of us'

a modifier that cannot be attached to any word in the sentence

a modifier that has no word in the sentence for it to modify

an error that occurs when the implied subject of one clause clashes with the stated subject of another

a phrase or an elliptical clause (a clause without a subject or verb or both) that is illogically separated from the word it modifies

a phrase or clause that by its position seems to modify the wrong word or phrase

a phrase or clause that does not connect grammatically with what it is intended to modify

a phrase or clause that seems to refer grammatically to the subject of a sentence when, in fact, it refers to some other part of the sentence or to something not mentioned in the sentence

a phrase that does not clearly and sensibly modify the appropriate word

a phrase used to modify a noun/pronoun which is missing from the sentence so that the modifier doesn't sensibly connect to the sentence

a word or group of words within a sentence that does not clearly relate or refer to any other part of the sentence

a word or phrase for which the logical headword cannot be found within the sentence

a word or phrase that does not refer logically to any word or word group in a sentence

a word or phrase that is placed incorrectly in a sentence

a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated

a word, phrase, or elliptical clause ( a clause from which words have been left out) that is not clearly related to any other word in the sentence

A modifier that doesn't correctly refer back to what it is modifying--e.g., * My nail broke while changing the oil. Very often, altering a sentence from Passive to Active can help clear up such modification errors.

In grammar, a dangling modifier or misplaced modifier is a word or phrase that is intended to modify one element of a sentence, but that — due to its placement — seems to modify another. One common form of dangling modifier is a sentence-initial participle phrase that is not intended to modify the subject, as in this example from the 1918 Elements of Style: ?"Being in a dilapidated condition, I was able to buy the house very cheap." (The question mark indicates that the grammaticality of the example is in question.)