A list of descriptive words

List of Descriptive Words: Adjectives, Adverbs, & Participles

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  Book icon with list of descriptive words adjectives, adverbs and participles

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  Book: Lisitsa / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Background: Tolchik / iStock / Getty Images Plus

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  Used under Getty Images license

Which is more intriguing — a dark, spooky night or a pitch-black, starless, ominous night? Would you rather eat a delicious cake or a mouthwatering, sugar-sweet chocolate cake? Using descriptive words makes readers feel like they’re in your scene instead of just reading it. When you’ve got the proper list of descriptive words, you can easily turn handsome into chiseled or pretty into dazzling.

Adjectives as Descriptive Words

Adjectives are descriptive words that modify nouns. They’re what you need to tell the difference between an acrobatic cat, a delirious cat, and a precious cat (or maybe a cat that’s all three). 

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Adverbs as Descriptive Words

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Use an adverb to describe an action rather than a noun, or if you want to add even more detail to an adjective. Most adverbs end in -ly (though not all of them), and they’re helpful ways to strengthen your writing.

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Participles as Descriptive Words

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You can even use verbs as describing words — although they’re called participles in that context. Past participles end in -ed or -en, present participles end in -ing, and they all look like descriptive words that you probably use all the time.

Using Descriptive Words in Your Writing

Descriptive words help paint a picture in the reader's mind. The sentence "It was windy," might give the reader information, but it's not very descriptive. Consider how much imagery you can add with the words gusty, torrential, breezy, or windswept in front of your nouns.

Using descriptive words can:

• bring characters to life in a novel or short story
• sell an item in a product advertisement
• convince an audience in a persuasive writing piece
• explain the setting of a news story
• provide instructions for a DIY project

Using illustrative descriptors makes your writing impossible to put down. Whether you're using descriptive words in poetry or informational writing, there are always opportunities to make sentences more vivid.

Describing Our World With Words

When it comes to using descriptive words, variety is key. Go beyond the list of adjectives, adverbs, and participles above to help you set the scene with just the right imagery.

• Appeal to your readers' senses with a list of strong sensory words.
• Use descriptive words for scents to describe pleasant (or unpleasant) smells.
• Describe an aquatic scene with water words for descriptive writing.
• Learn to describe a person’s (or character’s) physical appearance.
• Choose the right descriptive words to describe someone’s personality.
• Paint a delicious picture with descriptive language for food.

Descriptive Words for Scents: List of Smell Adjectives

• DESCRIPTION

  scent word floral girl smelling flowers

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  Przemyslaw Klos / EyeEm / Getty

• PERMISSION

  Used under Getty Images license

Isn't it amazing how words can take shape and materialize into depictions of real-world encounters, including scents? The more descriptive the word, the greater the chance that the imagination will recreate the scent. That's why it's vital for writers to have a few descriptive words for scents ready to go. You never know when you'll want to share the memory of a fine day, right down to the jasmine wafting through the air. Use these smell adjectives to enhance the sensory appeal of your writing.

Describing a Scent

Some descriptive words for scents refer to what made the smell or explain what it smells like. Review words and meanings here or download a printable list of scent words.

Scent Smell Adjectives

Outdoorsy or Natural Adjectives for Smell

The great outdoors is filled with fragrances that most people can relate to, so nature words are often used to describe or explain scent.

• airy - natural smelling, like clean, fresh air
• clean - very light scent, clean and natural
• crisp - fresh and natural
• earthy - recently dug or tilled soil
• fresh - natural smelling, rather than artificial
• loamy - fragrance with an earthy note
• feminine - floral fragrances
• floral - scents associated with flowers
• flowery - fragrance similar to flowers
• masculine - earthy fragrances
• pine - crisp, refreshing evergreen smell
• lilac - rich floral scent combining rose with vanilla
• moist - smell of dew or rainfall
• rose - spicy yet sweet fragrance
• smoky - scent of burning wood
• woodsy - forest-like smell

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There can be a close association between the senses of taste and smell, so it makes sense that fragrances are often described in terms of foods.

• citrusy - crisp notes of any citrus fruit
• fishy - smelling of fish; pungent, strong, unpleasant
• lemony - tart, piquant citrus notes
• lime - refreshing and zesty citrus smell
• minty - menthol-like smell, think mint tea or peppermint candy
• savory - spicy, salty scent that has no elements of sweetness
• spicy - sharp, heady, can sting or tickle the nose
• sour - rancid, sickly sweet smell
• sweet - sugary smell
• tart - sharp fragrance

Adjectives to Describe the Depth of Scent

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Some scents are very light while others are extremely strong with a lot of variation in between.

• billowy - scent that surges and wanes
• biting - pungent, sharp or harsh fragrance
• faint - very light or mild fragrance; can barely be detected
• heady - very strong aroma
• misty - mild fragrance, not overpowering
• overpowering - too strong of a smell
• pungent - strong fragrance
• redolent - having a strong, permeating odor
• rich - a strong, resounding smell that is appealing to the senses
• sharp - pungent fragrance that permeates the air
• wispy - hint of fragrance in the air
• perfumed - artificial fragrance, not natural-smelling

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Descriptive Terms for Unpleasant Scents

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Simply saying that something smells bad isn’t very descriptive. Use appropriate adjectives to convey what an unpleasant odor smells like.

• acid - sour, burnt odor; vinegary smell
• acrid - strong, biting smell, such as something that’s on fire
• dirty - nasty, unpleasant odor; unwashed and in need of washing
• doggy - odor like an unbathed or wet canine
• fetid - decaying or rotting smell
• mildewed - soaked in wetness that has gone stale
• moldy - damp, fungus-like odor
• musty - old smell; stale and probably moldy
• nauseating - odor that makes one sick to one’s stomach
• plastic - artificial chemical polymer odor
• putrid - stench of decay
• rancid - spoiled; food that has gone bad
• repulsive - off-putting odor
• rotten - spoiled, rancid, unpalatable
• skunky - noxious smell that lingers; sulfuric (like rotten eggs) odor
• stale - old, dusty, stagnant odor
• spoiled - rotten; something that has “gone bad”
• stinking - unpleasant, foul smell
• sweaty - perspiration odor

Scent Synonyms

The word scent can refer to a lovely perfume or a strong odor. There are many synonyms you can use instead to avoid repetition. While each of these words can be used to mean the same thing as scent in certain contexts, the associated connotation can be quite different. You might talk about how much you love the aroma of freshly baked bread, but it wouldn't make much sense to talk about the pheromone of freshly baked bread.

• aroma - strong, yet pleasant scent
• aura - smell surrounding something
• balm - soothing scent
• bouquet - blend of floral scents
• essence - basic, natural scent
• fragrance - pleasant smell
• incense - strong scent
• odorize - changing the scent
• perfume - added scent
• pheromone - natural scents
• smell - odor, smell, scent
• trace - a tiny amount of fragrance
• whiff - a fleeting scent

If you're looking for antonyms of the word "scent" instead, you could use such words as stench, stink or reek. These have much more of a negative connotation to them, like how you might talk about the stench of a dumpster in a back alley.

Descriptive Words Set the Mood

It is said that a person’s sense of smell may be the strongest link to memories, even more than sight or hearing. Indeed, scents can bring back the past or can set the mood for new experiences. Take a second to stop and smell the flowers with fun sunflower facts.

With a few poetic lines, a reader can visualize precisely how an author was feeling, down to the very smell in the room. It’s only natural to incorporate adjectives for smell into writing and dialogue. As you continue to create interesting scenes within your writing, utilize this list of descriptive words to help engage readers in your stories. Get ready to bring entire universes to life with your words.

Adjectives characterizing a person - list

Here are collected words (adjectives) that characterize a person (both a man and a woman). Words are arranged in a list, for convenience, divided by letters of the alphabet. This list can be useful to you for compiling a resume, characterization, compiling announcements (for hiring or searching for a person) and simply for describing people (if necessary).

Please note: Not all adjectives that can describe a person are collected here, but only those that can characterize people (that is, there are no such words as “beautiful”, “tall”, “small”, “barrel-shaped”, "shaved", etc. They refer to the description of appearance and are not related to the description of personality, character, behavior). nine0003

A

• Adventurized
• Authority
• Aggressive
• adequate
• Azartic
• Neat
• ALCH
• Elogical logic)
• Altruistic (altruistic)
• Alcohol addict
• Immoral
• Ambitious
• Amorphous
• Anecdotal
• Apathetic
0011 Apathetic
• Apolitical
• Ascetic
• Assertive rights, not to depend on external assessments, influences and do it without violating the rights others)
• Associal
• Autical
• Artistic
• aristocratic

B

• Palled
• Vigilant
• Black
• Perelandic
• Dilanthin0012
• Windle
• Nonsense
• Explosive
• Scruffy
• Guilty
• Fitty
• ACTIVITIVE
• Available
• A lifted
• exalted
• exalted
• A lift attitude towards something or someone)
• Strong-willed
• Free
• Free-thinking
• Freedom-loving
• Thievish
• Grouchy
• Receptive
• Enthusiastic
• Impressive
• Hostile (hostile, hostile-cold)
• Harmful
• Omnivorous (here - promiscuous, not the one who eats everything)
• Fixing
• vulgar
• Office
• Outstanding
• Highly moral
• Highly exaggerated
highly developed
• High -EVEIDEN0012
• Great
• Trusty
• Hasty
• Lolder -out
• Dominative
• House
• Decent
Bulbed
• NEDARICAL (here, DEMODICAL
• DRIMEN ignorant)
• Friendly
• Dirty
• Bad
• Foolish
• Spiritual and moral
• Spiritual
• Mental
• Mentally ill
• 0012

E

• Broken
• Bossy
• Natural
• Echered

• greedy
• Miserable
Publishing Publishing hard, reinforced concrete)
• Bile
• Effeminate
• Feminine
• Womanly
• Cute
• Cruel
• Rigid
• Critical
• PROSOLABLE
• MORY
• Cultural

• Laby (here is mood)
• Laconic
• Latennaya
• Light (not for weight. easy "on the rise")
• Gullible
• Frivolous
• Frivolous
• Easily irritable (easily irritated)
• Easily controllable
• Easily vulnerable
• Unseasoned (not about cognac, but about the lack of endurance in a person)
• Unbearable
• Unbearable
• Disharmonious
• Negative (negatively tuned) , thinking)
• Shallow (here is not about the depth of the reservoir, but about the depth of the inner content of a person)
• Non-proud
• Inhospitable
• Illiterate
• Unnecessary
• optional (here is not a loving obligations that does not recognize them, avoiding duties, etc.)
• incorpected
• Fear
• Fisherous
• Direct
• 2 Unsuitable
• NOTSED NOW THE
• NOT Untrue
• Non-idle
• Impractical
• Unpredictable
• Unforeseen
• Inflexible
• Moral
• Cut

O

• Charming
• Obvornoye
• Offective
• Offended (here in the meaning - offended by life, on fate, etc. )
• deceitful
• See Educated
• Sociable
• Objective
• Compulsory
• Gifted
• Possessed (here in the meaning - obsessed with work, work, the devil, etc.)
• Standard
• dull
• Lastly
• desperate
• Owl
• Oygnidic
• numb, charming
• Outline

P.

• PADKI ; avid for everything new, etc.)
• Dirty
• Memoryful
• Paradoxical
• Paranoid (here - a paranoid type of personality and as a result - a certain style of thinking, behavior, etc., characteristic of a person of this type) nine0011 Consistent
• Obedient
• Mediocre
• Constant (here in the meaning - constant in his views, principles, attitude, etc.)
• Shabby
• Lost (here in the meaning - lost to society, life, etc.)
• Amusing
• Terrific
• Lustful
• Respectful
• Vulgar
• Vulgar
• Truthful
Truthful20012
• Written
• Generally
• Great
• Admissive
• Disgrasting
• Unpleasant
• Present
• Fresh (here about a person in the significance - boring, without "dysfunction"
, without "pepper).
• Boring
• Criminal
• Terrible
• Successful
• Fastidious
• Affable
• Silly
• Director
• Rectoline
• Mice
• Scarecrow
• Bulbed
• Punctual
• Empty (empty person, “Pie with nothing”, etc.)
• Emilland
• Putic 9001
• Empty-headed
• Inquisitive

Р

• Submissive
• Indifferent
• Equal in rights
• Equal in rights
• Radical1
• 0012
• wasteful
• Calculated
• Refined
• rational
• reactive (here in the value - high -acting, quick, energetic, etc.)
• Realistic
• Jealous
• Rare
• Rare
• Rent -icing
• Sharp
• Retrograde
• Decisive
• Risky
• Timid
• Respectable
• Romantic
• Sharp (here in the meaning - much capable of hands, capable of much capable of hands)
• Private (in the sense of ordinary)

C

• Demonial
• Herly
Self -sufficient
• Self -sufficient
• Self-forgetting
• Self-proclaimed
• Self-loving
• Self-confident
• Self-confident
• Self-critical
• Self-confident
• Angry
• Compassionate (here - compassionate, compassionate)
• Serious
• Grey-footed (here it means ill-mannered, awkward, unable to behave, unable to behave, not allowed in a decent society, etc. )
• Strong (not necessarily physically strong, for example: a strong-minded person, mentally strong, mentally strong, etc.) .) nine0012
• Scaby
• Scandalous
• Skaed
• Bad
• Skeptical
• Small
• constrained (here is clamped, numb, constrained)
• Slippery (here in the meaning is slippery, unreliable, unless. dishonest, ambiguous, obscene, dubious)
• Modest
• Secretive
• Scrupulous
• Poor-minded
• Stingy
• Stingy
• capable (in the meaning-gifted, talented)
• stable (constant, durable, sane, emotionally stable, socially stable, etc.)
• Street
• shy
• Strongly
• Council
• Strange
• Passionate Passionate
• Impetuous
• Stress resistant
• Strict
• Obstinate
• Shy
• Subjective
• Superstitious
• Fussy
• vain
• Business
• Crazy
• Happy

• mysterious
• Talented
• Twoy (here is a reliable, insistent, menstrol, haggard, non -imminent man) , narrow-minded, stubborn, etc. )
• Creative
• Dark (here - dense, uneducated, caveman)
• Temperamental
• Patient
• Fulb
• Fatovskaya
• feminine
• FISH
• Philosophical (for example: Philosophical, Philosophical, Juits, etc.)
• Flematic
• Frivolny (for example:: for example:: Fundamental

Х

• Charismatic
• Boastful
• Crappy
• Cunning
• Cunning
• Cunning ass
• Cunning
• Cold-blooded
• Hospitable
• Choleric (having a choleric temperament, not the one who is sick with cholera)
• Cold (this is not about temperature, but about mental Colds)
• Holey
• Commercial
• Good
• Brave
• Hooligan
• Khrenovy

9000

• Purposeful
• Zinichny
• Colore0012
• tongued
• bright
• ardent (about any inclinations of a person. For example: an ardent defender of children, an ardent reformer, an ardent loafer and a lazy person, an ardent hater of fools)
• Furious
• Clairvoyant

Note:

• All of the above words (adjectives) can describe any person - a man, a woman, a teenager, and in many cases a child. To do this, you just need to change the ending of the desired word. nine0012
• Also, remember: according to the rules of the Russian language, some of the above words can be both an adjective and a participle (depending on the context in which the word is used).
• This list does not include obscene words and words that are specific terms used by narrow specialists for professional purposes.

Similar items

Adjectives characterizing a person (list)

Content

• 1 adjectives for describing the appearance of a person
• 2 adjectives describing the behavior of a person
  • 2.1 adjectives describing positive behavior
  • 2. 2 adjectives for characterizing negative qualities
• 3 vocabulary for describing the nature
  • 3.1 description of the positive Gero
  • 3.2
  • 3.2 for a negative characteristic
  • 3.3 Neutral adjectives

When we mentally describe a person or talk about others, we use a huge array of adjectives every day to describe a person's appearance, character traits, and habits.

Adjectives to describe a person's appearance

When meeting someone, a person first of all subconsciously evaluates the appearance and selects the appropriate words. For this, the following vocabulary is used:

• attractive, charming, stylish, elegant, handsome, imposing - to describe the image as a whole; nine0012
• tall, short, slender, thin, full, fat, well-fed, pumped up, thin - help to characterize the physique;
• young, adult, young, old, elderly - characteristics of age;
• long-haired, curly, wavy, bald, cropped, as well as the names of colors (red, black, dark chestnut) are popular adjectives for describing hairstyles;
• chubby, freckled, bony, big-eyed, big-mouthed, light-skinned, snub-nosed - these and other words allow you to describe the features of the face. nine0012

Adjectives describing human behavior

Even before direct communication with a person, you can draw some conclusions about him that do not require long contact or excellent psychological skills. This will require adjectives that will help characterize a person’s actions and tell about his personality and place in society.

Adjectives describing positive behavior

• authoritative;
• neat;
nine0011 active;
• aristocratic;
• carefree;
• frugal;
• true;
• cheerful;
• strong-willed;
• educated;
• gallant;
• delicate;
• cheerful;
• caring;
• incendiary;
• playful;
• resourceful;
• initiative;
• executive;
• flirtatious;
• companionable;
nine0011 eloquent;
• cultural;
• affectionate;
• dexterous;
• loyal;
• curious;
• merciful;
• peaceful;
• mobile;
• soft;
• direct;
• courteous;
• neat;
• insightful;
• punctual;
• frisky;
• bold;
• tolerant;
• industrious;
• balanced; nine0012
• economic;
• brave;
• human;
• honest;
• smart;
• generous;
• humorous.

Adjectives to characterize negative qualities

• authoritarian;
• aggressive;
• spoiled;
• commonplace;
• irresponsible;
• tactless;
• shameless;
• windy;
• domineering;
• warlike; nine0012
• harmful;
• vulgar;
• coarse;
• formidable;
• despotic;
• cheeky;
• cruel;
• evil;
• vindictive;
• infantile;
• hysterical;
• capricious;
• puffy;
• conflict;
• lazy;
• crafty;
• manic;
• manipulative;
• slow;
• vindictive; nine0012
• unbalanced;
• boring;
• touchy;
• possessed;
• picky;
• sharp;
• weak-willed;
• demanding;
• cowardly;
• stubborn;
• familiar;
• boastful;
• swaggering;
• shebutny;
• is naughty.

Character Vocabulary

There are many adjectives that can help describe a person's character. Here is a detailed list:

Description of the goodie

• adaptive;
• ambitious;
• vigilant;
• fearless,
• lively;
• inspired;
• thoughtful;
• generous;
• attentive;
• ingenious;
• flexible;
• wonderful;
• kind;
• quick-witted;
• soulful;
• natural;
• life-loving;
• funny; nine0012
• perky;
• ideological;
• imposing;
• sincere;
• competitive;
• constructive;
• sociable;
• is correct;
• inquisitive;
• loving;
• laid-back;
• spiritualized;
• optimistic;
• truthful;
• attractive;
• versatile;
• quick-witted;
• talented; nine0012
• creative;
• balanced;
• charismatic;
• clean;
• sensual;
• emotional;
• energetic;
• erudite;
• bright.

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