Lists of describing words
List of Descriptive Words: Adjectives, Adverbs, & Participles
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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).
acrobatic | adorable | adventurous |
bitter | boundless | bright |
brilliant | brittle | delirious |
diminutive | exultant | filthy |
foolhardy | gregarious | intrepid |
jocular | joyful | jubilant |
keen | kooky | lanky |
lazy | limp | lush |
luxurious | macabre | magnanimous |
mellow | miserable | nimble |
nocturnal | opulent | ornate |
ordinary | palatial | parsimonious |
peevish | picturesque | potent |
practical | precious | putrid |
questionable | quirky | radiant |
raspy | rustic | scornful |
scrumptious | silky | sly |
spider-like | spectacular | tentacular |
tense | thorny | verdant |
whimsical | woeful | zesty |
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Adverbs as Descriptive Words
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.
amusingly | angrily | apathetically |
assertively | begrudgingly | blissfully |
blithely | boldly | boisterously |
chillingly | coyly | darkly |
dazzlingly | deafeningly | dutifully |
eagerly | facetiously | faintly |
falteringly | frivolously | greedily |
grimly | gloweringly | guiltily |
hastily | hungrily | intelligently |
kindly | lavishly | lazily |
listlessly | masterfully | meagerly |
methodically | naively | narrowly |
neglectfully | nerve-wrackingly | numbly |
offensively | passionately | pleasantly |
pointlessly | quickly | rapidly |
rashly | secretly | seriously |
swiftly | tactfully | teasingly |
tenderly | timorously | tragically |
underhandedly | vacantly | vividly |
weirdly | youthfully | zealously |
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Participles as Descriptive Words
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.
acclaimed | accomplished | amazing |
amused | baby-faced | battered |
beaten | bleeding | boring |
broken | blushing | bow-legged |
captivating | cluttered | confusing |
chosen | complicated | condemned |
crystallized | customized | dazzling |
depressed | disgusting | distressing |
disturbing | dreaming | driven |
dyed | embarrassing | exciting |
far-reaching | fascinated | freckled |
frustrating | hard-hearted | humiliating |
interesting | irritating | lying |
melted | mouthwatering | peaked |
puzzling | relaxing | riveting |
satisfied | scared | scented |
shocking | sickening | side-splitting |
staggering | sweeping | tattered |
threatening | thrilled | tired |
towering | weathered | wrinkled |
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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.
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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.
List of 228 Common Adjectives
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Adjectives modify perhaps the most common words in the English language, nouns. With a list of common adjectives at hand, you can effectively describe your surroundings in detail. The words on this list of 228 adjectives can all be used to describe feelings or the appearance of objects and can also make it easy to describe yourself, your surroundings and your favorite things.
A-D List of Adjective Words
The first part of this list features commonly used adjectives from the first four letters of the alphabet.
adorable | adventurous | aggressive |
agreeable | alert | alive |
amused | angry | annoyed |
annoying | anxious | arrogant |
ashamed | attractive | average |
awful | bad | beautiful |
better | bewildered | black |
bloody | blue | blue-eyed |
blushing | bored | brainy |
brave | breakable | bright |
busy | calm | careful |
cautious | charming | cheerful |
clean | clear | clever |
cloudy | clumsy | colorful |
combative | comfortable | concerned |
condemned | confused | cooperative |
courageous | crazy | creepy |
crowded | cruel | curious |
cute | dangerous | dark |
dead | defeated | defiant |
delightful | depressed | determined |
different | difficult | disgusted |
distinct | disturbed | dizzy |
doubtful | drab | dull |
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E-K Adjectives List
There are plenty more often-used adjectives that start with letters in the next part of the alphabet. Review these adjective words that begin with the letters “e” through “k.”
eager | easy | elated |
elegant | embarrassed | enchanting |
encouraging | energetic | enthusiastic |
envious | evil | excited |
expensive | exuberant | fair |
faithful | famous | fancy |
fantastic | fierce | filthy |
fine | foolish | fragile |
frail | frantic | friendly |
frightened | funny | gentle |
gifted | glamorous | gleaming |
glorious | good | gorgeous |
graceful | grieving | grotesque |
grumpy | handsome | happy |
healthy | helpful | helpless |
hilarious | homeless | homely |
horrible | hungry | hurt |
ill | important | impossible |
inexpensive | innocent | inquisitive |
itchy | jealous | jittery |
jolly | joyous | kind |
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L-S Adjective Words
Moving forward in alphabetical order, there are still many more adjectives appropriate for use in everyday conversation. Explore these common words that start with the letters between “l” and “s.”
lazy | light | lively |
lonely | long | lovely |
lucky | magnificent | misty |
modern | motionless | muddy |
mushy | mysterious | nasty |
naughty | nervous | nice |
nutty | obedient | obnoxious |
odd | old-fashioned | open |
outrageous | outstanding | panicky |
perfect | plain | pleasant |
poised | poor | powerful |
precious | prickly | proud |
putrid | puzzled | quaint |
real | relieved | repulsive |
rich | scary | selfish |
shiny | shy | silly |
sleepy | smiling | smoggy |
sore | sparkling | splendid |
spotless | stormy | strange |
stupid | successful | super |
T-Z List of Adjectives
There are plenty more common adjectives throughout the remainder of the alphabet. Explore these common words that start with the letters between “t” and “z.”
talented | tame | tasty |
tender | tense | terrible |
thankful | thoughtful | thoughtless |
tired | tough | troubled |
ugliest | ugly | uninterested |
unsightly | unusual | upset |
uptight | vast | victorious |
vivacious | wandering | weary |
wicked | wide-eyed | wild |
witty | worried | worrisome |
wrong | zany | zealous |
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Printable Adjectives List
Keeping up with all of these words doesn’t have to be challenging. Just download the printable version of this list by clicking the image below, then print or save for future reference. You’ll be excited to see that the printable version has even more adjectives!
List Common Adjectives Printable
Click to View & DownloadWhy Use an Adjective List?
Whether you are a native English speaker or you are learning English as a second language, using an adjective list like this one can help you expand your language skills and organize your learning.
- Using an adjective list can help you build a more advanced vocabulary and build your ability to use descriptive language. This, in turn, will allow you to become a more effective writer and speaker.
- People who are learning a foreign language often make a list of common descriptive words to study in order to expand their vocabulary beyond just basic nouns and verbs in the new language.
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Expand Your Descriptive Language Skills
While a list of 228 adjectives sounds like a lot, these are actually just a few examples of the many adjectives in the English language. When you’re ready to build out an even more extensive vocabulary of descriptive words, explore this list of more than 125 positive adjectives. Put a positive spin on your whole day with these uplifting descriptive words. Then, discover adjectives that describe tone, feelings and emotions. Get ready to boost your creativity and start building up your list of adjective words today!
Adjectives characterizing a person - list
Rubric: For every dayHere 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)
- Asocial
- Autical
- Artistic
- aristocratic
B
- Palled Vigilant
- Black
- Perepsychia
- Dilanthin0012
- Windle
- Nonsense
- Explosive
- Scruffy
- Guilty
- Fitty
- ACTIVITIVE
- Available
- exalted
- exalted
- exalted 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
- 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
P.
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 3 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.