Lists of describing 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). 

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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    Person Skydiving With List of Common Adjectives

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    Used under Getty Images license

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 & Download

Why 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 day

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)
  • 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
L
  • 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 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