Popular adjective list

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.

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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.”

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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.”

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.”

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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

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!

List of adjectives

An adjective is a word used to modify or describe a noun or pronoun. They are always near the noun or pronoun they are describing. Adjectives are often overused and add little to a sentence. To avoid this problem, try using verbs and nouns creatively. Choose your adjectives carefully and use them when they have the greatest impact! Adjectives are often used to describe the degree of modification. The adjective forms are positive, comparative, and superlative.

• This boy is tall. (positive)
• That girl is taller. (comparative)
• The last boy in the row is the tallest. (superlative)

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Appearance adjectives list

• attractive
• bald
• beautiful
• chubby
• clean
• dazzling
• drab
• elegant
• fancy
• fit
• flabby
• glamorous
• gorgeous
• handsome
• long
• magnificent
• muscular
• plain
• plump
• quaint
• scruffy
• shapely
• short
• skinny
• stocky
• ugly
• unkempt
• unsightly

Use of appearance adjectives

• The waterfall at Skakavac is one of the most attractive sites in the vicinity of Sarajevo.
• Hottie is a slang term for a physically attractive person.
• A new study has revealed that bald men may actually be happier than men with hair.
• Ethan is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met.
• A new study breaks down the foods most strongly associated with chubby children.
• We must preserve Wisconsin's clean water, clean air, and natural heritage.
• It was a dazzling diamond, and it impressed her enormously.
• We saw sudden splashes of color in the drab landscape.
• She had an elegant figure and she walked well.
• The government welfare checks were used to buy fancy motorcycles and iphones.
• There are two principal causes of flabby arms.
• Glamorous shoes are perfect for finishing off evening ensembles in style.
• She wore a gorgeous Victorian gown.
• We're so proud of our splendid, handsome boy.
• In this valley were magnificent gardens planted by Hassen ben Sabah.
• We don't see many muscular women in popular culture.
• White rabbits have large, broad, and muscular bodies.
• The boss prefers his female employees to wear plain clothing to work.
• When shopping, choose plump blueberries with no old, crushed berries.
• The males had the most unusual colors and unsightly patterns.

Color adjectives list

• ashy
• black
• blue
• gray
• green
• icy
• lemon
• mango
• orange
• purple
• red
• salmon
• white
• yellow

Use of color adjectives

• Ashy skin is usually whitish or grayish in color.
• She had black hair and eager blue eyes.
• John noticed a green ribbon on a branch.
• The girl had icy blue lips, similar to that of a corpse.
• Lemon colored bridesmaid dresses brighten-up any wedding.
• Her toenails shine with freshly applied, mango polish.
• The wings and tail are brown with purple edgings.
• The forewings are whitish with distinct red markings.
• There are orange and yellow bands on the abdomen.

Condition adjectives list

• alive
• better
• careful
• clever
• dead
• easy
• famous
• gifted
• hallowed
• helpful
• important
• inexpensive
• mealy
• mushy
• odd
• poor
• powerful
• rich
• shy
• tender
• unimportant
• uninterested
• vast
• wrong

Use of Condition adjectives

• When his wife gave birth to a son, he was the proudest man alive .
• We're hoping for better results tomorrow.
• She was a very careful worker.
• Gulliver was a clever young man, who loved to travel.
• Perhaps this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent.
• It remains Winterhalter's most famous work.
• He was a gifted pilot, a good fellow, and had both wit and humor in him.
• As a gifted young woman, she excelled academically and exhibited leadership.
• Of the three, she is perhaps the most gifted painter.
• Standing on the hallowed precincts of the quarter-deck, they were careful not to speak.
• Her work has made her an important role model.
• Everyone was searching for an easy, inexpensive solution to the problem.
• He abhors mushy bananas and mealy peaches.
• Rambutan is an odd fruit that looks like a furry strawberry.
• The poor peasants were forced to sell the young girls to the powerful communist party leaders.
• The shy girls from the village had very little experience with men.
• The village girls had tender skin which was very sensitive to the touch.
• I saw the tender regard which he cast upon her.
• Shahar claims to be uninterested in the theory of feminism.

Positive Personality adjectives list

• aggressive
• agreeable
• ambitious
• brave
• calm
• delightful
• eager
• faithful
• gentle
• happy
• jolly
• kind
• lively
• nice
• obedient
• polite
• proud
• silly
• thankful
• victorious
• witty
• wonderful
• zealous

Use of positive personality adjectives

• John has an agreeable character.
• She has an affectionate boyfriend.
• He has a charismatic personality.
• “Don't cry,'' said the gentle Mr. Lorry.
• They were a proud family, heir to a long and distinguished lineage.
• I enjoyed the classes given by Gangya, a jolly dance teacher.
• We must not expect a lively young man to be always so guarded and circumspect.

Negative Personality adjectives list

• angry
• bewildered
• clumsy
• defeated
• embarrassed
• fierce
• grumpy
• helpless
• itchy
• jealous
• lazy
• mysterious
• nervous
• obnoxious
• panicky
• pitiful
• repulsive
• scary
• thoughtless
• uptight
• worried

Use of negative personality adjectives

• Ron was an clumsy character.
• He was an angry young man.
• The jealous girl always caused problems at school.
• The mysterious illness arrived on a boat from the far east.
• The thoughtless boy made an imprudent request.
• Crammed with blood and violence, it was the most repulsive movie I've ever seen.

Shape adjectives list

• broad
• chubby
• crooked
• curved
• deep
• flat
• high
• hollow
• low
• narrow
• refined
• round
• shallow
• skinny
• square
• steep
• straight
• wide

Use of shape adjectives

• A small, dim, crooked shop, kept in a tortuous thoroughfare, by a crooked man.
• The dense, untouched forest overhung both banks of the narrow little crack.
• “What a lovely, refined staircase,'” said Chateau Renaud with a smile.
• Sediment may be deposited to any thickness and extent over a shallow bottom.
• Iggy was a six feet tall and skinny young boy.

Size adjectives list

• big
• colossal
• fat
• gigantic
• great
• huge
• immense
• large
• little
• mammoth
• massive
• microscopic
• miniature
• petite
• puny
• scrawny
• short
• small
• tall
• teeny
• tiny

Use of size adjectives

• Christie Pitts has a mammoth plaster sculpture in his front yard.
• The building had a huge entry, and was altogether of colossal dimensions.
• There was a feeling of being lifted out of one's puny self to something bigger.
• The deer passed across the narrow lane, and disappeared into the forest.
• A virus is one type of microscopic parasite that infects cells in biological organisms.

Sound adjectives list

• crashing
• deafening
• echoing
• faint
• harsh
• hissing
• howling
• loud
• melodic
• noisy
• purring
• quiet
• rapping
• raspy
• rhythmic
• screeching
• shrilling
• squeaking
• thundering
• tinkling
• wailing
• whining
• whispering

Use of sound adjectives

• He has a slurred and screeching speech, and is clumsy and flailing in his movement.
• She was renowned for her quick wit, raspynarrow voice, and ever-present cigarettes.
• After hearing the faint sound, he had an expression of perplexity as though he were trying to reconcile some doubts in his mind.
• He added a melodic passage for an acoustic guitar in the third verse of the song.
• He was a happy boy before that dark day which arrived with a deafening thud upon humanity's collective cranium.

Time adjectives list

• ancient
• brief
• early
• fast
• future
• late
• long
• modern
• old
• old-fashioned
• prehistoric
• quick
• rapid
• short
• slow
• swift
• young

Use of time adjectives

• The flight had a long delay.
• There was a short delay on the road because of an accident.

Taste adjectives list

• acidic
• bitter
• cool
• creamy
• delicious
• disgusting
• fresh
• greasy
• juicy
• hot
• moldy
• nutritious
• nutty
• putrid
• rancid
• ripe
• rotten
• salty
• savory
• sour
• spicy
• spoiled
• stale
• sweet
• tangy
• tart
• tasteless
• tasty
• yummy

Use of taste adjectives

• I had a taste of a deliciously creamy coffee.
• The cheese souffle had a savory crust.
• She selected a ripe apple from the shelf.
• He ate the nutritious fresh lettuce.

Touch adjectives list

• breezy
• bumpy
• chilly
• cold
• cool
• cuddly
• damaged
• damp
• dirty
• dry
• flaky
• fluffy
• freezing
• greasy
• hot
• icy
• loose
• melted
• prickly
• rough
• shaggy
• sharp
• slimy
• sticky
• strong
• tight
• uneven
• warm
• weak
• wet
• wooden

Use of touch adjectives

• This is a black spider with a velvety texture.
• There had been rain all day, and there was a damp feeling in the air.
• The insect has a strong preference for trees with fine flaky bark.
• The dense, small prickly plant is usually less than a metre high.
• Many succulent plants cannot endure a damp climate.
• I tripped on the uneven floor almost breaking my arm.

Quantity adjectives list

• abundant
• billions
• enough
• few
• full
• hundreds
• incalculable
• limited
• little
• many
• most
• millions
• numerous
• scarce
• some
• sparse
• substantial
• thousands

Use of quantity adjectives

• Evidently, there is abundant fascination with this “sport”.
• There were numerous complaints before the institution of those regulations.
• I had allowed him such a limited time; I thought he might have a fit.
• It also occurs where water seems unlimited but where nutrients are scarce.
• He was the most-gifted student.
• She has few friends.
• I received the most awards in the school.
• I have little interest in the topic.

Trends in the use of adjectives

Use of adjectives in American English

Use of adjectives in British English

More example sentences using adjectives

• It hushed the eloquent, struck down the powerful, abolished the beautiful and good.
• I was sure you could not be so beautiful for nothing!
• Great pictures have been made of beautiful people in beautiful clothes and of squalid people in ugly clothes, of beautiful architectural buildings and the ugly hovels of the poor.
• He has worked on numerous films with Steven Spielberg.
• After the war, he traveled and went on numerous safaris.
• The soundtrack included numerous songs, including:
• The surnames which derive from a nickname are numerous and varied.
• When the days of autumn are bright and cool, and the nights are chilly but not freezing, the brightest colorations usually develop.
• Dordrecht has a subtropical highland climate ("Cwb", according to the Köppen climate classification), with warm summers and chilly, dry winters, with occasional snowfalls.
• But, when the place was left behind, and especially when Steerforth and I were happily seated over our dinner by a blazing fire, it was delicious to think of having been there.
• That when Miss Murdstone took her into custody and led her away, she smiled and gave me her delicious hand.
• As I stood there in the gathering dark I thought that in this simple explanation I had mastered the problem of the world--mastered the whole secret of these delicious people.
• Her childish way was the most delicious way in the world to me, but it was necessary to be explicit, and I solemnly repeated: 'Dora, my own life, I am your ruined David!'
• So, the close of every week was a delicious time for me; and I got through the rest of the week by looking forward to it.
• To an unfortunate bachelor of a fellow who has lived alone all his life, you know, it's positively delicious.

Additional example sentences using adjectives

• The beautiful form and color of the cloud seem to be unobserved.
• The variations in a beautiful drawing are so subtle as often to defy detection.
• The most beautiful profiles are usually those in which variety is subordinated to the unity of the contor.
• They are very numerous and very loud, though, are they not?
• But these within the ice are not so numerous nor obvious as those beneath.
• The hunters were formerly a numerous and merry crew here.
• I sat down to my brown loaf, my egg, and my rasher of bacon, with a basin of milk besides, and made a most delicious meal.
• I was in the middle state between sleeping and waking, either then or immediately afterwards; for, as he resumed--it was a real fact that he had stopped playing--I saw and heard the same old woman ask Mrs. Fibbitson if it wasn't delicious (meaning the flute), to which Mrs. Fibbitson replied, 'Ay, ay!
• I am lost in the recollection of this delicious interview, and the waltz, when she comes to me again, with a plain elderly gentleman who has been playing whist all night, upon her arm, and says: 'Oh!
• So in dreams, have I seen majestic Satan thrusting forth his tormented colossal claw from the flame Baltic of Hell.
• But not a bit daunted, Queequeg steered us manfully; now sheering off from this monster directly across our route in advance; now edging away from that, whose colossal flukes were suspended overhead, while all the time, Starbuck stood up in the bows, lance in hand, pricking out of our way whatever whales he could reach by short darts, for there was no time to make long ones.
• Rather carried down alive to wondrous depths, where strange shapes of the unwarped primal world glided to and fro before his passive eyes; and the miser-merman, Wisdom, revealed his hoarded heaps; and among the joyous, heartless, ever-juvenile eternities, Pip saw the multitudinous, God-omnipresent, coral insects, that out of the firmament of waters heaved the colossal orbs.
• But as the colossal skull embraces so very large a proportion of the entire extent of the skeleton; as it is by far the most complicated part; and as nothing is to be repeated concerning it in this chapter, you must not fail to carry it in your mind, or under your arm, as we proceed, otherwise you will not gain a complete notion of the general structure we are about to view.
• Typical ichthyosaurs had very large eyes, protected within a bony ring, suggesting that they may have hunted at night or at great depths (the only extant animals with similarly large eyes are the giant and colossal squids).
• Titanisaur is a colossal dinosaur/dragon monster that serves Captain Mutiny.
• But still the 1895 edition of was not the colossal triumph that has been accepted as fact in modern times.
• They are typically life-sized, though early colossal examples are up to 3 meters tall.

How to use adjectives in a sentence

• However, some beautiful things have been done with it.
• Many wonderful and beautiful things have been done with this simple means.
• Both have been reprinted numerous times.
• There are numerous upgrade criteria to choose from.
• Cavalieri has received numerous literary awards.
• But one thing thou wilt not deny, Sancho; when thou camest close to her didst thou not perceive a Sabaean odour, an aromatic fragrance, a, I know not what, delicious, that I cannot find a name for; I mean a redolence, an exhalation, as if thou wert in the shop of some dainty glover?"
• After tea, when the door was shut and all was made snug (the nights being cold and misty now), it seemed to me the most delicious retreat that the imagination of man could conceive.
• The building had a huge entry, and was altogether of colossal dimensions.
• Well, one very hot morning--my fourth, I think--as I was seeking shelter from the heat and glare in a colossal ruin near the great house where I slept and fed, there happened this strange thing: Clambering among these heaps of masonry, I found a narrow gallery, whose end and side windows were blocked by fallen masses of stone.
• Then we came to a gallery of simply colossal proportions, but singularly ill-lit, the floor of it running downward at a slight angle from the end at which I entered.
• It was a sight to see Queequeg seated over against Tashtego, opposing his filed teeth to the Indian's: crosswise to them, Daggoo seated on the floor, for a bench would have brought his hearse-plumed head to the low carlines; at every motion of his colossal limbs, making the low cabin framework to shake, as when an African elephant goes passenger in a ship.

The use of adjectives in a sentence

• The cart before the horse is neither beautiful nor useful.
• A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.
• Both athletes are given numerous, violent punches.
• He was the author of numerous articles and several books.
• It is also a common name in numerous other countries.
• All were agreed upon one point, however: if Congress would make a sufficient appropriation, a colossal benefit would result.
• This was a colossal combination of robbers, horse thieves, negro stealers, and counterfeiters, engaged in business along the river some fifty or sixty years ago.
• To such a man a funeral is a colossal financial disaster.
• It was perfect, it was rounded, symmetrical, complete, colossal!
• Franz had so managed his route, that during the ride to the Colosseum they passed not a single ancient ruin, so that no preliminary impression interfered to mitigate the colossal proportions of the gigantic building they came to admire.
• He thought several times of the project the count had of visiting Paris; and he had no doubt but that, with his eccentric character, his characteristic face, and his colossal fortune, he would produce a great effect there.
• A colossal figure, carved apparently in some white stone, loomed indistinctly beyond the rhododendrons through the hazy downpour.
• Tied by the head to the stern, and by the tail to the bows, the whale now lies with its black hull close to the vessel's and seen through the darkness of the night, which obscured the spars and rigging aloft, the two--ship and whale, seemed yoked together like colossal bullocks, whereof one reclines while the other remains standing.

Practice the use of English adjectives

• How much more beautiful than our lives, how much more transparent than our characters, are they!
• Somebody else muttered`Oh, it was done beautiful BEAUTIFUL!'
• The fine new homes are noble and beautiful and modern.
• Numerous different series have been issued since then.
• Today, the Schenkenberg is surrounded by numerous vineyards.
• Polaco wrestled for numerous independent promotions.
• It has also been the site of numerous car accidents.
• Deltaville is also home to numerous retirees.

More types of adjectives

• The walls would have had numerous stone lined openings.
• The park hosts numerous theater and other events.
• In the cool season it can get decidedly chilly: it is one of the few places in Thailand that ever gets down to zero degrees Celsius.
• Seasons are fairly well defined, and in most of Uruguay spring is usually damp, cool, and windy; summers are warm; autumns are mild; and winters are chilly and uncomfortably damp.
• A winter warm spell can be abruptly broken by a strong pampero, a chilly and occasionally violent wind blowing north from the Argentine pampas.
• It would be such a delicious scheme; and I dare say would hardly cost anything at all. Solitude This is a delicious evening, when the whole body is one sense, and imbibes delight through every pore.
• We had dinner on a ground veranda over the water the chief dish the renowned fish called the pompano, delicious as the less criminal forms of sin.
• At length the boat touched the shore, but without effort, without shock, as lips touch lips; and he entered the grotto amidst continued strains of most delicious melody.
• Every delicious fruit that the four quarters of the globe could provide was heaped in vases from China and jars from Japan.
• Haidee is almost as civilized as a Parisian; the smell of an Havana is disagreeable to her, but the tobacco of the East is a most delicious perfume, you know.
• In a month you will find on the table, at which we shall be then sitting, good pistols and a delicious draught; but, on the other hand, you must promise me not to attempt your life before that time.
• A delicious zephyr played along the coasts of the Mediterranean, and wafted from shore to shore the sweet perfume of plants, mingled with the fresh smell of the sea.
• Morrel, overpowered, turned around in the arm chair; a delicious torpor permeated every vein.
• Never have I read anything more refined, anything more after the ancient type, anything more delicious, anything more Latin.
• They are the lightest and smallest category of air compressors available in market with no air storage tank and runs of direct supply of compressed air.

Other articles you may find helpful

150 basic English adjectives

After listing popular English verbs and nouns, we're moving on to commonly used adjectives! Now you have a whole set to build simple English sentences on your own.

The new list consists of 150 adjectives that I propose to master first. I remind you that I choose words using official sources, for example: Oxford Dictionaries, Macmillan Dictionary.

Remember that there is no grammatical gender in English, so the same adjective is suitable for any person, animal, or object.

Listen to the sound of each word and repeat it aloud. If you don’t remember the adjective well or the word is completely new to you, write it down in a notebook and make up your own phrases.

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