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List of Descriptive AdjectivesAdjectives are used in a language
to describe something or someone. Descriptive adjectives are the
prominent type of adjectives. In this article, we will see more
about adjectives, its types and a list of descriptive
adjectives.
The English language is one of the most popular and widely
spoken languages in the world. Once you master the rules of English
grammar, understanding and learning the language is a lot easier.
There are large number of words in the English language, and all
these words can be classified into the eight parts of speech. These
parts of speech, viz. Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb, Pronoun,
Conjunction, Preposition and Interjection, form the backbone of
English grammar and composition. Here we will know more about
adjectives. Adjectives Adjectives are required extensively in
regular conversation and writing, specifically when we are
describing something. Adjectives are one of the eight parts of
speech that express an attribute of a place, thing, an event or a
person. In simpler words, adjectives describe, qualify or modify
nouns. Adjectives precede the noun in a sentence. There can also be
more than two adjectives qualifying a single noun. The list of
adjectives in English are
categorized into two types; limiting adjectives and descriptive
adjectives. Limiting Adjectives Limiting adjectives are used to
specify only certain or specific nouns. They are limited to the
noun that they describe and hence, are known as limiting
adjectives. The types of limiting adjectives are possessive
adjectives, demonstrative adjectives, numerical adjectives,
interrogative adjectives, and proper adjectives. e.g. His book
(possessive adjective) Shakespearean drama (proper adjective)
Descriptive Adjectives Descriptive adjective is the largest group
among all the types of adjectives. Descriptive adjectives describe
the noun in detail by assigning an attribute of that noun. The list
of descriptive adjectives is considered nearly unending, as there
are adjectives to describe all nouns. Descriptive adjectives are
primarily differentiated into simple adjectives and compound
adjectives. (1) Simple Adjectives Simple adjectives are single
words that are commonly used to describe a noun. These are commonly
used in verbal communication when describing a thing or a person.
e.g. good, happy, bad, thin, lovely, picturesque (2) Compound
Adjectives Two or more adjectives, used consecutively to describe
the same noun, are known as compound adjectives. They are
hyphenated in order to avoid confusion between the two adjectives.
The most common compound adjectives are the ones formed when
adjectives precede nouns like 'blue-sky', or when adjectives are
preceded by verbs as in 'feel-good'. When two or more colors are
used as adjectives, there is always a hyphen between them. e.g.
middle-aged, short-sighted, bluish-green If there is no hyphen
between two adjectives, there can be an ambiguity in the meaning of
the sentence. The following example will be beneficial to
illustrate this. e.g. A man-eating tiger. As the adjectives are
hyphenated, it is clear that they describe the noun, 'tiger'. Now,
consider the following example, e.g. A man eating tiger. Here, as
there is no hyphen between the two words, it is difficult to
interpret the two words, 'man and eating', as a compound adjective
(man-eating). The sentence clearly means that a man is eating a
tiger. The following are the lists of descriptive adjectives that
are categorized according to ones that describe qualities,
personality traits, colors, sizes, shapes, sounds and feelings.
These can also be used to describe quality of something or even to
describe a person's character. Descriptive Adjectives List
List of Adjectives Describing Appearance Adorable Attractive
Alluring Beautiful Bewildered Boorish Confident Cheerful Cultured
Clumsy Drab Dull Dynamic Disillusioned Elegant Energetic Fair
Filthy Gentle Glamorous Handsome Homely Hurt Ill-mannered Jolly
Kind-hearted Lovely Magnificent Nervous
List of Adjectives Describing List of Adjectives Personality
Describing Feelings Aggressive Ambitious Amused Brave Bright
Barbarous Cruel Combative Co-operative Cowardly Dangerous Diligent
Determined Disagreeable Evil Erratic Frank Fearless Generous Gifted
Helpful Harmonious Hesitant Instinctive Jealous Knowledgeable Loner
Mysterious Naughty Afraid Angry Anxious Bad Bored Berserk Calm
Confused Comfortable Creepy Depressed Disturbed Dominating
Deceitful Envious Elated Faithful Fine Good Grieving Horrible Happy
Hungry Ill Jovial Kind Lively Mature Nice
Pleasant Perfect Plucky Smiling Splendid Self-assured Snobbish
Thoughtful Tense Timid Upset Vivacious Wonderful Worried Wild
Zaftig
Pleasing Placid Punctual Successful Sedate Sincere Selfish
Talented Thrifty Truculent Unbiased Voracious Witty Wise Warm
Zany
Proud Peaceful Protective Sorrowful Silly Somber Sore Tired
Troubled Testy Unwell Vengeful Wicked Weary Wrong Zestful e.g. She
was in a jovial mood.
e.g. What an adorable baby! e.g. He was a brave knight.
Following is a list of descriptive adjectives that describe
shape, sound, size, time and quantity. List of Adjectives
Describing Shape Broad Crooked Circular Distorted Flat Hollow
Narrow Round List of Adjectives Describing Size Big Colossal Great
Gigantic Huge Large Miniature Mammoth List of Adjectives Describing
Time Ancient Annual Brief Early Fast Late Modern Old List of
Adjectives Describing Quantity Abundant Bountiful Cumbersome Empty
Extra Few Heavy Myriad
Square Skinny Steep Wide e.g. A skinny boy
Petite Tall Thin Tiny e.g. A miniature train
Rapid Swift Slow Young e.g. An ancient manuscript
Many Multiple Numerous Substantial e.g. Myriad stars
The following are lists of descriptive adjectives that describe
sound, taste, touch and color. List of Adjectives Describing Sound
Blaring Cooing Deafening Loud Melancholic Noisy Soft Shrill
Squeaking Silent Thundering Whispering e.g. Blaring loudspeaker
List of Adjectives Describing Taste Bitter Delicious Fresh Hot Icy
Juicy Spicy Sweet Sour Salty Tasty Tasteless List of Adjectives
Describing Touch Hard Loose Rough Smooth Slippery Sticky Sharp
Scattered Soft Tender Uneven Wet List of Adjectives Describing
Color Azure Aqua Blue Black Crimson Cyan Gold Green Magenta Orange
Pink Turquoise e.g. Green diamond
e.g. Delicious pastry e.g. Rough surface
Usage of Descriptive Adjectives If you wish to use more than one
descriptive adjective, you need to follow certain rules of usage.
The descriptive adjective follows the opinion adjective. To
understand this, consider the following example. e.g. A beautiful,
green emerald. In the above example, both 'beautiful' and 'green'
are descriptive adjectives. But the adjective 'beautiful' is an
opinion or a general adjective that may differ from person to
person. On the other hand, 'green' is a specific adjective that
defines an emerald.
Therefore, when more descriptive adjectives have to be used,
they should follow the manner illustrated below. e.g. A black,
wooden door. A nice, big bungalow. All the above are examples of
descriptive adjectives. To understand the usage of adjectives
clearly, they are also further classified into the following
sub-types. Predicate Adjectives Predicate adjectives affirm an
attribute of the subject. In simpler words, these adjectives modify
the subject in the sentence. There is always a linking verb that
connects the subject to the predicate adjective. e.g. The cake is
tasty. Here the predicate adjective 'tasty' describes the subject
'the cake'. Adjective Degrees When an adjective describes a singe
noun, it is the positive degree of adjective; whereas when the
adjective denotes comparison between two nouns, it is the
comparative degree of adjective. The superlative degree of
adjective is used when the comparison is between many nouns. e.g. A
is a tall building (positive degree) B is taller than A
(comparative degree) C is the tallest building (superlative degree)
Participial Adjectives When participles express a quality of the
nouns i.e. participles function as adjectives, they are known as
participial adjectives. There are two types of participial
adjectives; the ones ending with 'ing' and the ones ending with
'ed'. e.g. The program was boring We were bored at the program. The
above descriptive adjectives list is definitely helpful for anyone
in order to express more about a person, thing, action, etc. in a
better way. In order to improve your language and vocabulary, you
can also look for synonyms of these adjectives and use them in
speech or writing. Good luck! By Madhura Pandit Last Updated:
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List of AdjectivesClick here for a list of over 1,100
adjectives. The list of adjectives is something of wonder. Behold
the modest adjective. It can leap tall buildings in a single bound.
It makes the average citizen smarter and kinder. It keeps you in
the cleanest car on the block. Such potent words should be used
wisely. Read on and learn how to use your adjective powers for
good. An adjective's job is to modify a noun or pronoun. They are
always near the noun or pronoun they are describing. Be careful how
you use adjectives such as interesting, beautiful, great,
wonderful, or exciting. Many adjectives like these are overused and
add little definition to a sentence. Instead, show your reader or
listener what you are talking about by using verbs and nouns
creatively. Sprinkle fewer well-chosen adjectives for interest.
Adjectives are often used to describe the degree of modification.
The adjective forms are positive, comparative, and superlative.
This tree is tall. (positive) That tree is taller. (comparative)
The last tree in the row is the tallest. (superlative) A handful of
adjectives have irregular forms of positive, comparative, and
superlative usage.
These include good/better/best, bad/worse/worst,
little/less/least, much-manysome/more/most, far/further/furthest.
My lunch was good, hers was better, and yours was the best. Proper
adjectives are derived from proper nouns. They commonly describe
something in terms of nationality, religious affiliation, or
culture. Like proper nouns, proper adjectives have their first
letter capitalized. Some examples of proper adjectives include:
American French Japanese Latino Asian Australian Catholic Lutheran
Jewish The following lists are just a sampling of adjectives in the
English language. They are categorized by the type of attribute
they describe. Use your dictionary or thesaurus to add to each list
or use the complete list below this one. Appearance Adjectives
adorable beautiful clean drab elegant fancy glamorous handsome long
magnificent old-fashioned plain quaint sparkling ugliest unsightly
wide-eyed Color Adjectives red orange yellow green blue purple gray
black white Condition Adjectives alive better careful clever dead
easy famous gifted helpful important inexpensive mushy odd powerful
rich shy tender uninterested vast Feelings (Bad) Adjectives angry
bewildered clumsy defeated embarrassed fierce grumpy helpless itchy
jealous lazy mysterious nervous obnoxious panicky repulsive scary
thoughtless uptight
wrong. Feelings (Good) Adjectives agreeable brave calm
delightful eager faithful gentle happy jolly kind lively nice
obedient proud relieved silly thankful victorious witty zealous
Time Adjectives ancient brief early fast late long modern old
old-fashioned quick rapid short slow swift young Shape Adjectives
broad chubby crooked curved deep flat high hollow low narrow round
shallow skinny square steep straight wide. Size Adjectives big
colossal fat gigantic great huge immense large little mammoth
massive miniature petite puny scrawny short small tall teeny
teeny-tiny tiny Touch Adjectives boiling breeze broken bumpy chilly
cold cool creepy crooked cuddly curly damaged damp dirty dry
worried Sound Adjectives cooing deafening faint hissing loud
melodic noisy purring quiet raspy screeching thundering voiceless
whispering
Taste/Touch Adjectives bitter delicious fresh greasy juicy hot
icy loose melted nutritious prickly rainy rotten salty sticky
Quantity Adjectives abundant empty few full heavy light many
numerous sparse substantial
strong sweet tart tasteless uneven weak wet wooden yummy
dusty filthy flaky fluffy freezing hot warm wet
Why do you need a list of adjectives? Adjectives can turn the
ordinary in to the extraordinary. When used properly, they can add
vivid interest to your conversation or written communication.
However, there can be too much of a good thing. Please keep your
adjectives effective by choosing them wisely.
Comprehensive List of AdjectivesA aback abaft abandoned abashed
aberrant abhorrent abiding abject ablaze able abnormal aboard
aboriginal abortive abounding abrasive abrupt absent absorbed
absorbing B bad barbarous bashful bawdy beautiful befitting
belligerent beneficial bent berserk best better bewildered big
billowy bite-sized bitter bizarre black black-andC cagey
calculating callous calm capable capricious careful careless caring
cautious ceaseless certain changeable charming cheap cheerful
chemical chief childlike chilly D daffy daily damaged damaging damp
dangerous dapper dark dashing dazzling dead deadpan deafening dear
debonair decisive decorous deep deeply defeated E eager early
earsplitting earthy easy eatable economic educated efficacious
efficient eight elastic elated elderly electric elegant elfin elite
embarrassed eminent
abstracted absurd abundant abusive acceptable accessible
accidental accurate acid acidic acoustic acrid actually ad hoc
adamant adaptable addicted adhesive adjoining adorable adventurous
afraid aggressive agonizing agreeable ahead ajar alcoholic alert
alike alive alleged alluring aloof amazing ambiguous ambitious
amuck amused amusing ancient angry animated annoyed annoying
white bloody blue blue-eyed blushing boiling boorish bored
boring bouncy boundless brainy brash brave brawny breakable breezy
brief bright bright broad broken brown bumpy burly bustling
busy
chivalrous chubby chunky clammy classy clean clear clever
cloistered cloudy closed clumsy cluttered coherent cold colorful
colossal combative comfortable common complete complex concerned
condemned confused conscious cooing cool cooperative coordinated
courageous cowardly crabby craven crazy creepy crooked crowded
cruel cuddly cultured cumbersome curious curly curved
defective defiant delicate delicious delightful demonic
delirious dependent depressed deranged descriptive deserted
detailed determined devilish didactic different difficult diligent
direful dirty disagreeable disastrous discreet disgusted disgusting
disillusioned dispensable distinct disturbed divergent dizzy
domineering doubtful drab draconian dramatic dreary drunk dry dull
dusty dusty dynamic dysfunctional
empty enchanted enchanting encouraging endurable energetic
enormous entertaining enthusiastic envious equable equal erect
erratic ethereal evanescent evasive even excellent excited exciting
exclusive exotic expensive extra-large extra-small exuberant
exultant
anxious apathetic aquatic aromatic arrogant ashamed aspiring
assorted astonishing attractive auspicious automatic available
average awake aware awesome awful axiomatic
curvy cut cute cute cynical
F fabulous faded faint fair faithful fallacious false familiar
famous fanatical fancy fantastic far far-flung fascinated fast fat
faulty fearful fearless feeble
G gabby gainful gamy gaping garrulous gaudy general gentle giant
giddy gifted gigantic glamorous gleaming glib glistening glorious
glossy godly good goofy
H habitual half hallowed halting handsome handsomely handy
hanging hapless happy hard hard-to-find harmonious harsh hateful
heady healthy heartbreaking heavenly heavy hellish
I icky icy idiotic ignorant ill illegal ill-fated ill-informed
illustrious imaginary immense imminent impartial imperfect impolite
important imported impossible incandescent incompetent
inconclusive
J jaded jagged jazzy jealous jittery jobless jolly joyous
judicious juicy jumbled jumpy juvenile
feigned female fertile festive few fierce filthy fine finicky
first five fixed flagrant flaky flashy flat flawless flimsy
flippant flowery fluffy fluttering foamy foolish foregoing
forgetful fortunate four frail fragile frantic free freezing
frequent fresh fretful friendly frightened frightening full
fumbling functional funny furry furtive
gorgeous graceful grandiose grateful gratis gray greasy great
greedy green grey grieving groovy grotesque grouchy grubby gruesome
grumpy guarded guiltless gullible gusty guttural
helpful helpless hesitant hideous high highfalutin high-pitched
hilarious hissing historical holistic hollow homeless homely
honorable horrible hospitable hot huge hulking humdrum humorous
hungry hurried hurt hushed husky hypnotic hysterical
industrious incredible inexpensive infamous innate innocent
inquisitive insidious instinctive intelligent interesting internal
invincible irate irritating itchy
future futuristic fuzzy
K kaput keen kind kindhearted kindly knotty knowing
knowledgeable known
L labored lackadaisical lacking lame lamentable languid large
last late laughable lavish lazy lean learned left legal lethal
level lewd light like likeable limping literate little lively
lively living lonely long longing long-term loose lopsided loud
loutish lovely
M macabre macho maddening madly magenta magical magnificent
majestic makeshift male malicious mammoth maniacal many marked
massive married marvelous material materialistic mature mean measly
meaty medical meek mellow melodic melted merciful mere messy mighty
military milky mindless miniature
N naive nappy narrow nasty natural naughty nauseating near neat
nebulous necessary needless needy neighborly nervous new next nice
nifty nimble nine nippy noiseless noisy nonchalant nondescript
nonstop normal nostalgic nosy noxious null numberless numerous
nutritious nutty
O oafish obedient obeisant obese obnoxious obscene obsequious
observant obsolete obtainable oceanic odd offbeat old old-fashioned
omniscient one onerous open opposite optimal orange ordinary
organic ossified outgoing outrageous outstanding oval overconfident
overjoyed overrated overt overwrought
loving low lowly lucky ludicrous lumpy lush luxuriant lying
lyrical
minor miscreant misty mixed moaning modern moldy momentous
motionless mountainous muddled mundane murky mushy mute
mysterious
P painful painstaking pale paltry panicky panoramic parallel
parched parsimonious past pastoral pathetic peaceful penitent
perfect periodic permissible perpetual petite petite phobic
physical
Q quack quaint quarrelsome questionable quick quickest quiet
quirky quixotic quizzical
R rabid racial ragged rainy rambunctious rampant rapid rare
raspy ratty ready real rebel receptive recondite red redundant
reflective regular relieved remarkable reminiscent
S sable sad safe salty same sassy satisfying savory scandalous
scarce scared scary scattered scientific scintillating scrawny
screeching second second-hand secret secretive sedate
T taboo tacit tacky talented tall tame tan tangible tangy tart
tasteful tasteless tasty tawdry tearful tedious teeny teeny-tiny
telling temporary ten tender
picayune pink piquant placid plain plant plastic plausible
pleasant plucky pointless poised polite political poor possessive
possible powerful precious premium present pretty previous pricey
prickly private probable productive profuse protective proud
psychedelic psychotic public puffy pumped puny purple purring pushy
puzzled puzzling
repulsive resolute resonant responsible rhetorical rich right
righteous rightful rigid ripe ritzy roasted robust romantic roomy
rotten rough round royal ruddy rude rural rustic ruthless
seemly selective selfish separate serious shaggy shaky shallow
sharp shiny shivering shocking short shrill shut shy sick silent
silent silky silly simple simplistic sincere six skillful skinny
sleepy slim slimy slippery sloppy slow small smart smelly smiling
smoggy smooth sneaky snobbish snotty soft soggy solid
tense tense tenuous terrible terrific tested testy thankful
therapeutic thick thin thinkable third thirsty thirsty thoughtful
thoughtless threatening three thundering tidy tight tightfisted
tiny tired tiresome toothsome torpid tough towering tranquil trashy
tremendous tricky trite troubled truculent true truthful two
typical
somber sophisticated sordid sore sore sour sparkling special
spectacular spicy spiffy spiky spiritual spiteful splendid spooky
spotless spotted spotty spurious squalid square squealing squeamish
staking stale standing statuesque steadfast steady steep
stereotyped sticky stiff stimulating stingy stormy straight strange
striped strong stupendous stupid sturdy subdued
subsequent substantial successful succinct sudden sulky super
superb superficial supreme swanky sweet sweltering swift
symptomatic synonymous
U ubiquitous ugliest ugly ultra unable unaccountable unadvised
unarmed unbecoming unbiased uncovered understood undesirable
unequal unequaled uneven unhealthy uninterested unique unkempt
unknown unnatural unruly
V vacuous vagabond vague valuable various vast vengeful venomous
verdant versed victorious vigorous violent violet vivacious
voiceless volatile voracious vulgar
W wacky waggish waiting wakeful wandering wanting warlike warm
wary wasteful watery weak wealthy weary well-groomed well-made
well-off well-to-do wet whimsical whispering white whole
Y yellow yielding young youthful yummy
Z zany zealous zesty zippy zonked
unsightly unsuitable untidy unused unusual unwieldy unwritten
upbeat uppity upset uptight used useful useless utopian utter
uttermost
wholesale wicked wide wide-eyed wiggly wild willing windy wiry
wise wistful witty woebegone womanly wonderful wooden woozy
workable worried worthless wrathful wretched wrong wry
List of Verbs List of Pronouns List of Prepositions
List of Nouns List of Adverbs List Of Adjectives
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