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List of Descriptive Adjectives

Adjectives 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: 1/5/2012 Ads by Google Carti Business Engleza Invata Business In Engleza Comanda O Carte Chiar Acum ! www.bookforceone.ro/Business smileydelivery.ro Trimite un mesaj si Smiley il face cunoscut tarii! smileydelivery.ro Student Marketing Europe Book your European campus ads. One partner, no service fees. www.uni-media.eu Hospitality Management Start Master Course in Hospitality. 90% Placement. Merit Grants. Apply hospitality.management.mib.edu

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List of Adjectives
Click 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 Adjectives

A 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

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List of Nouns List of Adverbs List Of Adjectives

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