List of Descriptive Adjectives

A language is used for communication; verbal as well as written. Each language has its own grammar i.e. a specific set of rules that determine the structure of sentences. 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 much easier. The English language is open to changes, as thousands of words are added to it every year. There are a large number words in the English language, and all these words can be classified into the eight parts of speech, that form the backbone of English grammar and composition. The eight parts of speech are Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb, Pronoun, Conjunction, Preposition and Interjection. Let us have a look at adjectives in detail.

Adjectives
Adjectives are one of the eight parts of speech that express an attribute of a place, thing 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 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.
eg- His book (possessive adjective)
Shakespearean drama (proper adjective)

Descriptive Adjectives
Descriptive adjectives is the largest group among 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 describing nearly every noun. 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.
eg- good, happy, bad, thin, etc

(2) Compound Adjectives
Two or more adjectives, used consecutively, that describe the same noun, are known as compound adjectives. They are hyphenated to avoid confusion between the two adjectives. The most common compound adjectives are the ones 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.
eg- 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.
eg- A man-eating tiger.
As the adjectives are hyphenated, it is clear that they describe the noun, 'tiger'. Now, consider the following example,
eg- A man eating tiger.
Here, there is no hyphen between the two words, neither are they considered adjectives. The sentence clearly means that a man is eating a tiger.

The following is the list of descriptive adjectives that are categorized according to ones that describe qualities, personality traits, colors, sizes, shapes, sounds and feelings.

Descriptive Adjectives List

List of Descriptive Adjectives Describing Appearance	List of Descriptive Adjectives Describing Personality	List of Descriptive Adjectives Describing Feelings
Adorable	Aggressive	Afraid
Attractive	Ambitious	Angry
Alluring	Amused	Anxious
Beautiful	Brave	Bad
Bewildered	Bright	Bored
Confident	Cruel	Calm
Cheerful	Combative	Confused
Cultured	Co-operative	Comfortable
Clumsy	Cowardly	Creepy
Drab	Dangerous	Depressed
Dull	Diligent	Disturbed
Dynamic	Determined	Dominating
Disillusioned	Disagreeable	Deceitful
Elegant	Evil	Envious
Fair	Frank	Faithful
Filthy	Fearless	Fine
Gentle	Generous	Good
Glamorous	Gifted	Grieving
Handsome	Helpful	Horrible
Homely	Harmonious	Happy
Hurt	Hesitant	Hungry
Ill-mannered	Instinctive	Ill
Jolly	Jealous	Jovial
Kind-hearted	Knowledgeable	Kind
Lovely	Loner	Lively
Magnificent	Mysterious	Mature
Nervous	Naughty	Nice
Pleasant	Pleasing	Proud
Perfect	Placid	Peaceful
Plucky	Punctual	Protective
Smiling	Successful	Sorrowful
Splendid	Sedate	Silly
Self-assured	Sincere	Sombre
Snobbish	Selfish	Sore
Thoughtful	Talented	Tired
Tense	Thrifty	Troubled
Timid	Truculent	Testy
Upset	Unbiased	Unwell
Vivacious	Voracious	Vengeful
Wonderful	Witty	Wicked
Worried	Wise	Weary
Wild	Warm	Wrong
Zaftig	Zany	Zestful
eg- What an adorable baby!	eg- He was a brave knight.	eg- She was in a jovial mood.

Following is a list of descriptive adjectives that describe shape, sound, size, time and quantity.

List of Descriptive Adjectives Describing Shape	List of Descriptive Adjectives Describing Size	List of Descriptive Adjectives Describing Time	List of Descriptive Adjectives Describing Quantity
Broad	Big	Ancient	Abundant
Crooked	Colossal	Annual	Bountiful
Circular	Great	Brief	Cumbersome
Distorted	Gigantic	Early	Empty
Flat	Huge	Fast	Extra
Hollow	Large	Late	Few
Narrow	Miniature	Modern	Heavy
Round	Mammoth	Old	Myriad
Square	Petite	Rapid	Many
Skinny	Tall	Swift	Multiple
Steep	Thin	Slow	Numerous
Wide	Tiny	Young	Substantial
eg- A skinny boy	eg- A miniature train	eg- An ancient manuscript	eg- Myriad stars

The following descriptive adjectives list qualify nouns related to sound, taste, touch and color.

List of Descriptive Adjectives Describing Sound	List of Descriptive Adjectives Describing Taste	List of Descriptive Adjectives Describing Touch	List of Descriptive Adjectives Describing Color
Blaring	Bitter	Hard	Azure
Cooing	Delicious	Loose	Aqua
Deafening	Fresh	Rough	Blue
Loud	Hot	Smooth	Black
Melancholic	Icy	Slippery	Crimson
Noisy	Juicy	Sticky	Cyan
Soft	Spicy	Sharp	Gold
Shrill	Sweet	Scattered	Green
Squeaking	Sour	Soft	Magenta
Silent	Salty	Tender	Orange
Thundering	Tasty	Uneven	Pink
Whispering	Tasteless	Wet	Turquoise
eg- Blaring loudspeaker	eg- Delicious pastry	eg- Rough surface	eg- Green diamond

Usage of Descriptive Adjectives

When more than one descriptive adjective is used, there is a rule to be followed. The descriptive adjective is followed by the opinion adjective. To understand this, consider the following example.
eg- 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.
eg- A black, wooden door.
A nice, big bungalow.

All of 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.
eg- 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.
eg- A is tall (positive degree)
B is taller than A (comparative degree)
C is the tallest (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'
eg- 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.