What are Descriptive Adjectives?

Descriptive Adjectives Definition

What are Descriptive Adjectives? In this article, I am going to explain different descriptive adjectives we can use to describe a person, place, or thing. There are a few kinds of adjectives, but descriptive adjectives are the most common. Other kinds of adjectives include compound adjectives, demonstrative adjectives, proper adjectives, possessive adjectives, quantitative adjectives, and negative adjectives.

If you recognize your grammar, you’re most likely already well aware of adjectives.

What Are Descriptive Adjectives?

Descriptive adjectives are exactly what they sound like, words that describe a thing, person, or place. Descriptive adjectives are used to clarify or add detail to a sentence. They include shapes, sizes, colors, and some other such details.

One or several adjectives can be used for the same noun, using commas between them. English-speaking communities aren’t always aware of the rules, they can hear the difference if several adjectives appear out of order, so it is better to know the rules. The order of using multiple adjectives is as follows:

• Demonstrative/quantitative adjectives
• Quality/opinion
• Size
• Age
• Shape
• Color
• Proper adjectives
• Purpose

So, for example, a sentence, “I have five, good, huge, young, round, blue, Storybook, egg-laying hens.”

Descriptive adjectives can tell how something tastes, what shape something, what color something, what size something is, what something smells like, what age of a person, and so much more.

Also check: Adjectives That Start With G

Adjectives that describe size are:

• Pudgy
• Petite
• Miniature
• Immense

Adjectives that describe texture are:

• Bumpy
• Rough
• Scaly
• Smooth

Adjectives to use when describing odor are:

• Acrid
• Fragrant
• Putrid
• Sweet

Adjectives that describe sound are:

• Faint
• Muffled
• Shrill
• Thundering

Adjectives that describe appearance are:

• Attractive
• Hideous
• Muscular
• Stunning

Adjectives that describe character are:

• Courageous
• Dependable
• Dishonest
• Funny

An Organized List of Descriptive Adjectives

You know now, what descriptive adjectives are, and how to use them, the following list of descriptive adjectives are explained

• Simple Adjectives
• Proper adjectives.
• Compound Adjectives

Simple Descriptive Adjectives

Simple adjectives are just adjectives. Simple adjectives are single words that are not proper nouns as simple adjectives also called common adjectives. Just like the other descriptive adjectives, these can be combined with other adjectives simply.

Also check: Adjectives That Start With H

Adorable	Kind
Adventurous	Knightly
Aggressive	Large
Agreeable	Lazy
Alert	Lemony
Alive	Light
Aloof	Lingering
Amused	Lively
Ancient	Lonely
Angry	Long
Annoying	Lovely
Anxious	Low
Arrogant	Lucky
Arrow	Magnificent
Ashamed	Massive
Attractive	Mellow
Auspicious	Melodic
Average	Miniscule
Awful	Modern
Bad	Motionless
Beautiful	Muddy
Beige	Mushy
Better	Mysterious
Big	Naughty
Bitter	Nervous
Black	New
Blue	Nice
Blushing	Niche
Bored	Noisy
Brave	Nutty
Bright	Oak
Brown	Obedient
Bumpy	Obnoxious
Busy	Octagonal
Calm	Odd
Careful	Old
Cautious	Open
Charming	Orange
Cheap	Outrageous
Cheerful	Outstanding
Chestnut	Oval
Clean	Panicked
Clear	Perfect
Clever	Petite
Clumsy	Pink
Cold	Plain
Colorful	Plastic
Combative	Pleasant
Comfortable	Poised
Concerning	Poor
Condemned	Powerless
Confusing	Precious
Cool	Prickling
Cooperative	Proud
Cotton	Puny
Courageous	Purple
Crazy	Puzzled
Creepy	Quaint
Crooked	Queer
Crowded	Quiet
Cruel	Quizzical
Crystal	Rainy
Curios	Realistic
Cute	Red
Dangerous	Relieved
Dark	Repelling
Dead	Repulsive
Defiant	Rich
Delicious	Right
Delightful	Round
Difficult	Sad
Dim	Safe
Disgusting	Salty
Distinct	Sane
Disturbed	Scared
Dizzying	Scary
Drab	Scenic
Dry	Selfish
Dull	Shallow
Dusty	Sharp
Eager	Shiny
Easy	Short
Elated	Shrill
Elderly	Shy
Elegant	Silly
Embarrassed	Skinny
Enchanted	Sleepy
Encouraging	Small
Energetic	Smiling
Enthusiastic	Smoggy
Envious	Soft
Evil	Solid
Excited	Sore
Exciting	Sour
Expensive	Sparkly
Exuberant	Splendid
Faithful	Spotted
Famous	Square
Fancy	Steep
Fantastic	Sticky
Fat	Stormy
Few	Strange
Fierce	Strong
Filthy	Stupid
Fine	Successful
Foolish	Super
Fragile	Superior
Frail	Sweet
Frantic	Swift
Fresh	Talented
Friendly	Tame
Frightening	Tan
Funny	Tart
Fuzzy	Tasty
Gentle	Teak
Giant	Teeny
Gifted	Tender
Glamorous	Tense
Gleaming	Terrible
Glorious	Terse
Good	Thankful
Gorgeous	Thoughtful
Graceful	Tiny
Granite	Tired
Green	Tough
Grieving	Tremendous
Grumpy	Triangular
Handsome	Troubling
Happy	Ugly
Hard	Uninterested
Harsh	Unusual
Healthy	Upset
Helpful	Uptight
Helpless	Varied
Hilarious	Vast
Hollow	Victorious
Homeless	Wandering
Horrible	Weak
Hot	Weary
Huge	Wet
Hungry	Whispering
Hurt	White
Ill	Wicked
Important	Wide
Impossible	Wild
Impromptu	Witty
Improvised	Wooden
Inexpensive	Woolen
Innocent	Worrisome
Inquiring	Wrong
Itchy	Yellow
Jealous	Young
Jittery	Zealous
Joyous

Also read: Adjectives That Start With I

Proper Descriptive Adjectives

Proper adjectives contain a proper noun. Here is the list of some example proper adjectives.

Alpine	Japanese
American	Korean
Arthurian	Martian
Asian	Mayan
Brazilian	Mexican
Californian	Norwegian
Canadian	Orwellian
Chinese	Pacific
Christian	Peruvian
Colombian	Polish
Cuban	Roman
Darwinian	Romanian
Ecuadorian	Russian
English	Satanic
European	Shakespearean
French	Spanish
German	Thai
Greek	Turkish
Gregorian	Victorian
Hindu	Voltairian
Indonesian	Welsh
Italian

Compound Descriptive Adjectives

Compound adjectives are adjectives in which more than one word makes up a single adjective. Commonly in compound adjectives, words are separated by hyphen e.g. High-heeled, Tight-fisted. But some time hyphen is not necessary, e.g. overpopulated, Bulletproof.

Also read: Adjectives That Start With J

old-fashioned	500-word
one-of-a-kind	6-page
open-minded	absent-minded
Over-confident	all-too-common
Overly affectionate	amazingly good
overpopulated	apple-pie
overstuffed	backward-facing
part-time	Bad-tempered
pro bono	beaten-up
quick-witted	beautifully painted
record-breaking	better-suited
red-hot	Big-headed
running on empty	Billy Elliot
Seasick	blue-collar
Second-place	blue-sky
second-rate	brand-new
Self-absorbed	brightly-lit
Self-acting	Broad-minded
Self-addressed	broken-down
Self-adhesive	built-in
Self-appointed	built-up
Self-assembly	bulletproof
Self-assertive	cashed-up
Self-assured	child-wanted
Self-aware	cold-blooded
Self-centered	Cold-hearted
Self-colour	cruelty-free
Self-confessed	deep-dish
Self-confident	deep-fried
self-conscious	deep-water
Self-contained	densely-populated
Self-contradictory	dimly lit
Self-correcting	Dog house
Self-critical	Doghouse
Self-defeating	Double-baked
Self-deniying	dub reggae
Self-drive	Easy-going
Self-educated	English-speaking
self-effacing	extra cheesy
Self-employed	eye-opening
Self-evident	far-reaching
Self-explanatory	Fast-paced
Self-important	Fast-talking
Self-imposed	fat-free
short-haired	fifteen-year-old
short-handed	Fire truck
Short-tempered	five-star
show-stopping	forward-thinking
sky-blue	four-foot
slow-moving	four-wheel
smoke-free	French-speaking
Spanish-speaking	full-length
Strong-minded	good-looking
strong-willed	Good-natured
sun-baked	grass-fed
sun-dried	green-eyed
terribly hot	gut-wrenching
Thick-skinned	Hard-working
third-party	high octane
thought-provoking	highest-taxed
three-floor	highly-respected
three-page	high-spirited
three-storey	homegrown
Tightly wound	Ice-cold
time-saving	kind-hearted
twentieth-century	Laid-back
two-year-old	last-minute
undercooked	lesser known
up-to-date	Level headed
Waking the Dead	level-headed
warm-blooded	lightly sauced
Warmly received	long-lasting
Weak-willed	long-life
well-behaved	low-stress
well-educated	meat eater
well-fatted	middle-aged
Well-known	most densely populated
well-off	most ethnically diverse
Whitewashed	mouth-watering
widely-recognized	narrow-minded
world-famous	Neatly pressed
Yellow-striped	never-ending

Also read: Adjectives That Start With K

Examples of Descriptive Adjective in Sentences

Here are some sentences that are using descriptive adjectives.

• There is a huge elephant.
• Sofia is a tall woman.
• Courageous firefighters!
• An annoying classmate.
• William is an intelligent speaker.
• Here is a playful kitten.
• Alex is a cute baby.
• Elijah is a cricketer.
• I bought a genuine bike.
• I am a self-reliant student.
• She has a beautiful niece.
• She is a clever lady.
• Give me that red big ball.
• I have an old van.
• Benjamin bought an expensive old mirror.
• He gave me four gorgeous red roses.
• I want to buy a diamond necklace.
• Emma loves golden jars.
• Liam wants to throw a surprise party for her girlfriend.
• Give me that brown pad.
• They ate some delicious food.
• Oliver plays enormous hockey.
• Lucas is a hard-working person.  
• Noah is an exciting cricketer.
• Shahid Afridi is a dashing all-rounder.
• We caught a running lion.

Also read: Adjectives That Start With L

Descriptive Adjective InfoGraphics

Here are some printable infographics about Descriptive Adjective. Printable infographics are a fantastic way to share a significant amount of details in a short time in a stunning way. The Descriptive Adjective infographic can help teachers and students to share their thoughts easily.

My Considerations

Since the Adjective is the main part of English reading, the importance of developing vocabulary cannot be undervalued without descriptive adjective.

You can read the above simple list of descriptive adjective to improve your understanding of English grammar.

Encourage your children to learn these basic but commonly used descriptive adjective, by following the simple example sentences given above. Then, save this list of descriptive adjective, handy for future interview use.

If you enjoyed a printable infographic about descriptive adjective, I’d be very thankful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to your friends or sharing it on Pinterest, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Thank you!

Recap of what we just learned

• What are Descriptive Adjective?
• Descriptive Adjective Definition
• An Organized List of Descriptive Adjectives
• Simple Descriptive Adjectives
• Proper Descriptor Adjectives
• Compound Descriptor Adjectives
• Examples of Descriptive Adjective in Sentences
• Descriptive Adjective InfoGraphics

If you’re having any doubts about the qualities of Descriptive Adjective, you can leave a comment below, and we’ll attempt to give you feedback as early as possible. Thank you!

Related Topics

Explore the full list of Adjectives to Describe a Person from A to Z!