Use 150+ Adjectives in English To Describe in Detail

The English language includes thousands of adjectives, but knowing just the most common ones can help bring your writing and conversations to a whole new level. Adjectives give you more information about a noun (person, place, or thing) and can make it more specific or interesting. Some adjectives are among the most common English words, and they can serve many practical purposes. To use adjectives like a native speaker, you’ll want to know the types, word order, and other rules about adjectives in the English language. 

Table of Contents

• Types of adjectives in English
• Common descriptive English adjectives
• Possessive adjectives in English
• Examples of English demonstrative adjectives
• Comparative and superlative adjective examples
• How to order adjectives in English sentences
• Key takeaways about English adjectives

Types of adjectives in English

When learning English parts of speech, you’ll hear that the definition of adjectives is “describing words.” You might think of words like blue, small, or funny. Descriptive adjectives like these are just one category of adjectives, but there are many useful types. 

The definition of an adjective is a word that modifies a noun or an English pronoun. This can happen in several ways. 

Type	Definition	Examples
descriptive adjectives	describes the qualities of a noun	a fast car an expensive bike a sour lemon
quantitative/limiting adjectives	tells the amount or number of a noun	three kittens hundreds of people several eggs some water
possessive adjectives	shows ownership or relationship	my pencil your dog  his friend
demonstrative adjectives	tells which noun you’re talking about and how close it is	this laptop that tablet these computers those screens
proper adjectives	descriptive words formed from proper nouns; often capitalized	Italian citizen Shakespearian English the Atlantic coast
comparative adjectives	compares two different nouns	the larger animal the easier word the darker color
superlative adjectives	tells which noun is the most extreme in the group	the largest animal the easiest word the darkest color
interrogative adjectives	used to ask questions	Which page?  What number? Whose notebook?
distributive adjectives	details individual members of a group of nouns	each person every day

Common descriptive English adjectives

Learn this list of adjectives in English to understand some of the most common descriptors. You’ll deepen your understanding and be able to describe a wide variety of English nouns. 

Adjective	Pronunciation	Example
alive	uh-LAHYV	Plants and animals are alive.
awesome	AW-suhm	This game is awesome!
bad	bad	That is a bad idea.
beautiful	BYOO-tuh-fuhl	She bought a beautiful dress.
big	big	I need a big car.
cheap	cheep	The cheap chocolate melted.
close	klohs	She is a close friend.
cold	kohld	It’s a cold day.
cool	kool	The cool weather is refreshing.
cute	kyoot	Look at the cute puppy!
dangerous	DEYN-jer-uhs	There’s a dangerous curve ahead.
dead	ded	The dead plant needs to be removed.
different	DIF-er-uhnt	She has a different sense of style.
difficult	DIF-i-kuhlt	The difficult exam is over now.
early	UR-lee	I have an early appointment.
easy	EE-zee	The easy route is best.
expensive	ik-SPEN-siv	Her expensive suit looks nice.
fair	fair	What’s a fair price?
free	free	Take some free samples.
funny	FUHN-ee	The funny comedian made me laugh.
good	good	My mom bakes good cookies.
great	greyt	Here’s a list of great books.
happy	HAP-ee	He’s a happy dog.
hot	hot	I can’t wait for hot weather.
important	im-POHR-tnt	I have three important phone calls to make.
interesting	IN-tuh-rest-ting	I learned an interesting fact.
late	leyt	The late showing starts at 9.
little	LIT-l	My little sister packed my lunch.
long	lawng	We have a long car ride ahead.
new	noo	I have new shoes.
nice	nahys	The nice woman helped me.
old	ohld	My old couch is still in good shape.
perfect	PUR-fikt	A fish is the perfect pet for me.
pretty	PRIT-ee	The pretty flowers bloom in May.
right	rahyt	You got the right answer.
sad	sad	It’s a sad ending.
safe	seyf	This is a safe location for your belongings.
sick	sik	My sick child will be absent today.
small	smawl	I brought a small bag on board.
strange	streynj	That’s a strange story.
sweet	sweet	I’d like a sweet treat.
true	troo	Is this a true story?

Names of colors

Many colors are adjectives in the English language, too! This list has the standard names for basic colors.  

Color	Pronunciation	Example
black	blak	The black cat crossed my path.
blue	bloo	The sky is blue.
brown	broun	She has beautiful brown eyes.
gold	gohld	She won a gold medal.
gray	grey	The gray sky was dreary on that rainy day.
green	green	The grass is green in spring.
orange	AWR-inj	The orange traffic cone blocked our path.
pink	pingk	I’d like six pink carnations, please.
purple	PUR-puhl	I mixed red and blue to make purple paint.
red	red	I ate the red apple.
silver	SIL-ver	She wears a silver ring.
white	wahyt	The white snow is beautiful.
yellow	YEL-oh	I picked a yellow daffodil.

English speakers will also use nouns to describe specific shades of colors, such as cream, tangerine, or burgundy. Depending on the structure of the sentence, these nouns could be functioning as adjectives in English. 

• I put some cream in my coffee. (noun referring to the thing)
• I spilled coffee on my cream sweater. (adjective describing the noun). 

English adjectives that describe personality and physical appearance

This list of adjectives is helpful for describing a person or pet.

Adjective	Pronunciation
brave	breyv
confident	KON-fi-duhnt
disorganized	dis-AWR-guh-nahyzd
friendly	FREND-lee
generous	JEN-er-uhs
hard-working	hahrd WERK-ing
lazy	LEY-zee
organized	AWR-guh-nahyzd
outgoing	out-GOH-ing
patient	PEY-shunt
short	shohrt
shy	shahy
sincere	sin-SEER
strong	strong
tall	tawl
thin	thin
weak	week
young	yung

Adjectives for emotions and feelings

These adjectives can describe how people are feeling. It’s helpful to use the correct word to communicate your emotions. 

Adjective	Pronunciation
afraid	uh-FREYD
angry	ANG-gree
calm	kahlm
delighted	dih-LAHY-tid
disgusted	dih-SKUHS-tid
excited	ik-SAHY-tid
hungry	HUHNG-gree
interested	IN-ter-uh-stid
joyful	JOI-fuhl
lonely	LOHN-lee
motivated	MOH-tuh-vey-tid
nervous	NUR-vuhs
peaceful	PEES-fuhl
pleased	pleezd
relaxed	ri-LAKST
scared	skaird
thankful	THANGK-ful
thirsty	THUR-stee
tired	tahyurhrd
unhappy	uhn-HAP-ee

List of adjectives for describing food in English

Whether you’re at a restaurant in one of over 75 English-speaking countries or invited to an English speaker’s home for dinner, these adjectives will help you describe the food. 

Adjective	Pronunciation
bitter	BIH-tuhr
bland	blahnd
crunchy	CRUHN-chee
delicious	dee-LIH-shuhs
fresh	frehsh
raw	raw
salty	SAHL-tee
savory	SAY-vuh-ree
spicy	SPEY-see
sour	SAW-wuhr
sweet	sweet

Possessive adjectives in English

Possessive words tell information about relationships or belonging. Some words are adjectives because they modify a noun, like my sister or their house.

English	Use	Example
my	belonging/related to me	Please hand me my purse.
your	belonging/related to you	Do you have your passport?
his	belonging/related to him	He needs his birth certificate.
her	belonging/related to her	She lost her ticket.
our	belonging/related to us	We missed our flight.
their	belonging/related to them	They are looking for their luggage.
its	belonging/related to an object or animal of unspecified gender	Don’t use that stool. One of its legs is broken.

Something to note is that its does not have an apostrophe when it means “belonging to it.” This is easily confused with it’s, which is a contraction of it is. 

Examples of English demonstrative adjectives

These adjectives are useful for specifying which noun you mean. There are different forms for pointing out singular (one) and plural (more than one) nouns and for nearby or more distant nouns. These words are among the first you should learn in English, so you can ask for things and point out what you need. 

English	Use	Example
this	to point out a nearby singular noun	What flavor is this muffin?
that	to point out a more distant singular noun	How much is that loaf of bread?
these	to point out a nearby plural noun	I would like three of these croissants, please.
those	to point out a more distant plural noun	Please give me four of those cookies.

The examples above all refer to physical distance from the speaker, but demonstrative adjectives can also express distance in time. 

• I won’t be here this weekend. (implies the closest weekend)
• I will return later that day. (implies a date further in the future)

Comparative and superlative adjective examples

Many descriptive adjectives in English have three separate forms. The standard, or absolute form describes one thing. The comparative form compares two things. The superlative form means the highest or most extreme degree of the group. 

Many comparatives use the suffix “-er” or the word more, and the superlatives generally use “-est” or most. If the adjective has three or more syllables, it’s best to stick with more or most in front. There are a few common exceptions with irregular forms, such as good, better, and best. 

Adjective	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
athletic	more athletic	most athletic
bad	worse	worst
creative	more creative	most creative
easy	easier	easiest
fast	faster	fastest
fun	more fun	most fun
good	better	best
happy	happier	happiest
organized	more organized	most organized
tall	taller	tallest

If you want to express the lowest degree or smallest amount instead, use less or least instead of more or most. It’s sometimes more common to refer to the adjective that is opposite in meaning, although it can depend on the nuance of the sentence. Saying that someone is the least tall person in their family implies that everyone is tall, but that person is the shortest of the group of tall people. 

Adjective	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
athletic	less athletic	least athletic
creative	less creative	least creative
easy	less easy	least easy/most difficult
fast	less fast/slower	least fast/slowest
fun	less fun	least fun
happy	less happy	least happy
organized	less organized	least organized
tall	less tall/shorter	least tall/shortest

How to order adjectives in English sentences

Using more than one adjective to describe one noun in a sentence is very common. English speakers have an innate understanding of the order of adjectives in English, but there are some general rules that seem to apply. 

It would sound awkward to say the Italian old beautiful painting. Instead, an American English speaker would naturally say the beautiful old Italian painting. Note that in British English, the order of adjectives might be slightly different.

The order that seems to work best in US English in most cases is: 

1. quantity/number (eight, few, many)
2. quality or subjective opinion (beautiful, delicious)
3. size (big, medium) 
4. age (old, new)
5. shape (triangular, round) 
6. color (red, green) 
7. material (glass, wooden) 
8. proper adjective (Spanish, American)
9. purpose or qualifier (guide book, race car, ski coat)

This gives you creative sentences with multiple descriptive adjectives, such as:

• I’m looking for some big delicious white chocolate brownies.
• Please be on the lookout for my new purple round plastic sunglasses. 
• For our wedding, my mom gave us these two funny little old green ceramic garden frogs.

Learning how to speak English like a native speaker takes time and patience. Using a proven program like Rosetta Stone can give you the exposure you need to naturally pick up on patterns, like the order of adjectives. 

Key takeaways about English adjectives

English includes thousands of adjectives. It’s an important part of speech that can bring your conversations and writing to the next level. Keep these notes about adjectives in English handy to help you use them well.

• An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun in a sentence.
• Many adjectives are descriptive words, but there are less obvious types of adjectives, such as demonstrative or possessive adjectives. 
• Adjectives can have comparative and superlative forms. 
• There is a natural-sounding order of adjectives in English when using more than one in a sentence. 
• Learning common adjectives can help you be specific and add interest to your speech. 

Learn English Today