When speaking or writing in the English language you are going to need to use descriptive words. But what are these types of words and how can we use them? We will look at the answers to these questions and look at examples of the different types of descriptive words.
Descriptive Words
What Is A Descriptive Word?
A descriptive word is a word which is used to describe something, that something could be a person, a place, a situation or an item amongst other things. These words enable you to better explain the condition of something, for example if you were talking about a person, you might use descriptive words to explain how that person looks. If you were talking about a country, you would use descriptive words to talk about the size of the country for example.
A descriptive word can also help you to intensify the meaning of a word or phrase.
Types of Descriptive Words
What types of descriptive words are there? There are two main types of descriptive words. Adjectives and adverbs . Let?s look at each of these types of descriptive words in a little more detail.
Descriptive Adjectives
An adjective is used to modify or describe a noun. The adjective can give more information about a noun such as things like its size, shape, texture or colour.
An adjective is useful when there are a selection of the same objects which have subtle differences, for example if there were a group of fish, each one a different colour. You are asked ?which fish do you like?? You can reply to this question by simple using the adjective, and you could say ?the blue one.?
Here are a few examples of adjectives in use;
The woman is tall.
That car is rather large .
There is a red card on the table.
I prefer the hot weather.
It is a bit damp in the garden shed.
The man is American.
We like to go to the pretty forest.
The beach is clean.
Our hotel was luxurious.
I fond the subject to be tiresome.
The Harry Potter books were magical.
The bird is beautiful.
There will be a solar eclipse next week.
It is worth noting that an adjective is likely end with the following letters;
-al-typical, maniacal
-an-Australian, urban
-ar-popular, clear, lunar
-ent-decent, magnificent
-ful-beautiful, blissful
-ic-athletic, majestic
-ical-magical, fantastical
-ine-feminine, ovine
-ile-immobile, juvenile
-ive-aggressive, adaptive
-less-colourless, thoughtless
-ous-ginormous, luminous
-some-awesome, boresome
However, as with many grammar rules there are exceptions and so sometimes an adjective might not fall into one of these categories. Some of the less common endings for adjectives can be -ing, -er, -y, -ary, -ate.
These types of descriptive words can appear anywhere in a sentence.
Descriptive Adverbs
An adverb is the other type of descriptive word that we are going to look at. An adverb is a word which can further explain an adjective or many other types of words such as verbs, phrases, sentences or even other adverbs. This type of descriptive word is more often than not, placed directly before or after the verb in the sentence you are creating. Usually you will find that an adverb ends in the letters -ly, but as with the adjectives, this rule can waiver from time to time and not all adverbs will end in these letters.
Here are some examples of adverbs in a sentence.
The super car drives quickly.
My cat mewed hungrily.
The girls sang happily.
Parrots speak noisily.
Farmers work messily.
He rapidly swam across the ocean.
My daughter dutifully brings me my slippers every night.
The girl sang the opera beautifully .
I find that he draws terribly.
The cow is enormously heavy.
She always drives her car carefully.
You can also use two adverbs together to form an adverb phrase, here are some examples of this.
I saw a dog walking very carefully along a beam.
I find language learning incredibly easy.
The words many, much, very and more can also be used as adverbs, in an example like one of the following;
Many people will visit the park today.
I find it very annoying.
Much of the food was eaten.
I like to have more time to sleep.
An adverb is used to intensify the meaning of a word, quite often a adjective and to add more information about it.
Examples of Descriptive Words
List of Descriptive Words
Descriptive Adjectives
Here is a comprehensive list of descriptive adjectives.
abandoned
able
academic
active
admirable
adorable
adventurous
acclaimed
accomplished
acrobatic
afraid
aggresive
agile
alarmed
ample
amused
ancient
angelic
angry
babyish
bad
baggy
beloved
bewitched
bitter
blank
bleak
blind
boring
bouncy
brave
bright
brilliant
buoyant
burly
busy
buttery
buzzing
calm
carefree
careful
cautious
cavernous
chubby
classic
clean
clear
clever
cloudy
cluttered
coarse
clumsy
cold
colourful
comfortable
common
composed
concerned
conventional
crowded
cuddly
curly
damaged
dangerous
dark
dazzling
dear
decent
deep
defiant
delicious
delirious
demanding
dense
devoted
dim
dirty
disfigured
early
easy
adible
elastic
elderly
electric
elementary
embellished
emotional
empty
enchanted
energetic
ethical
euphoric
everlasting
evil
exotic
fashionable
faithful
famous
fancy
fatal
fearful
female
filthy
firm
flat
flawed
flustered
focused
foolhardy
gregarious
grim
handsome
handy
intelligent
intrepid
joyful
jubilant
keen
kooky
lanky
lazy
limp
luxurious
mediocre
mellow
miserable
nocturnal
naive
nasty
nautical
neat
needy
negative
nervous
nice
organic
ornate
ordinary
powerless
practical
precious
puzzled
questionable
quirky
ragged
rapid
ready
recent
red
regal
reliable
sad
sandy
sane
scarce
scented
scornful
secret
selfish
Descriptive Adverbs
Now we have a list of adverbs.
accidentally
awkwardly
always
anxiously
angrily
apathetically
amusingly
assertively
badly
blindly
boastfully
boldly
bravely
brightly
begrudgingly
blissfully
cheerfully
coyly
cooly
crazily
defiantly
deftly
deliberately
devotedly
doubtfully
dramatically
dutifully
eagerly
elegantly
enormously
evenly
eventually
exactly
faithfully
finally
foolishly
faintly
frequently
frivolously
gleefully
gracefully
greedily
happily
hastily
honestly
hopelessly
hourly
hungrily
innocently
inquisitively
irritably
intelligently
jealously
justly
kindly
lazily
loosely
madly
merrily
mortally
mysteriously
meagerly
methodically
neglectfully
nervously
never
normally
obediently
obnoxiously
occasionally
often
only
perfectly
politely
poorly
powerfully
promptly
pointlessly
quickly
rapidly
rarely
regularly
rashly
rudely
safely
seldom
selfishly
seriously
shakily
sharply
silently
slowly
solemnly
sometimes
speedily
sternly
tactfully
tragically
technically
tediously
unexpectedly
usually
vacantly
victoriously
vivaciously
vividly
warmly
wearily
weekly
wildly
weirdly
yearly
youthfully
zealously
Synonyms for Common Descriptive Words
INTERESTING
Absorbing
Amusing
Captivating
Compelling
Diverting
Engaging
Engrossing
Entertaining
Enthralling
Fascinating
Gripping
Intriguing
Riveting
Striking
AMAZING
Astonishing
Awesome
Breathtaking
Brilliant
Extraordinary
Fabulous
Fantastic
Incredible
Marvelous
Overwhelming
Phenomenal
Prodigious
Remarkable
Significant
Spectacular
Staggering
Stunning
Stupendous
Tremendous
Unbelievable
Unexpected
Unimaginable
Wonderful
NICE
Admirable
Amiable
Charming
Congenial
Considerate
Courteous
Delightful
Enjoyable
Gracious
Kind
Lovely
Pleasant
Pleasing
Pleasurable
GREAT
Awesome
Excellent
Exceptional
Extraordinary
Incredible
Magnificent
Marvelous
Outstanding
Phenomenal
Spectacular
Superb
Superior
Terrific
Wonderful
HAPPY
Amused
Blissful
Bright
Charmed
Cheerful
Contented
Delighted
Eager
Ecstatic
Elated
Enthusiastic
Excited
Exultant
Glad
Gleeful
Hopeful
Joyful
Loving
Marvelous
Merry
Optimistic
Overjoyed
Pleased
Positive
Satisfied
Thrilled
GOOD
Amazing
Excellent
Exceptional
Fantastic
Marvelous
Outstanding
Pleasant
Splendid
Stupendous
Super
Terrific
Wonderful
FUNNY
Amusing
Comical
Droll
Entertaining
Farcical
Gleeful
Goofy
Hilarious
Humorous
Hysterical
Jocular
Laughable
Ludicrous
Nonsensical
Sidesplitting
Whimsical
BAD
Awful
Crummy
Despicable
Disagreeable
Disgraceful
Dreadful
Horrible
Lousy
Nasty
Naughty
Outrageous
Rotten
Terrible
Unpleasant
Wicked
Wretched
SMALL
Diminutive
Little
Mini
Miniature
Minute
Petite
Skimpy
Slight
Teeny-weeny
Tiny
Wee
IMPORTANT
Consequential
Critical
Crucial
Decisive
Essential
Eventful
Extensive
Far-reaching
Fundamental
Great
Imperative
Key
Major
Paramount
Serious
Significant
Substantial
Urgent
Vital
RICH
Affluent
Deep-pocketed
Fat cat
Flush
In the money
Loaded (Slang)
Moneyed
Opulent
Prosperous
Wealthy
Well-fixed
Well-heeled
Well-off/better off (informal)
Well-to-do
SAD
Blue
Cheerless
Dejected
Depressed
Desperate
Discouraged
Disgusted
Downcast
Forlorn
Frustrated
Gloomy
Hateful
Heartbroken
Heavy
Melancholy
Miserable
Mournful
Somber
Sorrowful
Tearful
Unhappy
Upset
Weepy
Woeful
Wretched
KIND
Amiable
Attentive
Avuncular
Benevolent
Benign (formal)
Caring
Compassionate
Congenial
Considerate
Friendly
Generous
Gentle
Gracious
Kindhearted
Nice
Sympathetic
Thoughtful
ATTRACTIVE
Alluring
Beautiful
Cute
Glamorous
Good-looking
Gorgeous
Handsome
Lovely
Pretty
Stunning
REALLY
Certainly
Easily
Genuinely
Honestly
Positively
Precisely
Truly
Undoubtedly
Unmistakably
Unquestionably
Verily
VERY
Absolutely
Acutely
Awfully (informal)
Decidedly
Deeply
Eminently
Exceedingly
Excessively
Greatly
Highly
Jolly (Br.E)
Noticeably
Particularly
Profoundly
EXTREMELY
Really
Remarkably
Seriously
Significantly
Singularly
Supremely
Terribly
Terrifically
Thoroughly
Tremendously
Truly
Uncommonly
Unusually
NORMALLY
Almost always
As a general rule
As a rule
By and large
Commonly
For the most part
Generally
In general
In the general run of things
Mainly
Most of the time
Mostly
Ordinarily
Usually
QUICKLY
Swiftly
Rapidly
Hurriedly
Speedily
Fast
Quick
Hastily
Briskly
At high speed
Apace (literary)
At full speed
SERIOUSLY
All joking aside
Honestly
In earnest
No joking (informal)
Sincerely
To be serious
Truly
Truthfully
KINDLY
Affectionately
Agreeably
Cordially
Generously
Graciously
Helpfully
Lovingly
Obligingly
Politely
Tenderly
Thoughtfully
FINALLY
At last
At length
At long last
At the end of the day
At the last
At the last moment
Eventually
In the end
In the long run
Ultimately
In conclusion
ONLY
At a push
At most
But
Just
Merely
No more than
Nothing but
Purely
Simply
Descriptive Words Infographic
Descriptive Words Infographic 1
Descriptive Words Infographic 2
The post Descriptive Words: Hundreds of Descriptive Adjectives & Adverbs with Examples appeared first on 7 E S L .
Reference
- Idioms
- IdiomWiki
- Idioms Twitter
