350 Eloquent Adjectives to Describe a Person

Looking for just the right words to express a person’s characteristics or personality? This giant list provides ample ideas to give your students’ (or your own) writing some sparkle and pizzazz. You’ll find positive and negative adjectives to describe a person, words to portray their personality and behavior, plus a selection of truly unique descriptors.

Why are adjectives important?

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Adjectives bring writing to life! They help the reader better envision people, places, and things, and get a clear sense of what a writer has in mind. We can help our students develop into experienced writers who use adjectives to paint a picture with words, adding color and depth to their writing.

How do you choose the right adjective?

Choosing strong adjectives is all about understanding shades of meaning. Consider these words: big, huge, humongous, massive, and immense. Each has the same basic definition but evokes a slightly different feeling. The adjectives you choose have the ability to create a mood and provoke reactions in readers. When you use them well, a piece of writing takes on a whole new level of impressive quality.

Deciding on the right adjectives can be tricky. Writers, especially young student writers, often become attached to a few favorites, making their writing boring and predictable. Challenge your students to seek out and use new words on a regular basis. Teach students to explore the possibilities using a thesaurus to help them find new options, or use a list like the ones below to help guide students to brainstorm a list on an anchor chart and then hang it in the classroom.

Positive Adjectives To Describe a Person

• Able
• Agreeable
• Amiable
• Appealing
• Astute
• Authentic
• Bighearted
• Bright
• Comfortable
• Content
• Cultured
• Curious
• Cute
• Dashing
• Defiant
• Delightful
• Discerning
• Educated
• Experienced
• Fabulous
• Fanciful
• Farsighted
• Fashionable
• Friendly
• Generous
• Gentle
• Gifted
• Hopeful
• Humble
• Illustrious
• Incisive
• Intelligent
• Joyful
• Knowledgeable
• Likable
• Lucky
• Mature
• Popular
• Professional
• Punctual
• Qualified
• Resilient
• Resourceful
• Smart
• Steady
• Strong
• Talented
• Teachable
• Unaffected
• Well-respected

Negative Adjectives To Describe a Person

• Absent-minded
• Awful
• Awkward
• Bad-tempered
• Bitter
• Callous
• Churlish
• Closed-off
• Clumsy
• Cold
• Combative
• Contemptuous
• Contentious
• Crass
• Crude
• Dim
• Fickle
• Foolish
• Grim
• Grouchy
• Gruff
• Gullible
• Haggard
• Harried
• Hateful
• Hypercritical
• Ignorant
• Impudent
• Insecure
• Lazy
• Meddlesome
• Morose
• Naughty
• Nosy
• Obnoxious
• Petulant
• Pompous
• Quarrelsome
• Querulous
• Quick-tempered
• Resentful
• Short-tempered
• Sneaky
• Sour
• Spiteful
• Stupid
• Sullen
• Unlucky
• Vulgar
• Weak-willed

Adjectives To Describe a Person’s Personality

• Amicable
• Amusing
• Anxious
• Brave
• Broad-minded
• Carefree
• Cheerful
• Clever
• Considerate
• Consistent
• Cowardly
• Crazy
• Creative
• Cynical
• Dedicated
• Deep
• Dependable
• Determined
• Diligent
• Direct
• Dispassionate
• Earnest
• Easygoing
• Egotistical
• Emotional
• Empathetic
• Exacting
• Fair-minded
• Faithful
• Funny
• Gentle
• Giving
• Hilarious
• Honest
• Humorous
• Independent
• Inflexible
• Intellectual
• Kind
• Moody
• Narrow-minded
• Nervous
• Nice
• Open-minded
• Overemotional
• Passionate
• Pessimistic
• Powerful
• Practical
• Proud
• Reliable
• Self-centered
• Self-confident
• Sensible
• Sensitive
• Shrewd
• Silly
• Sincere
• Sympathetic
• Thoughtful
• Thoughtless
• Tough
• Trustworthy
• Unassuming
• Understanding
• Untrustworthy
• Upbeat
• Vain
• Warmhearted
• Wise

Adjectives To Describe a Person’s Behavior

• Adventurous
• Affectionate
• Aggressive
• Aloof
• Ambitious
• Apologetic
• Arrogant
• Artistic
• Assertive
• Aware
• Boastful
• Bold
• Boring
• Bossy
• Calm
• Careful
• Careless
• Cautious
• Charming
• Chatty
• Chivalrous
• Civil
• Clingy
• Collaborative
• Commanding
• Communicative
• Compassionate
• Competitive
• Compliant
• Compromising
• Confrontational
• Conscientious
• Cooperative
• Courageous
• Courteous
• Cruel
• Cynical
• Deceitful
• Decisive
• Defensive
• Deliberate
• Devious
• Dexterous
• Diplomatic
• Discreet
• Dishonest
• Domineering
• Efficient
• Eloquent
• Energetic
• Enterprising
• Enthusiastic
• Entrepreneurial
• Envious
• Extravagant
• Extroverted
• Fastidious
• Fearless
• Ferocious
• Flamboyant
• Flirtatious
• Forceful
• Friendly
• Frugal
• Gallant
• Generous
• Grumpy
• Hardworking
• Helpful
• Hostile
• Idle
• Imaginative
• Impartial
• Impatient
• Impolite
• Impulsive
• Inconsiderate
• Indecisive
• Indiscreet
• Industrious
• Intolerant
• Introverted
• Inventive
• Irresponsible
• Jealous
• Laid-back
• Lazy
• Loud
• Loving
• Loyal
• Mean
• Modest
• Nasty
• Neat
• Non-judgmental
• Observant
• Obstinate
• Optimistic
• Organized
• Overcritical
• Patient
• Patronizing
• Persistent
• Polite
• Possessive
• Proactive
• Quick-tempered
• Quiet
• Rational
• Reserved
• Resourceful
• Responsive
• Romantic
• Rude
• Secretive
• Self-disciplined
• Selfish
• Shy
• Sociable
• Straightforward
• Stubborn
• Tactless
• Talkative
• Tidy
• Unpredictable
• Unreliable
• Untidy
• Vague
• Wild
• Witty

Unique Adjectives To Describe a Person

• Adaptable
• Affable
• Analytical
• Belligerent
• Bigheaded
• Calculating
• Candid
• Cantankerous
• Capricious
• Charismatic
• Circumspect
• Complex
• Convivial
• Cordial
• Courtly
• Crafty
• Crotchety
• Dauntless
• Delicate
• Dynamic
• Ebullient
• Eccentric
• Erudite
• Ethereal
• Exuberant
• Fervent
• Finicky
• Forthright
• Frank
• Freewheeling
• Funky
• Genial
• Giddy
• Glib
• Gregarious
• Kooky
• Philosophical
• Pigheaded
• Pioneering
• Placid
• Plucky
• Quick-witted
• Reclusive
• Shrewd
• Tenacious
• Touchy
• Venal
• Versatile
• Visionary
• Zealous

Practice using lots of adjectives to describe a person with these 30 Inspiring Picture Writing Prompts.

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