400 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.

Grab our free printable list and word cards featuring adjectives to describe a person.

Why are adjectives important?

This is a sentence about adjectives.

This is a detailed explanatory sentence about engaging and intriguing adjectives.

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

Positive Adjectives To Describe a Person
  • Able
  • Agreeable
  • Amiable
  • Appealing
  • Approachable
  • Astute
  • Authentic
  • Bighearted
  • Bright
  • Brilliant
  • Comfortable
  • Content
  • Cultured
  • Curious
  • Cute
  • Dashing
  • Defiant
  • Delightful
  • Devoted
  • 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
  • Sweet
  • Talented
  • Teachable
  • Unaffected
  • Well-respected
  • Well-rounded

Negative Adjectives To Describe a Person

  • Absent-minded
  • Awful
  • Awkward
  • Bad-tempered
  • Bitter
  • Callous
  • Capable
  • Churlish
  • Closed-off
  • Clumsy
  • Cold
  • Combative
  • Conceited
  • Condescending
  • Contemptuous
  • Contentious
  • Crabby
  • Crass
  • Crude
  • Demonic
  • Dim
  • Disagreeable
  • 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
  • Sulky
  • Sullen
  • Supercilious
  • Unlucky
  • Vulgar
  • Weak
  • Weak-willed
  • Willing

Adjectives To Describe a Person’s Personality

  • Amicable
  • Amusing
  • Anxious
  • Brave
  • Broad-minded
  • Carefree
  • Caustic
  • Cheerful
  • Clever
  • Confident
  • Considerate
  • Consistent
  • Cool-headed
  • Cowardly
  • Crazy
  • Creative
  • Critical
  • 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
  • Sophisticated
  • Sympathetic
  • Thoughtful
  • Thoughtless
  • Timid
  • Tough
  • Trustworthy
  • Unassuming
  • Understanding
  • Unsophisticated
  • Untrustworthy
  • Upbeat
  • Vain
  • Warmhearted
  • Wise

Adjectives To Describe a Person’s Behavior

  • Alert
  • Adept
  • Adventurous
  • Affectionate
  • Aggressive
  • Aloof
  • Ambitious
  • Apologetic
  • Apprehensive
  • Ardent
  • Arrogant
  • Artistic
  • Assertive
  • Attentive
  • Aware
  • Blunt
  • Boastful
  • Boisterous
  • Bold
  • Boring
  • Bossy
  • Calm
  • Careful
  • Careless
  • Cautious
  • Charming
  • Chatty
  • Childish
  • Childlike
  • Chivalrous
  • Civil
  • Clingy
  • Collaborative
  • Commanding
  • Communicative
  • Compassionate
  • Competitive
  • Compliant
  • Composed
  • Compromising
  • Confrontational
  • Conscientious
  • Cooperative
  • Courageous
  • Courteous
  • Cruel
  • Cynical
  • Deceitful
  • Decisive
  • Defensive
  • Deferential
  • Deliberate
  • Depressed
  • 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
  • Spirited
  • Staid
  • Stoic
  • Straightforward
  • Stubborn
  • Tactless
  • Talkative
  • Tidy
  • Tolerant
  • Unmotivating
  • Unpredictable
  • Unreliable
  • Unsure
  • Untidy
  • Vague
  • Vigilant
  • Watchful
  • Wild
  • Witty

Unique Adjectives To Describe a Person

Unique Adjectives To Describe a Person
  • Above-average
  • Absent-minded
  • Adaptable
  • Affable
  • Analytical
  • Angelic
  • Belligerent
  • Beneficent
  • Bigheaded
  • Calculating
  • Candid
  • Cantankerous
  • Capricious
  • Charismatic
  • Circumspect
  • Complex
  • Convivial
  • Cordial
  • Courtly
  • Crafty
  • Crotchety
  • Dainty
  • Dauntless
  • Deft
  • Delicate
  • Demure
  • Dynamic
  • Ebullient
  • Eccentric
  • Erudite
  • Ethereal
  • Exuberant
  • Fervent
  • Finicky
  • Forthright
  • Frank
  • Freewheeling
  • Funky
  • Genial
  • Giddy
  • Glib
  • Gregarious
  • Intuitive
  • Kooky
  • Philosophical
  • Pigheaded
  • Pioneering
  • Placid
  • Plucky
  • Quick-witted
  • Reclusive
  • Shrewd
  • Tenacious
  • Testy
  • Touchy
  • Venal
  • Versatile
  • Visionary
  • Vulnerable
  • Zealous

Get Your Free Adjectives To Describe a Person Printable List and Word Cards

Adjectives to Describe a Person Word List Square 2

Save copies of these adjective printables to keep on hand for lesson planning and classroom activities.

Practice using lots of adjectives to describe a person with these 150 Inspiring Picture Writing Prompts.

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