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IELTS Describing feelings and emotions vocabulary

During the IELTS Speaking and/or Writing exam candidates may be asked to talk about
someone’s feelings and emotions. Therefore, it is important to know how to describe
them. You could use these phrases to talk about both positive and negative feelings.
Using expressions or adjectives to describe feelings, candidates might be able to attain
a higher score in the Lexical Resource criteria. You’d better study the differences
between adjectives with –ed vs –ing endings.
A. Describing positive feelings and emotions vocabulary with examples
1. Feelings of happiness
 I’m in high spirits every time I do sport.
 Mary was whistling merrily as she walked home after passing the exam.
 I feel deliriously happy every time I have a chance to travel.
 My friend looked very pleased when I gave her a present.
 I was grinning (smiling) from ear to ear when I got the news.
 I flushed with delight when I received the invitation to the party.
 I skipped home cheerfully after spending time in a circle of friends.
 I’m quite happy to live in a countryside enjoying the nature every day.

2. Feelings of excitement
 I was so excited that I could hardly sleep.
 I was thrilled to meet in person whom I admired my entire life.
 My heart pounded in excitement as I raced towards the park.
 I’m head over heels with excitement to meet my best friend.
 My friend trembled with excitement as she opened the gift.
 I felt a jolt of excitement when I won the race.
 There was a buzz of excitement in the air as all the fans expected the concert to
begin.
 I enjoyed studying English in a friendly environment.

3. Feelings of surprise
 I was truely amazed at how easily everything went after I made my choice.
 I was deeply puzzled by the advice I was given.
 My eyes widened in surprise as the dog approached me.
 I was fascinated by the beauty of the sky.
 To my great surprise, the place was empty.
 The news took me by surprise.
 I could not believe my eyes when I saw my idol in front of me.
 My eyes nearly popped out when I saw the speed he was driving at.
B. Describing negative feelings and emotions vocabulary with examples
1. Feelings of disappointment
 I was utterly disappointed by the test results.
 I felt so embarrassed to hear that.
 I felt disheartened in learning English language.
 I tried to cheer up my friend, who hung her head in disappointment.
 My hopes were dashed when failed the exam.
 She was dealt with a big blow when her dog passed away.
 He looked so sad and crestfallen, that’s why I decided to help him.
 Disappointment was written all over my face when I heard the result.

2. Feelings of anger
 I went red with fury when I got the news.
 My teacher is always very crossed with the pupils who play truant.
 I glared at the bully angrily and then moved on.
 Each time I’m scolded for no reason, I blow my top.
 No one dared to talk to me, because my face was as black as thundercloud.
 I clench my fists in anger evey time I see someone hurting the pets.
 Once my parents were fuming with anger when they fingured out I hadn’t stay
home overnight.

3. Feelings of fear
 I turn pale with fright every time I remeber that case.
 As I reached the top of the mountain, my body started to shiver with fear. And I
could hear my heart pounding so fast.
 I stay rooted to the ground, unable to move as I was paralysed with fear.
 The ride down the slope was a total nightmare for me.
 I yelled out in fear as I saw a sprinter reaching close to me.
 I got cold feet and decided not to ski ever again.

4. Feelings of tiredness
 I was completely exhausted after a long day at work.
 Yesterday, for example, I was so exhausted, so that I dozed off immediately after I
sat on the couch.
 After a night of writing essays, my eyes were bleary.
 I always collapse in exhaustion on my big bed at the end of the working day.
Let’s practice the above mentioned vocabulary in IELTS Speaking model questions and
answers.

Part 1 Questions and Answers

Q: Are you a happy person? What usually makes you happy?
A: I definitely am. I’m a lucky possessor of the dream life: I have a lovely family, a smart,
beautiful and healthy child. Luckily I’m self-employed and that’s why I have a work-life
balance. These are the things which make me entirely happy.
Q: Are you happy to be the age you are now?
A: Yes, I’m quite happy at my current age, although I wouldn’t mind going back to when
I was younger. It would be nice to relive some of my memories from childhood.
Part 2 Questions and Answers

Describe a time when you were scared

You should say:
 what happened
 where you were
 who you were with
and explain why you were scared

A: I would like to describe a case, when I was just petrified. More than 5 years ago, I
went through in one of the scariest moments of my life, which is now imprinted on my
memory. I turn pale with fright every time I remember it. It was at the ski resort. As I
reached the top of the mountain, my body started to shiver with fear. And I could
hear my heart pounding so fast. It was my turn to ski down, however I stay rooted to
the ground, unable to move as I was paralyzed with fear. Then, I somehow forced
myself to start skiing. The ride down the slope was a total nightmare for me. Despite
my fear, another trouble was the number of people on the slope. Once, I even yelled
out in fear as I saw a sprinter reaching close to me. After reaching the bottom of the
mountain I got cold feet and decided not to ski ever again. Later, when I had a
consultation with my psychologist about that issue, I was told that I had
an acrophobia.
Part 3 Questions and Answers

Q: Do you think money can make people happy?

A: Not at all, I think money can buy comfort, even though there are people who
are wealthy, they aren’t happy. Even more, they can be utterly disappointed by the
results of their activities. Income is not the most important thing in life, we need a life-
work balance more, we need to earn a good amount of money just to have a comfort,
to live in a cozy dwelling and to commute to work, to travel, but it’s not so vital for us to
earn a huge amount of money. The people, who spend time with their near and
dear tend to be happier and look more pleased rather than those, who devote all
their time to earning money.

Q: Do you think people are happier now than there were 20 years ago?

A: Nowadays, more now than ever, we have access to information, we can read news
online so we are more worried of what’s happening in our country, like corrupt
politicians, the cases of violence are dramatically increasing, so we’re afraid of the
information we may get. In my opinion, people in the past used to be happier because
of the lack of information. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

Q: How do people usually get frightened?

A: Well, people get scared when they encounter situations beyond their comfort
zone, or from unexpected frightening, dangerous things. Scientifically, when our
brain accepts something as the potential dangers, it starts signaling, for example,
when a person jumps at the sight of a spider or works up a sweat at the mere mention
of getting on an airplane, fears and phobias abound.

Q: Why is it easy for some people to be scared?

A: Well, it depends. I believe, it all comes down to the individual’s startle response,
which means that somebody is just more susceptible to fears than others. For
instance, I have a friend who feels anxiety every single time we are about to watch a
horror movie. In my opinion, she has a post-traumatic stress in response to a
frightening experience. This reason may partly explain why some people cannot
stand the prospect of watching a horror movie while others enjoy this kind of film.