THE MOST COMMON ADJECTIVES IN AMERICAN ENGLISH
Appearance Condition
Adorable, alert, average, beautiful, blonde, bloody, blushing, Alive, brainy, broken, busy,
bright, clean, clear, cloudy, colorful, concerned, crowded, careful, cautious, clever,
curious, cute, dark, dirty, drab, distinct, dull, elegant, fancy, crazy, damaged, dead,
filthy, glamorous, gleaming, graceful, grotesque, difficult, easy, fake, false,
homely, light, misty, motionless, muddy, plain, poised, famous, forward, fragile,
quaint, scary, shiny, smoggy, sparkling, spotless, stormy, guilty, helpful, helpless,
strange, ugly, unsightly, unusual. important, impossible,
infamous, innocent,
inquisitive, mad, modern
open, outgoing, outstanding,
poor, powerful, puzzled, real
rich, right, robust, sane
scary, shy, sleepy, stupid,
super, tame, thick, tired, wild,
wrong.
Feelings - negative Feelings - neutral
Afraid, angry, annoyed, anxious, arrogant, ashamed, awful, Alright, calm, different, fair,
bad, bewildered, bored, concerned, condemned, confused, fine, OK, pleasant, puzzled.
creepy, cruel, dangerous, defeated, defiant, depressed,
disgusted, disturbed, doubtful, eerie, embarrassed, envious,
evil, fierce, foolish, frantic, frightened, grieving, guilty,
helpless, hungry, hurt, ill, jealous, lonely, mad, naughty,
nervous, obnoxious, outrageous, panicky, repulsive, safe,
scared, shy, sleepy, sore, strange, tense, terrible, tired,
troubled, unusual, upset, uptight, weary, wicked, worried.
Shape Size
Broad, crooked, curved, deep, even, flat, hilly, jagged Average, big, fat, gigantic
round, shallow, square, steep, straight, thick, thin, triangular, huge, large, little, long
uneven. massive, medium, miniature
narrow, petite, short, skinny
small, tall, tiny, wide.
Material
Brick, ceramic, gold, iron,
lace, marble, metal,
paper, plaster, plastic,
silk, silver, stone, thread,
wooden.
Feelings - positive
Agreeable, alert,
amused, brave, bright
charming, cheerful,
comfortable, cooperative
courageous, delightful
determined, eager,
elated, enchanting
encouraging, energetic
enthusiastic, excited
exuberant, faithful
fantastic, friendly
frowning, funny, gentle,
glorious, good, happy,
healthy, helpful, hilarious
innocent, jolly, kind,
lively, lovely, lucky
obedient, perfect, proud
relaxed, relieved, silly
smiling, splendid,
successful, thoughtful
victorious, vivacious
well, witty, wonderful.
Sound
Cooing, deafening, faint
harsh, high-pitched,
hissing, hushed, husky
loud, melodic, moaning
mute, noisy, purring
 quiet, raspy, screeching
shrill, silent, soft,
squeaky, squealing
thundering, voiceless
whispering.

Speed Taste Time

Fast, quick, rapid, slow, swift. Bitter, bland, delicious Ancient, brief, early
different, fresh, greasy late, long, modern, new
hot, juicy, repulsive, revolting old, old-fashioned, quick
ripe, rotten, salty, sour, spicy, short, young.
stale, strong, sweet
tasteless, tasty, terrible
wonderful

Opinion Touch

Bad, careful, careless, cheap, comfortable, difficult, easy, Blunt, boiling, breakable
expensive, false, famous, good, important, interesting, lovely, breezy, broken, bumpy
boring, right, true, uncomfortable, useful, useless, unknown, chilly, clean, cold, cool
wrong. crooked, cuddly, curly
damaged, damp, different
dirty, dry, dusty, filthy
flaky, fluffy, fuzzy, greasy
grubby, hard, icy, loose
plastic, prickly, ripe
rough, rubbery, scratchy
shaky, shaggy, sharp
silky, slimy, slippery
smooth, soft, solid, steady
sticky, tight, uneven, unusual
unripe, warm, weak, wet
wooden, wooly.

Compound Adjectives

Compound adjectives are created when two words are combined to create a descriptive adjective. The two words are
typically connected with a hyphen. The following table provides some common examples of compound adjectives:

Self-centered Ice-cold Next-door Life-giving Bow-legged

Long-legged Four-sided Three-headed Pigeon-toed High-heeled
Candy-stripped Left-handed Freckle-faced Short-tempered Heavy-handed
Red-blooded Tight-fisted Hard-nosed Thin-skinned Long-winded
Bull-headed Broken-hearted Baby-faced Sure-footed Hard-hearted
Determiner Opinion Adjectives Size Shape Age Color Origin Material Qualifier/Purpose Noun
The beautiful big round old brown Italian oak dining Table
Observation Fact Adjectives
OSASCOMQ
I have a nice small new round blue French wooden fishing stool

I have a nice stool

Noun

I bought/ my mother gave me/have a nice small stool I have a small nice stool (wrong)

I have a nice stool

I have a nice small stool I have a small nice stool (X)
I have a nice small new stool
I have a nice small new round stool
I have a nice small new round blue stool
I have a nice small new round blue French stool
I have a nice small new round blue French wooden stool
I have a nice small new round blue French wooden fishing stool

I have a nice stool. My stool is nice

I have a nice small stool. My stool is nice and small.
I have a nice small new stool. My stool is nice, small, and new.
I have a nice small new round stool. My stool is nice, small, new, and round.
I have a nice small new round blue stool. My stool is nice, small, new, round, and blue.
I have a nice small new round blue French stool. My French stool is nice, small, new, round, and blue.
I have a nice small new round blue French wooden stool. My French wooden stool is nice, small, new, round, and blue.
I have a nice small new round blue French wooden fishing stool.
My French wooden fishing stool is nice, small, new, round, and blue.

I want to buy a nice fishing stool

I need a nice cheap new fishing stool because the one (the fishing stool) I have is uncomfortable and old

John is five years old

John is a five-year-old boy
They are ice-cold
The highway has fourteen miles
It is a fourteen-mile highway
The rope is six feet long
It is a six-foot long rope
A walking cane
A cane
Change
Changing
Changing economy
Cry
Crying
Crying baby
Dine
Dining
Dining table
I bought a nice 14-inch modern black Chinese gaming computer
I bought a cheerful hound dog