Vivid Word Choice Handout

Emotions/ Feeling
Big Small
Afraid: alarmed, apprehensive,
Ample Oversized Bite-sized Stubby cowardly, fearful, frightened,
Bulky Spacious Diminutive Teeny intimidated, petrified, startled.
Colossal Staggering Meager Tiny
Enormous Substantial Microscopic Undersized Angry: fiery, fuming, furious,
Gigantic Titanic Miniature irate, outraged, raging, riled.
Humongous Towering Petite Calm: mellow, peaceful,
Husky Tremendous Puny relaxed, restful, serene, tranquil,
Immense Vast Scrubby undisturbed.
Massive Voluminous Skimpy Excited: delighted, eager,
Oversized Slight enthusiastic, hyper, passionate,
thrilled.
Happy: cheerful, chipper,
content, ecstatic, elated, joyful,
Good Bad jubilant, lighthearted, overjoyed,
Amazing Glorious Atrocious Obscene perky, thrilled.
Astonishing Impressive Despicable Repellent Nervous: anxious, concerned,
Awesome Magnificent Disgusting Repulsive distress, jittery, tense, worried.
Brilliant Outstanding Dreadful Repugnant Sad: crushed, dejected,
Excellent Phenomenal Gruesome Terrible depressed, devastated, forlorn,
Extraordinary Remarkable Hideous Terrifying gloomy, heartbroken, heavy-
Fabulous Sensational Horrendous Vile hearted, low-spirited, melancholy,
Fantastic Terrific Nauseating Wretched miserable, somber, sorrowful,
troubled.

Sound
To hear: Catch, detect,
eavesdrop, listed,
overhear
A sound: din, note,
resonance, tone.
Pleasant: harmonic,
melodic, rhythmical.
Unpleasant: deafening,
ear-piercing, ear-popping,
grating, piercing, rowdy,
shrill, whiny.
Loud: bang, blast, boom,
burst, clang, clap, clash,
crack, crash, pop, rattle,
scream, stomp, thud.
Scared: cry, scream,
screech, stutter, whimper,
yelp.
Sensory Words
Sight
A sight: appearance,
display, exhibition,
hallucination, illusion,
image, impression,
reflection, scene, view,
vision.
Clear: apparent,
cloudless, distinct, lucid,
translucent, transparent,
visible.
Light: fluorescent,
golden, illuminated, lit,
lucent, luminous,
moonlit, starry, sunny,
well-lit.
Dark: black, lightless,
muddy, obscure, pitch-
black.
Smell Touch
To smell: inhale, Hot: baking, blazing,
scent, sniff, whiff. blistering, boiling,
A smell: aroma, burning, feverish,
fragrance, odor, fiery, flaming,
perfume, scent. lukewarm, scalding,
Good smelling: scorching, sizzling.
appealing, delightful, Cold: arctic, bitter,
divine, enticing, brisk, chilly, crisp,
luscious, freezing, icy, frosty,
mouthwatering, rich, numbing.
savory, tempting, Smooth: creamy,
zestful. glassy, glossy,
Bad smelling: polished, silky, sleek,
disgusting, fishy, nasty, waxy.
noxious, repellent, Rough: bumpy,
repugnant, repulsive, chapped, grainy,
stinky, unappealing. gritty, rocky, sandy.
 Action Verbs
Arrived Drank Laughed Put Saved Wanted
Appeared Gargled Burst Arranged Conserved Craved
Entered Gulped Chuckled Handed Preserved Desired
Landed Sipped Giggled Placed Stored Preferred
Slurped Shrieked Laid Wished
Ate Swallowed Snorted Saw
Consumed Swigged Said Eyeballed Went
Toasted
Devoured Left Admitted Gazed (quickly)
Feasted Abandoned Agreed Glanced Blasted
Gorged Fell Departed Answered Glared Bolted
Inhaled Collapsed Deserted Apologized Glimpsed Bounced
Munched Dropped Disappeared Argued Noticed Chased
Nibbled Stumbled Ditched Assured Observed Darted
Snacked Tripped Escaped Begged Peeked Dashed
Tumbled Fled Blubbered Pictured Fled
Began Split Boasted Scanned Galloped
Initiated Gave Vanished Cautioned Spied Hurried
Instigated Awarded Complained Stared Hustled
Launched Contributed Made Groaned Jogged
Originated Donated Assembled Grumbled Thought Jolted
Gifted Constructed Declared Believed Leapt
Broke Granted Created Exclaimed Contemplated Raced
Busted Provided Designed Explained Imagined Scampered
Cracked Relinquished Fashioned Exaggerated Pondered Skipped
Crushed Supplied Invented Gasped Sped
Demolished Manufactured Hissed
Took Sprinted
Smashed Got Produced Hollered Zapped
Abducted
Shattered Acquired Imitated Zigzagged
Borrowed
Fetched Planned Insisted
Captured
Changed Gained Arranged Instructed
Clutched Went (slowly)
Adapted Grabbed Brainstormed Intimidated
Confiscated Crawled
Altered Inherited Engineered Moaned
Grabbed Crept
Converted Snatched Formulated Murmured
Obtained Dragged
Evolved Mapped Muttered
Pocketed Hobbled
Mutated Organized Ordered
Seized Limped
Restyled Held Outlined Persuaded
Snagged Marched
Transformed Clasped Plotted Pleaded
Snatched Paced
Clenched Sketched Promised
Stole Roamed
Cut Clung Pronounced
Shuffled
Rambled
Amputated Grasped Pulled Turned Slithered
Carved Gripped Reported
Dragged Curved Stepped
Chopped Squeezed Retold
Hauled Spun Strolled
Clipped Revealed
Heaved Twirled Strutted
Diced Hit Screamed
Tagged Twisted Tiptoed
Slashed Bashed Shouted
Towed Trudged
Sliced Knocked Suggested
Yanked Use Ventured
Snipped Slapped Teased
Operate Wandered
Trimmed Smacked Warned
Utilize Wobbled
Wacked Whined
Whispered