Describing words! Heard of them? What do you think they are? Any idea what part of speech they belong to? Well, check out the article to find out answers to all these questions.
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What are Describing Words? – Meaning, Definition and Functions
Describing words are words that are used to describe or provide additional information about a thing. Such words are used to describe a person, place, event, situation etc. In most cases, a descriptive term is used to intensify the expression of the individuals.
The word ‘describe’, according to the Collins Dictionary, is defined as something that is used “to represent or delineate by a picture or figure”, and according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, the term ‘describe’ is defined as “to say or write what someone or something is like.” Hence, it can be said that words that are used to say or write about how something is done or how someone or something behaves in a given situation.
As far as the functions of describing words are concerned, it can be said that they perform the roles of adverbs and adjectives. In simpler terms, it can be said that adverbs and adjectives can be considered as describing words.
Take a look at the types of describing words in the English language to attain a little more clarity.
Types of Describing Words in English
There are mainly two types of describing words in English. They are the ‘adjectives’ and the ‘adverbs’. Both adjectives and adverbs are very useful and are frequently used in conversations to describe or provide more information about a noun, a verb, and adjective or an adverb.
Adjectives
As we all know, an adjective is used to describe a noun or a pronoun that acts as a subject or an object. Adjectives can provide additional information about a noun or a pronoun, like its size, shape, colour, look, etc.
A few examples of adjectives are given below.
- The boy is tall.
- She is very smart.
- Our car is red in colour.
- He is an American citizen.
- It is a luxurious hotel.
- He is an intelligent boy.
- The dish was very spicy.
- She wore a beautiful dress.
- My table is a short one.
- That man was very kind to her.
Adverbs
An adverb describes a verb or anything in the sentence apart from a noun and pronoun. It modifies a verb, an adjective, a clause, or even another adverb.
A few examples of adverbs are given below.
- The birds were chirping loudly.
- The girl sang melodiously.
- He drives very carefully.
- He quickly climbed the wall.
- She swims well.
- Stars were twinkling brightly.
- She is a quick learner.
- The deer ran very fast to escape from its predator.
- That lady frequently visited the shop.
- He behaved strangely last night.
20 Describing Words That Are Commonly Used in English
A list of 20 frequently used describing words in the English language is given below. Go through the list and learn them to improve your communication skills.
Amazing |
Interesting |
Charming |
Pleasurable |
Kindly |
Sincerely |
Lovingly |
Quickly |
Usually |
Commonly |
Normally |
Generally |
Terribly |
Remarkably |
Significantly |
Tremendously |
Absolutely |
Happy |
Delightful |
Pleasing |
Describing Words that Start with the Letters ‘A’ to ‘Z’
With the use of describing words, a person can provide additional details about the condition of something. Describing words lessen the complexity of expressions by providing more information with the use of little words. A comprehensive list of describing words in alphabetical order is given below. Go through the list and learn them.
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘A’
Abandoned |
Aesthetic |
Abundant |
Awful |
Attentive |
Acceptable |
Accomplished |
Authentic |
Active |
Adequate |
Adorable |
Adventurous |
Affordable |
Alert |
Ambitious |
Amused |
Arrogant |
Adaptable |
Admiring |
Abnormal |
Ageless |
Academic |
Achy |
Aweless |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘B’
Beautiful |
Barbaric |
Brilliant |
Beneficial |
Babyish |
Blue-eyed |
Bookish |
Balanced |
Baffling |
Basic |
Blushing |
Brainy |
Bewildered |
Busy |
Bewildering |
Bossy |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘C’
Calm |
Cute |
Cunning |
Carefully |
Cautiously |
Currently |
Clever |
Charmingly |
Crisp |
Clear |
Captivating |
Charisma |
Casual |
Carefree |
Creative |
Comfortable |
Cheerful |
Courageous |
Captivating |
Careless |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘D’
Dear |
Dangerous |
Daring |
Dominant |
Depressed |
Dramatic |
Damaged |
Defeated |
Determined |
Decent |
Dynamic |
Dutiful |
Delightful |
Delicious |
Diverse |
Divine |
Deep |
Different |
Deluxe |
Discrete |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘E’
Eagerly |
Efficient |
Effortless |
Enigmatic |
Energetic |
Easily |
Entirely |
Exemplary |
Elegant |
Exciting |
Enchanting |
Eye-catching |
Emotional |
Easy-Going |
Earthly |
Enthusiastic |
Empty |
Eccentric |
Exclusive |
Ecstatic |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘F’
Frequently |
Fast |
Flawlessly |
Finely |
Fabulous |
Forgiving |
Fearless |
Faithful |
Factual |
Fine |
Fancy |
Frightened |
Free |
Famous |
Fascinated |
Fake |
Fashionable |
Foreign |
Fatherly |
Fantastic |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘G’
Good |
Great |
Generous |
Giant |
Ghostly |
Glad |
Glowing |
Grateful |
Glamorous |
Gloomy |
Grieving |
Guarded |
Good-looking |
Graceful |
Gentle |
Gifted |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘H’
Heartfelt |
Hard |
Hurry |
Harmonious |
Humourless |
Hilarious |
Handsome |
Harmful |
Handed |
Healthy |
Heroic |
Humongous |
Homely |
High-spirited |
Heavenly |
Humane |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘I’
Iconic |
Idolise |
Impossible |
Idle |
Improper |
Icy |
Immune |
Inexpensive |
Intense |
Improbable |
Intriguing |
Immortal |
Illegal |
Idealistic |
Inspiring |
Ideal |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘J’
Jolly |
Jovial |
Joyful |
Joyous |
Judicious |
Jealous |
Jarring |
Jaunty |
Jubilant |
Jumpy |
Justifying |
Justifiable |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘K’
Kind |
Known |
Kind-hearted |
Kingly |
Kinetic |
Keen |
Knowledgeable |
Kindred |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘L’
Lovingly |
Lasting |
Lately |
Loudly |
Lavish |
Living |
Large |
Luxurious |
Lingual |
Logical |
Lion-hearted |
Less |
Lonely |
Local |
Lucky |
Lyrical |
Lazy |
Legitimate |
Legendary |
Leading |
Long |
Lenient |
Lawful |
Limited |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘M’
Melodiously |
Miniscule |
Musically |
Majestic |
Motherly |
Magnificient |
Masculine |
Malicious |
Magical |
Mandatory |
Malleable |
Manipulative |
Man-made |
Master |
Massive |
Materialistic |
Marginal |
Manageable |
Married |
Melancholic |
Mathematical |
Memorable |
Maternal |
Marvellous |
Medicinal |
Moderate |
Merry |
Modern |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘N’
New |
Nearby |
Noble |
Nice |
Naughty |
Nameless |
Nasty |
Nervous |
Necessary |
Native |
Neat |
Neutral |
Narcissistic |
Noticeably |
Negligible |
Normally |
Narrowly |
Newsworthy |
Nowhere |
Nonstop |
Needy |
Natural |
Naiive |
Navigational |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘O’
Ordinary |
Outstanding |
Original |
Organic |
Obedient |
Optimistic |
Opposing |
Odourless |
Occasional |
Orthodox |
Oriental |
Overrated |
Omniscient |
Occupied |
Opposite |
Offer |
Overthink |
Openhearted |
Official |
Odd |
Overprotective |
Observingly |
Overjoyed |
Old-fashioned |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘P’
Patriotic |
Pleasurably |
Protective |
Pleasingly |
Periodically |
Playfully |
Passively |
Progressively |
Puzzling |
Peaceful |
Precise |
Proper |
Painful |
Premium |
Painless |
Pretty |
Productive |
Passionately |
Popular |
Provocative |
Pessimistic |
Paranormal |
Parliamentary |
Pathetic |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘Q’
Quickly |
Questioning |
Quietly |
Quotable |
Queer |
Quirky |
Quarrelsome |
Qualified |
Describing Words that Starts with the letter ‘R’
Real |
Radiant |
Recognisable |
Rejuvenating |
Remarkable |
Reasonable |
Reliable |
Rare |
Revolutionary |
Reliable |
Responsible |
Renowned |
Romantic |
Rampant |
Repulsive |
Reluctant |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘S’
Super |
Socially |
Sincerely |
Strict |
Strongly |
Significant |
Secretly |
Scientific |
Striking |
Selfless |
Sporty |
Sharp |
Sweet |
Speedy |
Stereotypical |
Sarcastic |
Special |
Sublime |
Spirited |
Stunning |
Stylish |
Sophisticated |
Safely |
Splendid |
Sad |
Strange |
Sleepy |
Shy |
Sensitive |
Sly |
Sparkling |
Slow |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘T’
Trustable |
Tactical |
Tasty |
Tender |
Tasteful |
Thoughtful |
Thrilling |
Terrific |
Talented |
Touching |
Truthful |
Triumphant |
Tough |
Tight |
Tempting |
Thankful |
Talkative |
Tall |
Tremendous |
Trustworthy |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘U’
Urgent |
Useless |
Unique |
Useful |
Unfamiliar |
Unfocused |
Unfriendly |
Unhappy |
Unfavourable |
Unhealthy |
Unfortunate |
Ungraceful |
Uninterested |
Ugly |
Ultimate |
Universal |
Unaffected |
Unbelievable |
Unusual |
Unpleasant |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘V’
Versed |
Versatile |
Virtuous |
Vulnerable |
Verifiable |
Villainous |
Voluntary |
Voiceless |
Victorious |
Various |
Vigilant |
Valuable |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘W’
Warmhearted |
Well-behaved |
Wild |
Weak |
Wise |
Whimsical |
Wealthy |
Wicked |
Witty |
Wordy |
Wonderful |
Winning |
Warm |
Wholeheartedly |
Willfully |
Wanted |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘X’
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘Y’
Young |
Youthful |
Yawning |
Yummy |
Describing Words that Start with the Letter ‘Z’
Zealful |
Zealous |
Zestful |
Zoological |
Frequently Asked Questions on Describing Words
Q1
What are describing words and what are the benefits of using them in the English language?
Describing words are words that are used to describe or provide additional information about a thing. Such terms are used to describe a person, place, event, situation etc. There are numerous describing words in the English language. In most cases, a descriptive word is used to intensify the expression of the individuals.
Q2
What are the different types of describing words in the English language?
There are mainly two types of describing words in the English language. They are ‘adjectives’ and ‘adverbs’. An adjective is used to describe a noun or pronoun. They provide additional information about a noun or pronoun, like its size, shape, colour, look, etc. In contrast, an adverb describes a verb or anything in the sentence apart from a noun and pronoun.These describing words are very useful and are frequently used in conversations in English.
Q3
List some describing words in the English language.
Active, Adequate, Adorable, Adventurous, Affordable, Alert, Ambitious, Amused, Beautiful, Barbaric, Brilliant, Beneficial, Babyish, Patriotic, Protective, Pleasingly, Pleasurably, Periodically, Passively, Progressively, Playfully, Urgent, Unique, Useful, Useless, Unfamiliar, Unfriendly, Unhappy, Unifocused, Unfavourable, Unfortunate, Ungraceful, Trustable, Tasty, Tender, Tactical, Tasteful, Thrilling, Terrific, Thoughtful, Talented, Truthful, Frequently, Fast, Fantastic, Fascinated, Fabulous, Forgiving, Fearless, Melodiously, Musically, Manly, Marvellous, Motherly, Masculine, Magnificient, Majestic, Magical, Jolly, Jovial, Justifying, Joyous.
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