Do you want to make your writing more engaging? Check out this descriptive words list with 400 words you can use today.
As you strive to be a more engaging writer, using descriptive words can help. It’s easy to over-use these words, but sprinkling them in here and there is a great way to colorize your writing.
Descriptive words are adjectives, which describe nouns and pronouns, or adverbs, which describe verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. Identifying and using these will help you write stronger pieces and descriptive essays.
This descriptive words list is a good place to start. It also pairs nicely with our list of mood words.
Contents
Descriptive Words List: 400 Words to Make Your Writing More Colorful
Descriptive words take writing from boring to engaging. Consider this sentence:
- She swam across the water.
While this tells you what is happening, it has little to help you imagine the scene. If you add some adjectives and adverbs and transform the statement to this:
- She swam speedily across the choppy water.
Now you have a better picture of what happened. In order to transform your writing in this way, you need a number of descriptive words at the ready, and this list of descriptive words will help.
List of Descriptive Adjectives in English
Adjectives are the most common type of descriptive words, so first we will look at these. These words describe features like shape, texture, color, and size. They help differentiate between items in a group by calling out distinguishing features.
In English grammar, you can use the following to describe nouns and pronouns:
- Abandoned
- Abrupt
- Academic
- Acute
- Admirable
- Adorable
- Adventurous
- Acclaimed
- Accomplished
- Acrobatic
- Afraid
- Aggressive
- Alarmed
- Amused
- Ancient
- Angelic
- Angry
- Babyish
- Bad
- Baggy
- Beloved
- Bewitched
- Bitter
- Blank
- Bleak
- Blind
- Blushing
- Bored
- Bouncy
- Brave
- Bright
- Brilliant
- Buoyant
- Busy
- Buzzing
- Calm
- Carefree
- Careful
- Cautious
- Cavernous
- Charming
- Cheerful
- Chubby
- Classic
- Clean
- Clear
- Clever
- Cloudy
- Cluttered
- Clumsy
- Course
- Cold
- Colorful
- Comfortable
- Common
- Composed
- Concerning
- Confusing
- Creepy
- Cruel
- Cuddly
- Curious
- Curly
- Cute
- Damaged
- Dangerous
- Dark
- Dazzling
- Dear
- Decent
- Deep
- Defiant
- Delicious
- Demanding
- Dense
- Devoted
- Dim
- Dirty
- Disfigured
- Drab
- Dull
- Early
- Easy
- Easy-going
- Edible
- Elastic
- Elderly
- Electric
- Embellished
- Emotional
- Empty
- Enchanted
- Energetic
- Envious
- Enthusiastic
- Ethical
- Euphoric
- Everlasting
- Evil
- Exotic
- Exuberant
- Fashionable
- Faithful
- Famous
- Fancy
- Fantastic
- Fatal
- Fearful
- Female
- Filthy
- Firm
- Flat
- Flawed
- Flustered
- Focused
- Foolhardy
- Gregarious
- Grim
- Handsome
- Handy
- Intelligent
- Intrepid
- Jocular
- Jovial
- Joyful
- Jubilant
- Keen
- Kind
- Lanky
- Lazy
- Limp
- Luxurious
- Mediocre
- Mellow
- Miserable
- Nocturnal
- Naive
- Nasty
- Neat
- Needy
- Negative
- Nervous
- Nice
- Organic
- Ornate
- Ordinary
- Powerless
- Practical
- Precious
- Puzzled
- Quarrelsome
- Querulous
- Questionable
- Quirky
- Ragged
- Rapid
- Ready
- Recent
- Regal
- Reliable
- Sad
- Sandy
- Sane
- Scarce
- Scented
- Scornful
- Secret
- Selfish
- Super
- Talented
- Tame
- Tasty
- Tender
- Tense
- Terse
- Terrible
- Thankful
- Thoughtful
- Thoughtless
- Tired
- Tough
- Troubling
- Ugly
- Uninterested
- Unusual
- Upset
- Uptight
- Varied
- Vast
- Victorious
- Vivacious
- Wandering
- Weary
- Wicked
- Wide
- Wild
- Witty
- Worrisome
- Wrong
- Young
- Zealous
This list is not exhaustive, and there are many synonyms and other words that could be added. In addition, all colors are considered adjectives and describing words. Nationalities, like American or English, can also fit this list.
As you work on creating descriptive writing, get used to using these and similar words. You might also find our list of pronouns useful.
Example Sentences Using Adjectives
To better understand how adjectives look in sentences, consider these examples:
- The fuzzy red fox jumped over the tall fence. (red, tall)
- We like to visit the beautiful forest (beautiful)
- The garden shed feels damp this morning. (garden, damp)
- The trip to Disney World was magical. (magical)
- The beautiful bird sat on the rough branch and sang. (beautiful, rough)
- The woman is short, but her husband is tall. (short, tall)
- I prefer cold climates. (cold)
- The luxurious hotel included soft robes for each guest. (luxurious, soft, each)
Common Endings for Adjectives
Because listing all adjectives in the English language is impossible, knowing their endings is helpful, especially for ESL language learners. Some of the common endings for adjectives include:
- -al
- -an
- -ar
- -ful
- -ic
- -ical
- -ine
- -ile
- -ive
- -less
- -ous
- -some
If you see a word ending in one of these, and you know it isn’t a noun, chances are high it is an adjective.
List of Adverbs in English
The English language also uses adverbs to describe verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. These descriptive words show intensity, number and extent. They often end in -ly.
- Abnormally
- Accidentally
- Actually
- Aggressively
- Always
- Amusingly
- Anxiously
- Angrily
- Annually
- Apathetically
- Assertively
- Astronomically
- Awkwardly
- Badly
- Bashfully
- Beautifully
- Begrudgingly
- Bitterly
- Blindly
- Blissfully
- Blearily
- Boastfully
- Boldly
- Bravely
- Brightly
- Briskly
- Broadly
- Busily
- Carefully
- Carelessly
- Cheerfully
- Clearly
- Closely
- Cooly
- Coyly
- Crazily
- Crossly
- Daily
- Daintily
- Deceivingly
- Deeply
- Defiantly
- Definitely
- Deftly
- Deliberately
- Devotedly
- Differently
- Diligently
- Dimly
- Doubtfully
- Dramatically
- Dutifully
- Eagerly
- Early
- Easily
- Elegantly
- Emotionally
- Enormously
- Equally
- Especially
- Evenly
- Eventually
- Exactly
- Exceptionally
- Faithfully
- Faintly
- Faithfully
- Far
- Fast
- Fervently
- Fiercely
- Finally
- Finitely
- Foolishly
- Frequently
- Frightfully
- Frenetically
- Frivolously
- Gladly
- Gleefully
- Gracefully
- Graciously
- Greatly
- Greedily
- Happily
- Hard
- Hastily
- Honestly
- Hopelessly
- Hourly
- Humorously
- Humbly
- Hungrily
- Hysterically
- Innocently
- Inquisitively
- Irritably
- Intelligently
- Impressively
- Jealously
- Jovially
- Jubilantly
- Justly
- Kindly
- Knowingly
- Late
- Lazily
- Less
- Loosely
- Lovingly
- Ludicrously
- Madly
- Meagerly
- Mercifully
- Merrily
- Methodically
- Morally
- More
- Mortally
- Mysteriously
- Naturally
- Nearly
- Neglectfully
- Nervously
- Never
- Nicely
- Normally
- Not
- Obediently
- Obnoxiously
- Occasionally
- Often
- Only
- Perfectly
- Politely
- Poorly
- Powerfully
- Promptly
- Pointlessly
- Powerfully
- Quickly
- Rapidly
- Rarely
- Really
- Regularly
- Rashly
- Rudely
- Safely
- Seldom
- Selfishly
- Seriously
- Shakily
- Sharply
- Significantly
- Silently
- Slightly
- Slowly
- Solemnly
- Sometimes
- Speedily
- Splendidly
- Straight
- Sternly
- Substantially
- Tactfully
- Tragically
- Technically
- Tediously
- Unexpectedly
- Uprightly
- Urgently
- Usefully
- Usually
- Vacantly
- Vastly
- Very
- Victoriously
- Vitally
- Vivaciously
- Vividly
- Voluntarily
- Warmly
- Weakly
- Wearily
- Weekly
- Weirdly
- Well
- Wholly
- Wildly
- Willfully
- Wisely
- Worriedly
- Wrong
- Wrongly
- Yearly
- Yearningly
- Yesterday
- Youthfully
- Zealously
- Zestfully
Again, this is not an exhaustive list. As you learn to identify adverbs or use them in your own writing, look for words that describe verbs and other descriptive words and end in -ly.
Editing tip: Sometimes adverbs can also serve as filler words that you can remove or use to slow down or speed up a piece.
Example Sentences Using Adverbs
To better understand how adverbs show up in sentences as descriptive words, consider these examples:
- The electric car drove so quietly we didn’t hear it coming. (so, quietly)
- My dog barked angrily at the intruder. (angrily)
- The girls sang beautifully. (beautifully)
- He swam across the pool quickly. (quickly)
- The box is surprisingly heavy for its size. (surprisingly)
- The toddler walked very carefully across the slippery floor. (very, carefully)
- Language learning is incredibly easy for some students, and incredibly hard for others (incredibly)
A Final Word on Descriptive Words List
As you learn how to become a better writer, descriptive language is a big part of the picture. Adjectives and adverbs are the parts of speech that allow you to describe other things vividly. While you can overuse them, they can add color and interest to your writing when used well.
Keep this list of descriptive words handy. When you have a need, pull it out and find one that fits your writing. Whether you’re writing a sentence, short story or an entire novel, you’ll find it easier to get descriptive when you have these words on hand.
Check Like this? Check out our list of sensory words.
FAQs on Descriptive Words List
What are some good descriptive words?
Descriptive words are words that make something easier to identify by describing its characteristics. Some good words that fit this include:
Bright
Adventurous
Jovial
Charming
Peaceful
What words describe movement?
Some descriptive words describe the movement of an object. These include:
Swiftly
Fluidly
Gracefully
Smoothly
Disjointedly
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