Here is our top list of feeling words that you can add to your writing. Read our guide.
Words that describe feelings are essential to express your emotions and experiences adequately. There are different approaches to expressing feelings, but using a word or two is the best way to convey these internal emotions. Here is a list of feeling words to use if you have trouble communicating your feelings through words.
Contents
What Are Feeling Words?
These are powerful words in the English language used to express, recognize, and show our internal emotions. Studies show that there are 27 categories of human emotions, and thousands of feeling words correspond to them.
Much like magic words, for writers and storytellers, feeling words are crucial to describing and encouraging readers to relate with characters.
| Affectionate | Fed-Up | Petrified |
| Agitated | Fidgety | Petulant |
| Aglow | Fine | Pressured |
| Alarmed | Fond | Raging |
| Amused | Frisky | Resentful |
| Animated | Glad | Scared |
| Anxious | Gleeful | Seething |
| Appreciative | Gloomy | Shaky |
| Attentive | Glum | Shocked |
| Befriended | Grieved | Spiteful |
| Blessed | Grim | Sorrowful |
| Buoyant | Grouchy | Sympathetic |
| Calm | Harassed | Tearful |
| Cautious | Haunted | Tender |
| Charmed | Heated | Tense |
| Cheerful | Hopeless | Terrified |
| Cherished | Horrified | Thoughtful |
| Considerate | Idolizing | Touched |
| Cowardly | Ill-Tempered | Troubled |
| Cranky | Impatient | Trusting |
| Crestfallen | Intimidated | Ugly |
| Crushed | Irked | Understood |
| Dejected | Jumpy | Uneasy |
| Delighted | Kind-hearted | Upset |
| Demoralized | Livid | Uptight |
| Devalue | Lost | Vibrant |
| Devoted | Loved | Warm |
| Disappointed | Mad | Watchful |
| Ecstatic | Miserable | Worship |
| Elated | Nervous | Vengeful |
| Elevated | Offended | Yielding |
| Empty | Optimistic | Zealous |
| Enraged | Outraged | |
| Euphoric | Panicky |
Feeling Words: Happiness
Words that describe the feeling of happiness help communicate someone’s positive evaluation of a moment in their life. It shows a person’s contentment, fulfillment, and satisfaction with themselves, another being, or an event.
- Aglow
The bride walks down the aisle to meet her soon-to-be husband; both are aglow with joy and excitement.
- Amused
The overflowing support of the fans during the event amused her.
- Animated
The science teacher’s animated speech and demeanor kept boredom away.
- Buoyant
I bet Ryan received a love letter from his beau this morning; he is in a buoyant mood.
- Calm
Watching the soft waves crash against the shore helped Tracy feel calm.
- Charmed
She has always lived a charmed life but works hard and refuses to leave everything to fate.
- Cheerful
Everyone wants to work with him because he’s a cheerful groupmate.
- Delighted
The kids were delighted to play in the waterslide.
- Ecstatic
He’s ecstatic to meet the woman he’s been talking to online in real life.
- Elated
Her father was elated to know that he would soon be a grandfather.
- Elevated
Jay’s appearance instantly elevated everyone’s mood at the party.
- Euphoric
Graduation gives students a euphoric sense of achievement.
- Fine
Drake always reminds us that it’s fine to rest sometimes.
- Frisky
The zoo’s new baby elephant is a frisky one who likes to entertain the audience.
- Glad
Belinda’s glad that she now has a stable job.
- Gleeful
Jia answered his praise with a gleeful laugh.
- Optimistic
Samantha is the most optimistic person I’ve ever met.
- Touched
The student’s songs touched their teachers’ hearts.
- Vibrant
The apartment looks vibrant after Kate repainted the walls.
- Warm
The artist’s fans give him a warm welcome as he steps out of the airport.
Feeling Words: Anger
Anger-feeling words help show strong signs of displeasure, annoyance, or discomfort. These words convey people’s intense response to something they deeply care about. Anger words also allow others to see how someone interprets a situation, including their susceptibility to vulnerability or threat.
- Agitated
He was agitated this morning since he was running late for work.
- Cranky
She gets cranky when she wakes up early in the morning.
- Enraged
The restaurant staff was enraged with how the owner treated them, so they all walked out and refused to return to work.
- Grim
The prosecutor shows the crime photos to the jury as a grim reminder of how brutal the suspect can be when angered.
- Grouchy
No one wants to take her in their group because she’s notoriously grouchy.
- Heated
The debate started great but ended with a heated argument.
- Ill-Tempered
Princess is charming, but because everyone knows she’s ill-tempered, no one wants her to be a leader.
- Impatient
I hope the pizza delivery comes soon because the kids are getting impatient.
- Irked
The uneven tiles in the bathroom irked me a lot.
- Livid
Raven was livid at the person who leaked his private pictures.
- Mad
The fans were mad at the concert producers because they increased ticket prices without warning.
- Offended
Agatha told me to stop getting offended over small things.
- Outraged
The crowd was outraged after the concert was cut short for no reason.
- Petulant
My mother told me I was a petulant child when I was younger.
- Raging
Laura was raging at her sister for ripping her precious posters.
- Resentful
Laura was resentful when she discovered she was the only one who didn’t cheat on the exam.
- Seething
My blood is seething for criminals who kill innocent people to satisfy their curiosity.
- Spiteful
I hate Enka’s bad habit of making spiteful remarks about someone’s mental health.
- Uptight
Our manager is so uptight about reaching our department’s quota.
- Vengeful
The vengeful spirits threw Annaliese out the window during her exorcism.
Feeling Words: Caring
We show our concern for friends and loved ones through kind gestures and words. Words indicating care and worry relay thoughtfulness, honesty, and consideration. Caring words also denote camaraderie and a sense of belongingness.
- Affectionate
Sunshine is affectionate to children, making her a great kindergarten teacher.
- Appreciative
You don’t have to stress over what you’ll get Ana for Christmas. She’s very appreciative of whatever gift she receives.
- Attentive
Professors love to have attentive students in their classes.
- Befriended
Lizzy befriended Maddie because they had very similar interests.
- Blessed
I was blessed to have a complete family.
- Cherished
I’ll only think about the cherished memories we had together.
- Considerate
Ken is considerate of the people around him.
- Devoted
Mariel is a devoted wife and mother.
- Fond
The King is so fond of his daughter that he refuses to acknowledge her mistakes.
- Idolizing
It’s best if the youth starts idolizing people with high morals and good character.
- Kind-hearted
Travis is the most kind-hearted office employee I know.
- Loved
I’m sure grandmother loved us until her last breath.
- Sympathetic
The management reminded us to be more sympathetic toward the customers’ struggles.
- Tender
A mother’s tender love is essential to helping a boy grow into a wonderful man.
- Thoughtful
The owner of the care facility praised Vina’s thoughtful decision to assist old patients in the gentlest way possible.
- Trusting
Mom always reminds me to be careful in trusting people I talk to online.
- Understood
He understood her plea and promised to be there for her.
- Worship
He loves her too much, so I don’t question if he builds a shrine to worship her.
- Yielding
She nods, yielding to her father’s insistence that they need to take a family vacation.
- Zealous
The coach is proud to have a zealous group of athletes under his care.
Feeling Words: Sorrow
People who go through a difficult situation become distressed or upset. Words relaying the feeling of being sorrowful encompass different but related words that indicate negative feelings, such as hopelessness, melancholy, or regret.
- Cowardly
Lala’s cowardly way of running from her problems made her miserable.
- Crestfallen
Cris wept at seeing her son crestfallen after losing the competition.
- Crushed
Anne was crushed when she was notified of an allegation of her cheating on the licensure examination.
- Dejected
He looked very dejected as he sat in front of the beach, thinking about his problems.
- Demoralized
Cecile finds it easy to inspire her demoralized students by speaking to them individually to discuss their problems.
- Devalue
They consistently devalue his skills and knowledge, making him lose confidence.
- Disappointed
I’m disappointed with how you speak to your mother.
- Empty
He’s been battling depression for years; he feels numb and empty.
- Fed-Up
Maureen was so fed-up with her classmates that she stormed out of the room.
- Gloomy
She feels gloomy when it rains.
- Glum
The glum look on her face told me everything I needed to know.
- Grieved
She grieved for her lost innocence.
- Harassed
She harassed him at work by spreading lies about his past.
- Haunted
His memories haunted me daily, so I talked with a therapist.
- Hopeless
Carlo is as hopeless as I am in life.
- Lost
Their dad’s passing made them feel lost.
- Miserable
Cosette told me her life went miserable after losing her only source of income.
- Sorrowful
The country mourned the sorrowful day the plane crashed and killed many civilians.
- Tearful
The band’s new song that details their struggles makes their fans tearful.
- Upset
I get easily upset these days, and I don’t know why.
Feeling Words: Fear
People feel fear as a reaction to something their conscious regards as dangerous. Fear keeps individuals from doing or facing something harmful, whether the threat is real or imagined. Words describing fear convey one’s panic or dread.
- Alarmed
Everyone was alarmed by the loud noise signaling that a tornado was coming.
- Anxious
I get anxious whenever our teacher draws names for oral recitation.
- Cautious
Let’s be cautious about what we say so that we don’t offend anyone.
- Fidgety
Tony becomes fidgety as his teacher announces their final grades.
- Horrified
I was utterly horrified by the new series glorifying a serial murderer.
- Intimidated
Ally said she was intimidated by Ira’s voice during the online training.
- Jumpy
Jon gets jumpy when he’s scared or worried.
- Nervous
Everyone is nervous as we wait for the operation to finish.
- Panicky
As a new employee, Emmie quickly gets panicky when the phone in front of her rings.
- Petrified
The new movie “Smile” was so scary that everyone was petrified.
- Pressured
Her manager pressured her into accepting his date invitation, so she reported him to HR.
- Scared
Anthony became scared of Ariane when she said she saw someone clinging to his back.
- Shaky
Clarisse’s voice is shaky, and she can’t calm down before and during the mock call.
- Shocked
Everyone was shocked at her sudden outburst during their group’s presentation.
- Tense
The room was filled with tense silence.
- Terrified
I admit that I was terrified of my chemistry teacher.
- Troubled
The guy sitting in the gutter looked troubled.
- Ugly
The stranger’s smile gave her an ugly feeling, so she bolted out of the alleyway.
- Uneasy
Her way of speaking and acting makes me uneasy.
- Watchful
My brother has always been so watchful of everything I do.
Check our list of random words to upgrade your writing. They’re useful if you want to spice up your prose!
For even more words to use in your writing, check out our guide packed full of transition words for essays.
Join over 15,000 writers today
Get a FREE book of writing prompts and learn how to make more money from your writing.
