Describing Things
Adjectives for size, quality, color, and characteristics
Overview
25 essential adjectives for describing things — covering appearance, quality, size, and characteristics.
Words
amazing /əˈmeɪzɪŋ/
adjective — A1
Meaning: very surprising or impressive; wonderful
Examples:
- The view from the top was amazing.
- She’s an amazing cook.
Collocations: absolutely amazing, amazing things, amazing experience
Word Family: amazing (adj.) → amaze (v.) → amazed (adj.) → amazement (n.)
best /best/
adjective, adverb — A1
Meaning: of the highest quality; most good
Examples:
- She’s the best student in the class.
- This is the best pizza I’ve ever had.
Collocations: the best, best friend, do your best, second best
better /ˈbetər/
adjective, adverb — A1
Meaning: of a higher quality than something else
Examples:
- This restaurant is better than the other one.
- She’s feeling much better today.
Collocations: get better, feel better, better than, even better
black /blæk/
adjective, noun — A1
Meaning: the darkest colour; the colour of night
Examples:
- She’s wearing a black dress.
- The cat is completely black.
Collocations: black and white, black coffee, black market
blonde /blɒnd/
adjective — A1
Meaning: having light yellow hair
Examples:
- She has long blonde hair.
- He’s the blonde boy in the photo.
Collocations: blonde hair, go blonde, natural blonde
blue /bluː/
adjective, noun — A1
Meaning: the colour of the sky on a clear day
Examples:
- The sky is bright blue today.
- She wore a blue coat.
Collocations: dark blue, light blue, blue sky, blue eyes
bored /bɔːd/
adjective — A1
Meaning: feeling tired and uninterested
Examples:
- I’m bored — there’s nothing to do.
- The students looked bored during the lecture.
Collocations: get bored, feel bored, bored with
boring /ˈbɔːrɪŋ/
adjective — A1
Meaning: not interesting or exciting
Examples:
- The movie was really boring.
- I don’t want a boring job.
Collocations: how boring, really boring, boring day
brown /braʊn/
adjective, noun — A1
Meaning: the colour of wood, earth, or chocolate
Examples:
- She has brown eyes.
- The leaves turn brown in autumn.
Collocations: dark brown, light brown, brown sugar, brown hair
busy /ˈbɪzi/
adjective — A1
Meaning: having a lot to do; full of activity
Examples:
- Sorry, I’m very busy today.
- The streets were busy with traffic.
Collocations: too busy, busy day, busy schedule, get busy
clean /kliːn/
adjective — A1
Meaning: free from dirt; not dirty
Examples:
- The room is nice and clean.
- Please use a clean towel.
Collocations: clean water, clean clothes, keep clean
common /ˈkɒmən/
adjective — A1
Meaning: happening often; found in many places
Examples:
- It’s a very common name.
- Colds are common in winter.
Collocations: common sense, common knowledge, in common, most common
correct /kəˈrekt/
adjective, verb — A1
Meaning: right; without mistakes
Examples:
- Is this the correct answer?
- Please correct any mistakes.
Collocations: correct answer, correct me, correct order, politically correct
Word Family: correct (adj./v.) → correctly (adv.) → correction (n.)
dark /dɑːk/
adjective — A1
Meaning: with little or no light; not light in colour
Examples:
- It gets dark early in winter.
- She has dark brown hair.
Collocations: dark room, dark night, dark colour, in the dark
Word Family: dark (adj.) → darkness (n.) → darken (v.)
deep /diːp/
adjective — A1
Meaning: going far down from the top or surface
Examples:
- The pool is very deep at this end.
- He has a deep voice.
Collocations: deep water, deep breath, deep sleep, deep down
Word Family: deep (adj.) → deeply (adv.) → depth (n.) → deepen (v.)
dry /draɪ/
adjective — A1
Meaning: not wet; without water or moisture
Examples:
- The clothes are dry now.
- The weather has been very dry.
Collocations: dry weather, dry skin, dry season, dry cleaning
empty /ˈempti/
adjective — A1
Meaning: containing nothing; not occupied
Examples:
- The bottle is empty.
- The bus was almost empty.
Collocations: empty room, empty bottle, empty seat, run on empty
fine /faɪn/
adjective — A1
Meaning: of good quality; acceptable; in good health
Examples:
- How are you? I’m fine, thanks.
- The weather is going to be fine tomorrow.
Collocations: fine weather, fine line, I’m fine, fine art
full /fʊl/
adjective — A1
Meaning: containing as much as possible; not empty
Examples:
- The glass is full of water.
- The box is full — I can’t fit anything else in.
Collocations: full name, full time, full of, in full
green /ɡriːn/
adjective, noun — A1
Meaning: the colour of grass and leaves
Examples:
- She has beautiful green eyes.
- The traffic light turned green.
Collocations: go green, green light, dark green, green tea
grey /ɡreɪ/
adjective, noun — A1
Meaning: the colour between black and white
Examples:
- The sky was grey and cloudy.
- He’s going grey at the temples.
Collocations: grey hair, grey sky, dark grey, light grey
heavy /ˈhevi/
adjective — A1
Meaning: weighing a lot; not light
Examples:
- This suitcase is really heavy.
- There was heavy rain all day.
Collocations: heavy rain, heavy traffic, heavy load
Word Family: heavy (adj.) → heavily (adv.)
large /lɑːdʒ/
adjective — A1
Meaning: big in size, amount, or number
Examples:
- They live in a large house.
- A large number of people attended.
Collocations: large number, large amount, large scale, by and large
light /laɪt/
adjective, noun — A1
Meaning: (adj.) not heavy; not dark; (n.) what makes things visible
Examples:
- The bag is very light.
- Turn on the light, please.
Collocations: light blue, light rain, street light, light switch
Word Family: light (n./adj.) → lighten (v.) → lightly (adv.) → lighting (n.)
orange /ˈɒrɪndʒ/
adjective, noun — A1
Meaning: a colour between red and yellow; a round fruit
Examples:
- She wore an orange scarf.
- I’ll have an orange juice, please.
Collocations: orange juice, bright orange, orange peel
Quick Review
| Word | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| amazing | adj. | wonderful |
| best | adj./adv. | highest quality |
| better | adj./adv. | higher quality |
| black | adj./n. | darkest colour |
| blonde | adj. | light yellow hair |
| blue | adj./n. | sky colour |
| bored | adj. | uninterested |
| boring | adj. | not exciting |
| brown | adj./n. | earth colour |
| busy | adj. | having much to do |
| clean | adj. | without dirt |
| common | adj. | happening often |
| correct | adj./v. | right; to fix |
| dark | adj. | little light |
| deep | adj. | far down |
| dry | adj. | not wet |
| empty | adj. | containing nothing |
| fine | adj. | acceptable; well |
| full | adj. | containing maximum |
| green | adj./n. | grass colour |
| grey | adj./n. | between black/white |
| heavy | adj. | weighing a lot |
| large | adj. | big |
| light | adj./n. | not heavy; brightness |
| orange | adj./n. | red-yellow colour/fruit |