Character traits list: 300 traits with examples

Character traits are the lasting qualities that decide how a character acts: brave or timid, generous or petty, curious, loyal, vain. The 300 below are split into positive, negative and neutral traits and grouped by area, from morals to work. Each one comes with a single line showing the trait at work in a scene, because readers believe a trait they see in a choice more readily than one they're told about.

This is the general lookup: use it to find the exact word for someone you already half know, or to give a flat character a second side. The positive, negative and neutral labels sort the list; they aren't verdicts. Loyal is a virtue until the friend is guilty, and frugal is admirable in a hard winter and mean at a wedding, so judge each trait by what it does in your scene. For one kind in more depth, the negative character traits list sorts harmful behavior by who it hurts, and the character flaws list gives each flaw its price in the plot.

Positive character traits

Positive traits make a character easy to root for. On their own they also make a character easy to forget, so give each one a situation where it costs something.

Moral and ethical traits

1. Honest: tells the buyer about the damp in the cellar before the inspector finds it.
2. Fair-minded: rereads the losing team's appeal twice before ruling against it.
3. Loyal: keeps his friend's chair at the poker table for a year after the falling-out.
4. Principled: turns down the promotion that comes with signing a report she hasn't read.
5. Trustworthy: holds the spare keys to half the houses on the street.
6. Humble: lets the intern present the plan that was mostly his.
7. Generous: pays for the round and is gone before anyone can thank her.
8. Compassionate: sits on the curb with the driver who hit her mailbox until his hands stop shaking.
9. Forgiving: sets a place at Christmas for the brother who missed their mother's funeral.
10. Brave: goes back up the smoky stairwell because she heard a dog.
11. Just: fines his own nephew the same as every other boy caught fishing without a license.
12. Selfless: gives up the last seat on the rescue boat without making a speech about it.
13. Sincere: means every word of the condolence card, which is why it takes her an hour.
14. Faithful: writes to her husband in prison every Sunday for nine years.
15. Modest: keeps the medal in a sock drawer and changes the subject when it comes up.
16. Merciful: lets the boy who stole from the till call his mother before anyone calls the police.
17. Respectful: takes off his cap in the widow's kitchen and waits to be asked to sit.
18. Accountable: tells the client the mistake was hers before the client finds it.
19. Devoted: drives four hours every weekend to read to a father who no longer knows her name.
20. Decent: returns the wallet with the cash still in it and refuses the reward.
21. Grateful: still sends her old piano teacher a postcard every September.
22. Incorruptible: mails the developer's envelope of cash back to him with a signed receipt.
23. Protective: steps between his sister and the man at the bar before he knows what was said.
24. Dutiful: keeps the family shop open on the day of the big game because Tuesday is a working day.
25. Kind: learns the night cleaner's name and uses it.
26. Magnanimous: toasts the rival who beat her for the job, and means it.

Social traits

27. Warm: remembers your dog's name and asks after him before asking after you.
28. Charming: gets the doorman laughing and the whole group in without a reservation.
29. Tactful: tells the bride the second dress brings out her eyes instead of saying the first one was a mistake.
30. Diplomatic: seats the feuding aunts at the same table and gives each of them a job.
31. Friendly: waves at everyone on the morning bus until the regulars start waving first.
32. Attentive: repeats back the one detail you thought nobody heard.
33. Empathetic: notices the new hire eating lunch alone in her car and brings out two coffees.
34. Hospitable: has the spare bed made up before the guest has finished asking.
35. Gracious: thanks the critic who panned her first book at the launch of her second.
36. Easygoing: shrugs when the band's van breaks down and starts the set in the parking lot.
37. Supportive: sits in the back row of every one of his son's terrible school plays.
38. Cooperative: swaps shifts without asking what she gets in return.
39. Inclusive: drags a chair over for the stranger standing at the edge of the circle.
40. Approachable: keeps her office door open, and people actually walk in.
41. Persuasive: talks the landlord into fixing the heating by Friday.
42. Funny: makes the whole waiting room laugh at the worst moment of the day.
43. Polite: writes a thank-you note in reply to a rejection letter.
44. Encouraging: circles one good sentence on every page of a failed essay.
45. Considerate: lowers his voice on the phone in the train's quiet car without being asked.
46. Sociable: knows the bartender, the cook and the cook's mother by her second week in town.
47. Patient: explains the remote control to her grandfather for the fifth time, from the beginning.
48. Gentle: calms the frightened horse by talking to it about the weather.
49. Affectionate: still holds his wife's hand in the supermarket after forty years.
50. Neighborly: shovels the walk next door before shoveling his own.
51. Charismatic: has three strangers pushing the stalled car before he's finished explaining.
52. Conciliatory: takes the blame for the argument just to get both friends to the same dinner.

Emotional traits

53. Calm: keeps reading the evacuation map aloud while everyone else is shouting.
54. Resilient: reopens the bakery a month after the flood, with the waterline still on the wall.
55. Cheerful: whistles while he scrapes the ice off three cars, two of them not his.
56. Optimistic: buys seeds in February for a garden the landlord hasn't agreed to.
57. Content: turns down the bigger house because the small one gets the morning light.
58. Hopeful: keeps the porch light on every night of the search.
59. Even-tempered: answers the shouted insult in the voice he uses to order coffee.
60. Open-hearted: tells her new friend about the divorce on their first walk together.
61. Secure: doesn't check her phone once while her ex is on a date across the room.
62. Composed: reads the eulogy to the end, then goes outside to cry.
63. Playful: turns the power cut into a candlelit game of charades.
64. Passionate: talks about beetles for forty minutes and nobody leaves the table.
65. Tender-hearted: cries at the end of every film, including the action ones.
66. Grounded: walks around the block before answering the email that made him angry.
67. Joyful: dances in the kitchen when the letter of acceptance arrives.
68. Serene: feeds the ducks while the lawyers argue on the bench behind her.
69. Steady: the one person in the newsroom who never raises her voice on deadline.
70. Emotionally honest: says “I'm scared” out loud in the meeting where nobody else will.
71. Lighthearted: laughs at himself first when he trips going onto the stage.
72. Spirited: argues with the referee, the coach and the scoreboard, and wins two of the three.
73. Romantic: keeps every ticket stub from their first year together in a biscuit tin.
74. Nurturing: keeps a drawer of bandages, snacks and spare socks for other people's children.
75. Self-controlled: leaves the room before he says the thing he can't take back.
76. Stoic: finishes the shift with a broken finger taped to the next one.
77. Upbeat: answers “How are you?” with an actual piece of good news.
78. Unflappable: finds a joke when the car spins on the ice, and the joke is good.

Mind and intellect

79. Curious: takes the broken toaster apart to see how it worked.
80. Observant: notices the guest has switched her wineglass to her left hand.
81. Witty: ends the argument with one line the other side repeats at parties for years.
82. Wise: gives the advice as a question, so the young man thinks of it himself.
83. Clever: fixes the leak with a bicycle inner tube and two hair ties.
84. Analytical: draws up a table of pros and cons before deciding whether to forgive her sister.
85. Imaginative: turns the waiting room's fish tank into a story for a frightened child.
86. Creative: makes a wedding dress out of her grandmother's curtains.
87. Insightful: tells the bride which guest will cause trouble, and is right.
88. Resourceful: gets the whole tour group fed with one phrase of Portuguese and a credit card.
89. Open-minded: reads the book her son recommended, the one she was sure she'd hate.
90. Intuitive: knows the deal is off from the way the buyer folds his napkin.
91. Logical: works out who took the key from the order in which the lights went off.
92. Quick-witted: has an answer for the heckler before the heckler has finished.
93. Knowledgeable: names every bird by its call on the morning walk.
94. Rational: refuses to panic until she has read the whole letter.
95. Perceptive: hears the “fine” in her friend's voice and drives over.
96. Studious: reads the manual cover to cover before switching on the new oven.
97. Discerning: tastes the sauce once and knows the cook used dried thyme.
98. Inventive: builds the cat a lift out of a basket and a pulley.
99. Philosophical: loses the lawsuit and says it was cheaper than a degree.
100. Articulate: explains the eviction notice to the whole building so even the children understand it.
101. Visionary: buys the empty warehouse ten years before anyone wants to live there.
102. Clear-headed: remembers the passports when everyone else is grabbing the photo albums.
103. Inquisitive: asks the plumber three questions and fixes the next leak herself.
104. Well-read: finds the right poem for the funeral and reads it without a word of introduction.

Drive and work

105. Diligent: checks every receipt in the box, even the ones from four years ago.
106. Ambitious: practices an acceptance speech in the mirror for an award she hasn't been nominated for.
107. Determined: takes the driving test a fifth time, with the same examiner.
108. Decisive: picks the restaurant in four seconds and never looks at the other menus.
109. Disciplined: writes 500 words before breakfast, including the morning after the party.
110. Hardworking: closes the shop, does the books and opens again at six.
111. Reliable: the one the whole office calls when the printer breaks at midnight.
112. Organized: color-codes the family's fire escape plan and laminates it.
113. Persistent: calls the airline every hour until a person answers.
114. Focused: doesn't hear the fire drill because she's three lines from the end.
115. Punctual: arrives ten minutes early and waits in the car so he won't be too early.
116. Thorough: checks the gas, the locks, and then the gas again.
117. Industrious: turns a snowed-in weekend into a repainted kitchen.
118. Competent: takes over the stalled meeting and has a decision in ten minutes.
119. Efficient: does the weekly shop in eighteen minutes from a list sorted by aisle.
120. Methodical: tries one key at a time from the ring of forty, in order.
121. Self-motivated: teaches himself Italian from library tapes in case the job ever involves Milan.
122. Responsible: takes his friend's car keys and sleeps on the friend's sofa to make sure.
123. Meticulous: turns every jar in the pantry label-out before the health inspector arrives.
124. Tenacious: rewrites the rejected grant application for the third year in a row.
125. Adaptable: rewrites her toast in the car when the bride's father pulls out of the wedding.
126. Enterprising: sells lemonade at the marathon and hot coffee at the bus stop in winter.
127. Bold: walks into the publisher's office without an appointment.
128. Proactive: fixes the gate before it falls off and before anyone complains.
129. Practical: brings a flashlight, a pocketknife and sandwiches to the moonlit picnic.
130. Professional: keeps smiling at the customer who is wrong about everything, and takes notes.

Negative character traits

Negative traits give a character something to overcome, defend or hide, and they give other characters something to react to. For 150 negative traits sorted by who they hurt, each paired with the strength it can shadow, see the negative character traits list.

Moral and ethical traits

131. Dishonest: rounds his hours up by a little, every single week.
132. Cruel: imitates the new boy's stammer while the class laughs.
133. Greedy: takes the last two slices and wraps one up for later.
134. Selfish: books himself the window seat on his wife's first flight.
135. Hypocritical: lectures the table on thrift, then orders the most expensive wine.
136. Vindictive: keys the car of the woman who got the job he wanted.
137. Disloyal: tells the boss what her friend said about him at the bar.
138. Corrupt: waves the truck through the checkpoint for a carton of cigarettes.
139. Envious: can't congratulate her sister on the engagement without mentioning what the ring must have cost.
140. Callous: steps around the man lying on the sidewalk and checks his watch.
141. Spiteful: “forgets” to pass on the message about the job interview.
142. Deceitful: keeps two phones and two stories, and never mixes them up.
143. Unfaithful: keeps a second toothbrush in an apartment across town.
144. Exploitative: pays the new cook in “experience” and day-old bread.
145. Ruthless: fires the friend who got him the job, by email.
146. Self-righteous: reports the neighbor's recycling to the city, with photos.
147. Bigoted: moves to the far end of the bench when the newcomer sits down.
148. Cowardly: hides in the bathroom while his friend takes the blame.
149. Two-faced: praises the soup to the cook and calls it dishwater on the drive home.
150. Petty: keeps a list of who didn't bring a gift to her birthday.

Social traits

151. Arrogant: explains the rules of the game to the woman who invented it.
152. Rude: answers his phone during the wedding vows.
153. Condescending: praises the waiter's English, slowly.
154. Manipulative: cries at exactly the moment the argument turns against her.
155. Controlling: orders for his date, then sends her dish back.
156. Domineering: decides where the family goes on vacation and tells them in the car.
157. Tactless: asks the widow at the funeral whether she'll be selling the house.
158. Gossipy: knows about the divorce before the couple has told their children.
159. Cold: shakes hands with her son at the airport.
160. Boastful: mentions his marathon time before the waiter has taken the order.
161. Needy: texts four times when the first message goes unanswered for an hour.
162. Clingy: turns up at her boyfriend's bachelor party with snacks.
163. Judgmental: comments on what's in everyone's shopping cart at the checkout.
164. Pushy: books the second date before the first one is over.
165. Snobbish: asks which school you went to, then stops listening.
166. Abrasive: calls it honesty when he tells the intern her work is garbage.
167. Aloof: eats lunch alone at her desk for six years and is surprised nobody knows her birthday.
168. Sarcastic: says “Great job” in the voice that means the opposite, every time.
169. Overbearing: takes the knife from his wife's hand to show her how to slice an onion.
170. Attention-seeking: announces she is leaving the party, three times.

Emotional traits

171. Anxious: checks the stove three times, then turns the car around anyway.
172. Hot-tempered: throws the phone across the room before the caller has finished the sentence.
173. Jealous: reads her boyfriend's messages while he's in the shower.
174. Moody: the whole house reads his face at breakfast before anyone speaks.
175. Insecure: fishes for a compliment after every meeting and never believes it.
176. Bitter: still talks about the promotion she lost in 1998.
177. Resentful: does the dishes, loudly.
178. Pessimistic: buys the travel insurance, the extended warranty and a spare umbrella.
179. Self-pitying: turns her friend's bad news into a story about her own week.
180. Melodramatic: calls a lost earring the worst day of her life.
181. Impatient: presses the elevator button again and again, as if it counts.
182. Touchy: hears an insult in “You look rested.”
183. Hesitant: rereads the email nine times and then doesn't send it.
184. Fearful: turns down the job because the office is on the twelfth floor.
185. Possessive: introduces his girlfriend as “mine” and laughs as if it were a joke.
186. Sullen: answers every question at dinner with one word.
187. Whiny: complains about the heat on the beach vacation she chose.
188. Brooding: spends the whole reunion staring at the lake.
189. Defensive: hears “the soup needs salt” as “you are a failure.”
190. Insensitive: tells the joke about funerals at a funeral.

Mind and judgment

191. Gullible: buys the miracle roof sealant from the man at the door, twice.
192. Closed-minded: won't taste the soup because of its color.
193. Naive: trusts the stranger who says he went to school with her father.
194. Scatterbrained: leaves her keys in the fridge and the milk in her bag.
195. Shortsighted: sells the orchard to pay for the party.
196. Stubborn: walks home in the rain rather than admit she took the wrong bus.
197. Impulsive: comes home with a dog after going out for milk.
198. Reckless: overtakes on the blind bend, late for nothing in particular.
199. Indecisive: orders last, then changes it when the food arrives.
200. Forgetful: misses his daughter's recital for the second year running.
201. Rigid: serves dinner at six even on the night the guests are stuck in a snowstorm.
202. Suspicious: reads the neighbor's new hedge as a message.
203. Overconfident: skips the safety briefing because he's done this before.
204. Careless: leaves the gate open and the dog on the highway.
205. Know-it-all: corrects the tour guide in front of the whole group.
206. Prejudiced: decides the new teacher is lazy from her accent.
207. Cynical: assumes the volunteer must be after something.
208. Shallow: chooses the apartment for its view of the bar across the street.
209. Dogmatic: quotes the rulebook while the pipe floods the basement.
210. Obtuse: keeps telling the joke after the room has gone quiet.

Drive and work

211. Lazy: waits for someone else to take the trash out, even in his own week.
212. Unreliable: says “I'll be there” and means “I might.”
213. Procrastinating: cleans the oven to avoid writing the report.
214. Sloppy: sends the contract with the last client's name still in it.
215. Perfectionist: repaints the front door four times and never moves into the house.
216. Workaholic: answers email during her own wedding reception.
217. Opportunistic: visits the sick boss in the hospital to ask who's covering his job.
218. Complacent: still hasn't changed the alarm code since the break-in.
219. Micromanaging: rewrites the intern's email, then the intern's apology for it.
220. Disorganized: keeps the tax papers in shoeboxes, three of which still hold shoes.
221. Irresponsible: leaves the toddler with a stranger “for a minute.”
222. Undisciplined: starts five novels and finishes the first chapter of each.
223. Glory-seeking: signs his name above the team's on the report.
224. Apathetic: shrugs when the factory closes, and again when his own job goes with it.
225. Entitled: demands a refund for the rain.
226. Wasteful: buys a new umbrella every time it rains.
227. Territorial: hides the good stapler so nobody else can use it.
228. Cutthroat: leaks the rival's draft to the press the night before the vote.
229. Negligent: skips the safety check on the ride because the line is long.
230. Half-hearted: joins the gym, buys the shoes and goes once.

Neutral character traits

Neutral traits are neither virtues nor vices until a scene decides. A cautious character is wise at the cliff edge and maddening at the party. These are the traits that make a person specific rather than good or bad.

Temperament

231. Introverted: leaves the party early and texts the host a thank-you from the cab.
232. Extroverted: makes three new friends in the line for the bathroom.
233. Reserved: mentions the engagement to her sister a week after setting the date.
234. Cautious: reads the terms and conditions, all forty pages.
235. Competitive: keeps score at the family's friendly game of croquet.
236. Sensitive: hears the change in a friend's voice on the phone and remembers it for weeks.
237. Intense: stares at the chessboard for twenty minutes, then wins in two moves.
238. Quiet: speaks once in the meeting, and that's the line that ends up in the minutes.
239. Talkative: has told the taxi driver her life story by the second traffic light.
240. Serious: doesn't laugh at the toast until he's sure it's a joke.
241. Spontaneous: books the flight on the drive to the airport.
242. Private: has worked beside them for ten years and they don't know she has a son.
243. Proud: won't ask for directions, a loan or help with the boxes.
244. Independent: moves the piano herself rather than wait for the movers.
245. Idealistic: quits the bank to open a bookshop in a town with one traffic light.
246. Pragmatic: sells the wedding ring to fix the truck.
247. Skeptical: asks the fortune-teller for a receipt.
248. Restless: rearranges the furniture whenever she can't sleep.
249. Blunt: tells the groom his suit is too big, at the altar.
250. Strong-willed: refuses the wheelchair at the airport and walks the whole terminal.
251. Mischievous: swaps the salt and the sugar at the office party.
252. Sentimental: keeps every school drawing, including the ones the children want thrown away.
253. Nostalgic: still drives to the closed-down diner on her birthday.
254. Traditional: makes the same Christmas pudding, burned corner included, every year.
255. Unconventional: wears hiking boots to the gala and is the best dancer there.
256. Laid-back: watches the train pull out and decides the next one will be fine.
257. Mysterious: answers “Where are you from?” with “Originally?”
258. Eccentric: walks his cat on a leash to the library.
259. Daring: swims out to the island and back before breakfast, in October.
260. Solitary: spends Christmas in a lighthouse, by choice.
261. Dreamy: misses her stop because the clouds looked like the coast of Chile.
262. Impressionable: is talking like the new boss within a week.
263. Self-contained: never says what she wants for her birthday, and buys it herself.
264. Excitable: shrieks when the parcel arrives, then again when it's opened.
265. Watchful: sits facing the door in every café.

Habits and outlook

266. Frugal: washes and reuses the sandwich bags.
267. Formal: signs his text messages “Regards, Martin.”
268. Fastidious: wipes down the hotel remote before touching it.
269. Devout: says grace over a vending-machine sandwich in the airport.
270. Superstitious: won't sign the lease on the thirteenth, so it waits a day.
271. Old-fashioned: writes thank-you letters with a fountain pen and buys stamps in sheets.
272. Minimalist: owns one mug, and lends it to guests.
273. Bookish: brings a book to the party and finds the one other person who did.
274. Worldly: knows which fork to use in four countries and when to ignore all of them.
275. Earthy: laughs loudest at the dirty joke at the wedding, then dances with the priest.
276. Nocturnal: does her best work between midnight and four and her worst at the nine o'clock meeting.
277. Adventurous: orders the dish the waiter warns her about.
278. Homebody: turns down a free trip to Paris because it clashes with his tomatoes.
279. Rebellious: sits on the bench marked “Do not sit,” every day, for years.
280. Conformist: waits to see what everyone else orders.
281. Image-conscious: photographs the cake three times before anyone can eat it.
282. Hedonistic: orders dessert first, in case of earthquake.
283. Ascetic: sleeps on the floor of his own large bedroom.
284. Whimsical: names her houseplants after dead poets.
285. Matter-of-fact: tells the children the goldfish died of being a goldfish.
286. Theatrical: makes an entrance at the dentist's.
287. Literal-minded: told to break a leg, asks which one.
288. Unhurried: finishes his coffee while the bus waits with its doors open.
289. Brisk: ends every phone call before the other person has said goodbye.
290. Routine-loving: eats the same sandwich on the same bench at 12:15 for eleven years.
291. Maverick: ignores the business plan and opens the restaurant on a boat.
292. Cosmopolitan: dreams in three languages and swears in a fourth.
293. Unsentimental: sells the childhood home the week after the funeral and doesn't look back.
294. Status-conscious: mentions the car's make before its color.
295. Sporty: turns every family walk into a race to the gate.
296. Austere: serves guests bread, cheese and water and considers it a feast.
297. Guarded: gives a fake name at the coffee shop.
298. Acquisitive: owns 400 snow globes and is still looking for the one from Duluth.
299. Workmanlike: writes the novel the way he laid bricks: a set number a day, no fuss.
300. Rootless: has lived in eleven cities and owns nothing that won't fit in a car.

How to choose traits for a character

A character built from one list of adjectives reads like a dating profile. A character built from three traits that disagree with each other reads like a person. Work in this order:

1. Pick the core trait the plot will test

   Start from the story's main pressure and choose the trait that pressure hits hardest. A story about a flood needs someone whose dependability is about to be tested, or someone whose recklessness is.

2. Add a trait that pulls against it

   Generous but proud. Honest but cowardly. Dependable but reckless with her own safety. The second trait makes readers unsure what the character will do, and that uncertainty gives a scene somewhere to go.

3. Give them a flaw that will cost them

   A negative trait becomes a flaw when the story uses it against the character. The character flaws list sorts 130 of them from minor to fatal, with what each one costs.

4. Add two neutral traits for texture

   Frugal, nocturnal, formal, superstitious. Neutral traits don't drive the plot. They make the character specific enough to recognize from the next room.

5. Write the first scene that tests the core trait

   Before you write anything else about them, put the core trait under a small pressure and see what they do. If the scene is dull, try a sharper pressure or a different trait. Then record all three traits in the character profile template, which has a Personality section for them.

Show a trait instead of naming it

“She was generous” is a promise. Paying for the round and leaving before anyone can thank her is the proof. This is show, don't tell at the level of a single trait, and it works in four places:

• A choice under pressure. The strongest proof. What a character does when the honest answer costs them is worth more than a chapter of description.
• A habit. The tea bag used twice, the keys never out of the pocket, the seat facing the door.
• Speech. A know-it-all corrects; a diplomat asks questions; a cold character answers exactly what was asked and not a word more.
• Other people. How the room changes when someone walks in tells the reader about them before they speak.

The second version shows the habit. The third gives it a price paid by someone she loves, and that turns a detail into something the story can test: the next time it matters, does she pay for the train?

Naming isn't forbidden. Charles Dickens names Scrooge's traits in one famous run in A Christmas Carol (1843), “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!”, and then proves them a page later: “Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk's fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal.” The list is memorable because the coal backs it up.

To find the labels in a finished chapter, ask the Strokes Assistant to list every sentence where the narration names a trait (brave, generous, cold). Each one is a place to decide whether a choice should do the work instead.

Character traits in classic novels

Many of the best-remembered characters in public-domain fiction pair a trait readers admire with one that gets them into trouble.

Jo's mother, in Little Women, makes the same point about her own temper: “I've been trying to cure it for forty years, and have only succeeded in controlling it.” A trait rarely disappears. What changes is what the character does with it.

Common mistakes with character traits

• Traits named and never tested. The narration says brave; no scene asks for bravery. Readers believe what they see a character choose.
• All virtues. A character with nothing to lose and nothing wrong with them gives the plot nothing to push on. One real weakness usually makes the strengths easier to believe.
• A trait salad. Twelve adjectives and no center. Readers tend to remember a person by one or two traits and the scene that proved them.
• Traits that cost nothing. Honesty that never loses a friend or a job is decoration.
• Traits that switch without a cause. If the shy character makes a speech in chapter twelve, the reader needs the scene that made it possible.
• One trait for the whole cast. If everyone is witty, nobody is. Give a foil the opposite trait, so each makes the other easier to see.