Descriptive words are the adjectives, adverbs, verbs and nouns that tell a reader what a person, a place or a thing is like: a gangly fourteen-year-old, a drafty farmhouse, a gravelly voice, a man who sidled up to the bar instead of walking. The 300 below are grouped by what you’re describing (people, places, weather, mood and the five senses), each with a short example phrase written for this list.
Use the list to find the one exact word, not to add three more. Often the exact word is a verb, and one good verb can retire two adjectives. A first draft might give the Buchanans a huge, lively lawn. Fitzgerald gives it verbs instead:
The lawn started at the beach and ran towards the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sundials and brick walks and burning gardens—finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run.
The lawn starts, runs, jumps and drifts. Those verbs carry the size (a quarter of a mile, covered at a run) and the energy, so neither “huge” nor “lively” is needed, while the sundials and brick walks add the money. Before you reach for an adjective below, check whether a verb could do its job. After the list: how to choose between near-synonyms, how to keep description from turning purple, and one paragraph revised from vague to specific.
| If you’re describing… | Look under | Words |
|---|---|---|
| If you’re describing…How someone looks | Look underAppearance and build | Words1–22 |
| If you’re describing…A face | Look underFaces and expressions | Words23–36 |
| If you’re describing…A voice | Look underVoices | Words37–50 |
| If you’re describing…How someone moves | Look underMovement | Words51–72 |
| If you’re describing…What someone is like | Look underPersonality | Words73–94 |
| If you’re describing…A room or a building | Look underRooms and buildings | Words95–112 |
| If you’re describing…Land, streets and towns | Look underLandscapes and streets | Words113–126 |
| If you’re describing…The weather | Look underWeather | Words127–144 |
| If you’re describing…The feel of a scene | Look underMood and atmosphere | Words145–162 |
| If you’re describing…A feeling, without naming it | Look underFeelings, shown | Words163–180 |
| If you’re describing…Speed and time | Look underTime and pace | Words181–192 |
| If you’re describing…Color, light and shape | Look underSight | Words193–220 |
| If you’re describing…Sounds | Look underSound | Words221–242 |
| If you’re describing…Smells | Look underSmell | Words243–260 |
| If you’re describing…Food and drink | Look underTaste | Words261–278 |
| If you’re describing…Surfaces and temperature | Look underTouch and texture | Words279–300 |
Words to describe people
Most of these work best one at a time. A single precise detail about a face or a walk usually does more than a full inventory from hair to shoes. Personality words describe a manner; for the traits that drive a character’s choices, see the character traits list, and for the verbs that attribute a line of dialogue, the list of words to use instead of said.
Appearance and build
- angular — an angular face, all cheekbone and jaw
- barrel-chested — a barrel-chested man in a tight suit
- bony — bony elbows on the table
- brawny — brawny arms from twenty years of roofing
- compact — a compact woman who moved like a boxer
- dapper — a dapper old man in a bow tie
- disheveled — disheveled hair after the overnight flight
- freckled — freckled shoulders after the beach
- gangly — a gangly fourteen-year-old, all knees and elbows
- gaunt — gaunt cheeks after the long winter
- grizzled — a grizzled beard
- hunched — hunched shoulders over the laptop
- lanky — a lanky deli clerk
- plump — the plump cheeks of a toddler
- rumpled — a rumpled linen shirt
- sinewy — sinewy forearms
- slight — a slight girl in a huge coat
- stocky — a stocky wrestler
- stooped — a stooped figure at the bus stop
- weathered — a face weathered by thirty seasons of fishing
- willowy — a willowy dancer
- wiry — a wiry cyclist
Faces and expressions
- bleary — bleary eyes at the 6 a.m. meeting
- crinkled — eyes crinkled at the corners when she laughed
- dimpled — a dimpled grin
- doleful — the doleful eyes of a basset hound
- flushed — flushed cheeks after the stairs
- furrowed — a furrowed brow over the crossword
- glassy — glassy eyes after the third drink
- haggard — a haggard face after a week of night shifts
- impassive — an impassive face at the poker table
- pinched — a pinched mouth when the bill came
- puffy — puffy eyes the morning after
- ruddy — ruddy cheeks from the wind
- sullen — a sullen teenager in the back seat
- wan — a wan smile as the bus pulled away
Voices
- breathy — a breathy whisper
- clipped — clipped, military answers
- croaky — a croaky voice after the concert
- gravelly — a gravelly voice like a car in the wrong gear
- hoarse — hoarse from shouting at the match
- husky — a husky voice on the radio after midnight
- lilting — a lilting voice that rose at the end of every sentence
- measured — a measured, careful voice
- monotone — a monotone voice reading the minutes
- nasal — a nasal voice announcing the delays
- reedy — a reedy voice that cracked on the high notes
- resonant — a resonant voice that filled the church
- strident — a strident voice that carried across the meeting
- throaty — a throaty laugh
Movement
- ambled — ambled down to the harbor after lunch
- bustled — bustled between the tables with a coffee pot
- crept — crept down the stairs in her socks
- darted — darted across the road between buses
- dawdled — dawdled at every shop window
- flounced — flounced out of the room
- hobbled — hobbled on a twisted ankle
- loped — loped along the beach like a wolfhound
- lumbered — lumbered up the stairs with the sofa
- marched — marched into the manager’s office
- meandered — meandered through the market
- paced — paced the length of the kitchen
- plodded — plodded through the snow
- sauntered — sauntered in forty minutes late
- scurried — scurried for cover when the rain started
- shuffled — shuffled to the door in slippers
- sidled — sidled up to the bar
- skulked — skulked by the bins behind the restaurant
- sprinted — sprinted for the last train
- staggered — staggered under the weight of the boxes
- strode — strode across the stage
- trudged — trudged home in wet shoes
Personality
- aloof — an aloof neighbor who nods but never stops
- blunt — a blunt editor who writes “no” in the margin
- brash — a brash salesman who calls you “buddy”
- brusque — a brusque receptionist who doesn’t look up
- cagey — cagey about where he’d been all weekend
- earnest — an earnest volunteer with a clipboard
- fastidious — a fastidious cook who measures the salt
- fidgety — a fidgety kid in the dentist’s chair
- flippant — a flippant answer to a serious question
- gruff — a gruff landlord with a soft spot for cats
- guileless — guileless questions from a six-year-old
- haughty — a haughty maître d’
- impish — an impish grin before the prank
- jovial — a jovial uncle carving the turkey
- meticulous — a meticulous accountant with color-coded tabs
- mousy — a mousy clerk who never raised her voice
- officious — an officious parking attendant
- reticent — reticent about his years in the army
- scatterbrained — a scatterbrained friend who loses three umbrellas a year
- sly — a sly smile across the table
- testy — a testy driver at the toll booth
- unflappable — an unflappable flight attendant in turbulence
Words to describe places
A place often comes alive through one or two specific details, and the weather can set the mood before anyone speaks.
Rooms and buildings
- airy — an airy loft with tall windows
- austere — an austere chapel with bare walls
- cavernous — a cavernous warehouse
- cluttered — a cluttered desk buried in invoices
- cozy — a cozy booth by the fire
- cramped — a cramped studio over a laundromat
- crumbling — crumbling plaster in the stairwell
- dank — a dank cellar
- derelict — a derelict cinema on Main Street
- drafty — a drafty farmhouse
- immaculate — an immaculate kitchen nobody cooks in
- labyrinthine — the labyrinthine corridors of an old hotel
- ornate — an ornate ceiling with gilt cherubs
- ramshackle — a ramshackle shed held together with wire
- sparse — a sparse apartment with one chair
- stately — a stately townhouse on the square
- stuffy — a stuffy classroom in June
- sun-drenched — a sun-drenched kitchen
Landscapes and streets
- barren — barren hills after the drought
- bustling — a bustling market on Saturday morning
- desolate — a desolate stretch of highway
- grimy — a grimy underpass
- leafy — a leafy suburb
- lush — lush river valleys
- marshy — marshy ground by the estuary
- overgrown — an overgrown railway line
- rolling — rolling farmland
- rugged — a rugged coastline
- sleepy — a sleepy village where the shop shuts at noon
- teeming — teeming streets at rush hour
- tranquil — a tranquil cloister garden
- windswept — a windswept moor
Weather
- balmy — a balmy evening on the terrace
- biting — a biting wind off the lake
- blustery — a blustery March afternoon
- bracing — a bracing swim in the North Sea
- brooding — brooding clouds over the valley
- crisp — a crisp October morning
- drizzly — a drizzly Tuesday
- frosty — frosty windshields at dawn
- gusty — gusty winds that flip umbrellas inside out
- humid — humid air that fogs your glasses
- inclement — inclement weather that canceled the parade
- leaden — a leaden sky
- misty — misty mornings in the valley
- muggy — a muggy afternoon before the storm
- oppressive — oppressive August heat
- overcast — an overcast sky that never quite rains
- sweltering — a sweltering subway platform
- torrential — torrential rain that floods the underpass
Words for mood, feeling and time
Mood words name the feeling of a scene. Use them sparingly, because the details can usually create the mood on their own. The feelings group shows how to put an emotion on the page without naming it, and for the writer’s attitude rather than the scene’s atmosphere, see the tone words list.
Mood and atmosphere
- bleak — a bleak waiting room with a dying plant
- cheerless — a cheerless motel room
- convivial — a convivial dinner with too much wine
- eerie — an eerie quiet after the sirens
- electric — an electric crowd before kickoff
- festive — festive streets in December
- foreboding — a foreboding silence before the verdict
- hushed — a hushed library
- idyllic — an idyllic summer at the lake
- melancholy — a melancholy pier in the off-season
- menacing — a menacing dog behind the fence
- nostalgic — the nostalgic smell of pencil shavings
- ominous — an ominous click on the phone line
- raucous — a raucous wedding party
- serene — a serene Sunday morning
- somber — a somber crowd outside the courthouse
- tense — a tense dinner with the in-laws
- whimsical — a whimsical garden with teapots for planters
Feelings, shown through the body
- anxious — chewing the inside of her cheek
- bashful — studying his shoes while she thanked him
- bored — clicking a pen through the whole meeting
- defensive — arms folded before anyone spoke
- elated — taking the stairs two at a time
- embarrassed — heat climbing up his neck
- exhausted — asleep on the couch with her shoes on
- frustrated — jabbing the elevator button again
- grief-stricken — setting the table for three out of habit
- guilty — overtipping the waiter he’d snapped at
- humiliated — keeping her sunglasses on indoors
- jealous — checking her phone every time his buzzed
- jittery — a knee bouncing under the table
- lonely — leaving the TV on for company
- relieved — letting out a breath she’d held since lunch
- resentful — washing the dishes loudly
- smug — leaning back with his hands behind his head
- wary — keeping one hand on her bag on the train
Time and pace
- abrupt — an abrupt end to the call
- brisk — a brisk walk to the station
- fleeting — a fleeting glimpse of the coast
- glacial — glacial progress on the paperwork
- headlong — a headlong rush for the exit
- hurried — a hurried goodbye at the gate
- interminable — an interminable wait at the DMV
- languid — a languid afternoon in the hammock
- leisurely — a leisurely breakfast
- lingering — a lingering look across the room
- protracted — protracted negotiations over the lease
- sluggish — sluggish traffic on the bridge
Descriptive words for the five senses
Sensory words put the reader in the room. In many first drafts sight does most of the work, so sound, smell, taste and touch are often where a description has the most room to improve. This is a short set for each sense, chosen to sit alongside the people and place words above.
Sight: color, light and shape
- amber — amber light pooling under the streetlamp
- ashen — an ashen sky the morning after the fire
- bruised — a bruised purple dusk over the hills
- burnished — burnished copper pans above the stove
- dappled — dappled shade under the plane trees
- dingy — a dingy curtain gone yellow at the hem
- dusky — the dusky blue of the hour after sunset
- faded — a faded denim jacket, white at the seams
- flickering — a flickering bulb in the stairwell
- glinting — a ring glinting as she turned the page
- hazy — hazy hills, more rumor than mountain
- iridescent — an iridescent slick of oil in the puddle
- lurid — lurid green neon over the pawnshop
- mottled — mottled brown leaves on the lawn
- murky — murky water the color of weak tea
- pallid — the pallid glow of a phone screen at 3 a.m.
- russet — russet apples in a paper bag
- sooty — sooty bricks above the chimney pot
- stark — stark white walls with nothing on them
- tarnished — a tarnished silver frame on the piano
- crooked — a crooked picture nobody straightens
- hulking — a hulking wardrobe that blocks half the window
- jagged — jagged glass along the top of the wall
- lopsided — a lopsided birthday cake
- spindly — the spindly legs of a heron in the shallows
- sprawling — a sprawling outlet mall off the interstate
- squat — a squat brick post office
- towering — towering stacks of shipping containers
Sound
- booming — a booming laugh from the next booth
- clanging — clanging radiators every morning at six
- clattering — clattering cutlery in the hotel kitchen
- creaking — the creaking third stair
- crackling — crackling fat in the pan
- droning — a droning air conditioner in the next room
- echoing — echoing footsteps in the empty gym
- grating — the grating scrape of a chair on tile
- hissing — a hissing kettle left too long
- humming — the humming fridge in a silent apartment
- jangling — jangling keys on the janitor’s belt
- muffled — muffled voices through the hotel wall
- murmuring — a murmuring crowd before the curtain rose
- piercing — a piercing whistle from the platform
- rasping — the rasping saw in the neighbor’s garage
- rumbling — a rumbling train under the street
- rustling — rustling paper bags in the back seat
- shrill — a shrill car alarm at two in the morning
- sputtering — a sputtering outboard motor
- thudding — thudding bass from the car at the light
- tinny — tinny music leaking from someone’s earbuds
- whirring — the whirring fan of an old laptop
Smell
- acrid — acrid smoke from the burned toast
- briny — briny air at the end of the pier
- damp — the damp smell of a basement after rain
- earthy — earthy mushrooms in a paper sack
- fetid — fetid water at the bottom of the vase
- fragrant — fragrant jasmine by the gate
- fusty — fusty cupboards in a rented cottage
- musky — a musky cologne that stays in the elevator
- musty — musty hymnals in the church pews
- pungent — pungent garlic on his breath
- rancid — rancid butter at the back of the fridge
- reeking — reeking gym bags in the trunk
- resinous — resinous pine sap on her fingers
- smoky — smoky wool coats after the bonfire
- sour — the sour smell of spilled milk in a hot car
- stale — stale cigarette smoke in the curtains
- sulfurous — the sulfurous whiff of a struck match
- yeasty — yeasty warmth from the bakery vent
Taste
- bitter — bitter coffee left on the burner all morning
- bland — bland boiled potatoes with no salt
- buttery — buttery pastry that shatters at the first bite
- charred — charred peppers straight off the grill
- cloying — cloying syrup on a cheap pancake
- creamy — creamy risotto finished with parmesan
- fiery — fiery chili oil that makes your eyes water
- gamey — gamey venison stew
- honeyed — honeyed figs with goat cheese
- malty — malty dark bread
- metallic — the metallic taste of water from a garden hose
- peppery — peppery arugula in a lemon dressing
- piquant — piquant capers in the sauce
- salty — salty pretzels from a paper cone
- savory — a savory broth that tastes of bones and bay leaves
- tangy — tangy lime squeezed over grilled corn
- tart — tart green apples
- zesty — zesty orange peel in the cake batter
Touch and texture
- brittle — brittle autumn leaves
- bristly — a bristly chin at the end of the week
- clammy — clammy palms before the interview
- coarse — a coarse wool blanket
- downy — downy hair on a baby’s head
- feathery — feathery fern fronds
- frigid — a frigid metal railing in January
- gritty — gritty sand in the sheets
- gummy — gummy residue where the price tag was
- icy — icy fingers on the back of her neck
- knobby — knobby knuckles
- leathery — a leathery old wallet
- lumpy — a lumpy motel mattress
- pliant — pliant dough
- prickly — prickly gorse along the path
- silky — the silky ears of a spaniel
- slick — slick tiles by the pool
- spongy — spongy moss on the north side of the wall
- sticky — a sticky table in the diner
- tacky — tacky paint on the front door
- velvety — velvety peach skin
- waxy — waxy magnolia leaves
How to choose the right descriptive word
A list gives you options. Choosing between them comes down to four habits.
Pick the precise word, not an extra one. “He walked slowly” spends two words on what trudged, ambled, shuffled or dawdled says in one, and each of those means something different: trudging is tired, ambling is content, shuffling is old or ill, dawdling is avoiding something. “Very big” becomes hulking, cavernous or sprawling, depending on whether you mean a wardrobe, a warehouse or a mall.
Let verbs and nouns carry the picture. Adjectives are the obvious descriptive words, but the strongest description often has very few. In a letter of March 20, 1880, to a Texas schoolboy named David Watt Bowser, Mark Twain put it bluntly: “When you catch an adjective, kill it.” He meant most of them, he added, not all, and the survivors become more valuable. Fitzgerald’s lawn, at the top of this page, shows the trade: four verbs where a weaker draft would stack two adjectives.
Concrete beats abstract. Beautiful, nice, amazing and interesting report your opinion and leave the reader to imagine the rest. Name the thing that made you think it: not a beautiful garden but jasmine by the gate and a hose coiled on wet flagstones. In the first chapter of Bleak House, Dickens names one concrete thing and repeats it until the city disappears:
Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city. Fog on the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights.
Choose what your viewpoint character would notice. A builder sees the sagging lintel; a child sees the cat on the stairs; a burglar sees the open window. The details a character picks out say as much about them as about the room, which is why description and point of view are hard to separate.
Avoid purple prose
Purple prose is description that draws more attention to itself than to what it describes. A common sign is a stack of adjectives that say almost the same thing: a dark, gloomy, shadowy room. Keep the strongest one, or replace all three with a single concrete detail.
Before: The ancient, crumbling, decrepit mansion loomed ominously against the dark, brooding, stormy sky, its many shadowy windows staring down like the hollow eyes of some long-dead giant.
After: The house had lost half its roof slates and most of its glass. When it rained, the water came straight through the attic and down the main stairs.
The revision uses fewer descriptive words and gives more information. Nobody needs to be told the house is decrepit once the rain is running down the stairs.
Show feelings instead of naming them
The feelings group pairs each emotion with something a person does, because “she was nervous” is a label and “her knee bounced under the table” is evidence. The reader draws the conclusion, and a conclusion the reader draws feels like their own. That is the core of show, don’t tell.
Naming is still the right call sometimes: for a quick transition between scenes, for a feeling the story doesn’t need to dwell on, or when the physical cue would take a paragraph to set up. Show the feelings that matter to the story and tell the ones that only move it along.
A description, before and after
Here is a first-draft paragraph built from vague descriptive words, then the same moment with the vague words swapped for things a reader can see, hear and smell.
Before: The café was very nice and cozy. It smelled really good, and there were lots of interesting people. The coffee was delicious and the music was nice. I felt happy and relaxed.
After: The café was one room with six tables and a radiator that knocked. It smelled of burnt sugar and wet wool. A man in a paint-spattered jacket read the same page of his paperback for twenty minutes. My coffee came in a chipped blue cup, too hot to drink for the first ten minutes, and I stayed until they stacked the chairs.
- “Very nice and cozy” became a count (one room, six tables) and a sound (the radiator).
- “Smelled really good” became two smells that don’t usually meet.
- “Lots of interesting people” became one person and one habit.
- “I felt happy and relaxed” became an action: staying until closing.
- The music is gone. One fewer detail, and the paragraph is better for it.
Repeated words are harder to catch than vague ones. To find the same “cold” or “dark” every few pages, ask the Strokes Assistant to review a chapter for repeated descriptive words: they’re hard to see from inside the draft and obvious in a list.
Frequently asked questions
How do you describe a person in writing?
Pick two or three details a stranger would notice first, such as build, one feature and the way the person moves or speaks, then add one detail that reveals character, like bitten nails or a pressed shirt on a Sunday. Show personality through action rather than labels, and let the viewpoint character choose what to notice, since that says something about them too.
How do you describe a place in writing?
Start with what your viewpoint character would notice on walking in, then choose one or two details only this place has: a radiator that knocks, a shop that shuts at noon. Add at least one sense beyond sight, and let the weather or the time of day carry the mood instead of a mood word. A full inventory of the room tends to stall the scene.
Are descriptive words always adjectives?
No. Adjectives are the most common descriptive words, but adverbs, verbs and nouns describe too. Lumbered and sidled describe a walk; a hovel describes a small, dirty house in one word. Verbs and nouns often describe more efficiently than adjectives, because they carry the picture without adding an extra word.
How many adjectives is too many?
There is no fixed number. Two adjectives that add different information, as in a narrow brick house, sit together comfortably. Trouble starts when they overlap, as in a dark, gloomy, shadowy room, or when a more precise noun or verb could do the work of all of them. If you find three in a row, test whether one exact word would cover them.
