400 Eloquent Adjectives To Describe a Person

Looking for just the right words to express a person’s characteristics or personality? This giant list provides ample ideas to give your students’ (or your own) writing some sparkle and pizzazz. You’ll find positive and negative adjectives to describe a person, words to portray their personality and behavior, plus a selection of truly unique descriptors.

Grab our free printable list and word cards featuring adjectives to describe a person.

Why are adjectives important?

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This is a detailed explanatory sentence about engaging and intriguing adjectives.

Adjectives bring writing to life! They help the reader better envision people, places, and things, and get a clear sense of what a writer has in mind. We can help our students develop into experienced writers who use adjectives to paint a picture with words, adding color and depth to their writing.

How do you choose the right adjective?

Choosing strong adjectives is all about understanding shades of meaning. Consider these words: big, huge, humongous, massive, and immense. Each has the same basic definition but evokes a slightly different feeling. The adjectives you choose have the ability to create a mood and provoke reactions in readers. When you use them well, a piece of writing takes on a whole new level of impressive quality.

Deciding on the right adjectives can be tricky. Writers, especially young student writers, often become attached to a few favorites, making their writing boring and predictable. Challenge your students to seek out and use new words on a regular basis. Teach students to explore the possibilities using a thesaurus to help them find new options, or use a list like the ones below to help guide students to brainstorm a list on an anchor chart and then hang it in the classroom.