Events & Celebrations
74 Adjectives for Christmas
Christmas writing has a vocabulary problem: festive, magical and cosy do about ninety percent of the work, and by the…
The right word, for whatever you are trying to describe
Adjective lists for every subject you might write about, and plain-English guides to using them well. Free, and written to be read in a couple of minutes.
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188 guides
Writing with Adjectives
How adjectives behave in a sentence — the order they fall into, how they compare, when they carry opinion rather than fact, and how to reach for a vivid word without overreaching.
Browse the guides704 word lists
Adjectives by Subject
Curated describing words for people, food, places, feelings, work and more — each list sorted by shade of meaning, with example sentences so you can hear how the word behaves.
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Nature & Environment
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Writing with Adjectives
122 Adjectives That Start With E
E is the most common letter in English, and its adjectives are unusually good at carrying feeling — elated, exasperated,…
Events & Celebrations
73 Adjectives for Halloween
Halloween writing fails in one of two directions. Either every noun gets spooky stapled to it, or the words turn…
Writing with Adjectives
171 Adjectives That Start With A
The letter A carries more useful adjectives than almost any other, and that is a problem as much as a…
Writing with Adjectives
The Editing Order That Saves the Most Time
Fixing commas in a paragraph you later delete is wasted work. Edit from the largest unit down to the smallest,…
Writing with Adjectives
Reading Level: Who Is This Actually For?
Most professional writing is pitched several years above its audience, and the writers doing it believe simplicity would make them…
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Editors’ picks
Writing with Adjectives
The Intensifiers That Make Writing Weaker
Very, really, quite, rather, somewhat. Most of them subtract force from the word they are attached to, and the good…
Emotions & Feelings
Stressed Out: Mastering Adjectives for Emphasis in English
Understanding how to use adjectives for stress and emphasis is crucial for effective communication in English. It allows you to…
Emotions & Feelings
Adjectives for Sympathy: Expressing Compassion in English
Expressing sympathy is a crucial aspect of human communication, allowing us to connect with others during their times of distress.…
Personality & Character
Describing the Inner Self: Adjectives for the Soul
Understanding how to describe the soul is crucial for expressing profound emotions, spiritual insights, and complex character traits. Adjectives that…
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Grammar essentials
01
Descriptive Adjectives: Painting Vivid Settings with Words
Writing with Adjectives · 18 min
02
Elevate Your Writing: Powerful Adjectives to Replace “Said”
Writing with Adjectives · 19 min
03
Descriptive Adjectives: Enhancing Speech and Writing
Writing with Adjectives · 15 min
04
The Dangling Modifier, and Why Your Sentence Sounds Absurd
Writing with Adjectives · 3 min
05
Comprise, Compose, Consist: The One That Takes No “Of”
Writing with Adjectives · 2 min
06
Describing the Void: Mastering Adjectives for Silence
Writing with Adjectives · 12 min
07
Descriptive Adjectives: Highlighting Notable Achievements
Writing with Adjectives · 14 min
08
Describing Deliciousness: Mastering Adjectives for Food
Writing with Adjectives · 15 min
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Plain-English grammar guides and curated adjective lists. Free to read, checked against Merriam-Webster, Chicago and AP before publication.
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