Improve Your Vocabulary: 25 English adjectives to describe people

Benjamin engVid

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Hi, there, and welcome back to engVid.

Today we are looking at 25 words that can be used to describe people.

This video is mainly for those at the beginning of their journey learning English; but,

of course, you may just pick up a few new words if you're an intermediate, too.

So, these are predominantly adjectives.

And what we are going to be doing is seeing whether they say a good thing about someone

or a bad thing about someone.

So, if it says a good thing about someone, we'll put a smiley face; if it puts a bad

impression about someone, we'll put an unhappy face.

First word: "huge".

Now, do you think it would be good to be called "huge"?

If you're a guy?

If you're a girl?

It probably depends.

Most guys want to go to the gym and get really big; but many girls, the sort of stereotypical

perceived body perfection is slightly smaller.

So, I will put...

Say it to a guy; not a girl.

"Agile" means that you are graceful.

If you think of the animal, the deer, it moves very gracefully.

So, "agile", I think that's a positive thing to say to someone.

"Feeble" means weak; pathetic.

No one wants to be called "feeble".

If I was going to describe someone as feeble, I would say: "The Liverpool football player

was feeble in their effort to stop the goal."

"Full" means full of; you have a lot of it.

"Taste" means being able to choose good things; having good taste in art, in music, in food,

If you're tasteful, it means you make good decisions.

Obviously we want to be described as being tasteful.

"Slight" means small.

So, "slight" sounds like we're not very important; we're just sort of a bit small.

We don't want to be called "slight".

This means messy.

Unorganized; a bit chaotic.

We don't want to be called "dishevelled".

"Grubby" is another word for dirty.

Generally, people don't want to be described as being dirty.

"Unkempt", so the prefix "un" means not; "kempt" means looked after.

So, if you are unkempt, we get the idea that maybe the person has not washed for some time,

they haven't brushed their teeth, their clothes are falling apart.

So, we don't want to be unkempt.

"Greasy", "greasy".

Maybe you have seen "Greased Lightning", the song from the hit Grease.

So, "Greased Lightning", the car is really slick and it's all kind of new, and it's going

to impress everyone.

But if we're applying grease to a person, it's not such a good thing.

We don't want kind of petrol and things in our...

We don't want our skin to be greasy.

So, this has two meanings: "Greasy" in terms of sort of hair and skin, but also "greasy"

means we don't really trust that person; they're a little bit suspicious.

"Bonny" generally is applied to a baby.

You would say: "That's a bonny baby."

It means: Good-looking; looks healthy.

If we're attracted to something, we want to go towards it.

We want people to like us, we want to...

We want to be attract-...

"Exquisite" - one of my favourite words.

"Exquisite" means sort of near perfection, just absolutely fantastic.

Of course, we all want to be exquisite.

Again, the suffix: "ful" meaning full of; "youth", young, full of young energy, lots

of...

You know, really playful.

Thing of Tigger from Winnie-the-Pooh who goes boinging over trees and things.

"Youthful" is fun.

You want to be fun.

So, "fresh"...

"Fresh as a daisy", you say.

We feel fresh when we have had a shower in the morning; we're ready for the day.

Yes, we want to be fresh; we don't want to be all tired.

So, "fresh" - good.

Another way of saying "beautiful".

Again, you would say it to someone you find attractive.

Rath-...

So, you wouldn't describe a friend as being gorgeous.

"Radiant", this means shining.

"The light was radiant."

The person is...

So, it's as if they seem to give off an energy, a good energy, then they are radiant.

The idea I get here is all sort of bones and not very much flesh on the person.

So, "scrawny" - just bones.

We don't want to be just bones.

So we can see the word "mood".

We've got three main emotions: Joy, sad...

"Moody" is looking at the two ones of sort of anger and sadness; they're more filled

with perhaps anger than they are moody.

Not such fun to be around.

I don't know if you know Winnie-the-Pooh; seem to be talking about it a lot in today's

lesson, but Eeyore is the gloomy, the rather sad donkey.

"Life's not very good."

There aren't many girls who would like to be described as plump, so don't call them

"Plump" means a little bit fat.

Two meanings, here.

First of all, you could say that someone is smart, meaning that they are clever or intelligent.

Also, it can describe their clothes; they dress in a smart manner.

It means they look good; they don't look messy.

Quite the opposite of being "dishevelled", so that is a positive.

"Uncouth", this is about bad manners.

If someone has bad manners, they are "uncouth".

"Uncouth" - bad manners.

"Clumsy" is when you sort of knock things over, shoelaces undone...

"Clumsy", quite the opposite of...

Can you spot the word?

It's the opposite of in the top row, somewhere over here - the opposite of "agile".

"Full" of "cheer".

So, "cheer" means sort of happiness, full of happiness.

"Immaculate" means sort of perfect.

So, up to you whether you think that's good or bad.

It's certainly probab-...

I would say it's more positive than negative; the negative being that it might be a slight

pain, that person, but that's just my opinion.

What I want you to do now is I want you to think of a person to describe.

So think of someone, just could be anyone; a good friend, family.

Jot it down on a piece of paper, and then pick five of these words to describe them.

Which ones would you use?

Just have a quick look.

Does it build a picture of them?

Why not revise these words now by doing today's quiz?

And I'll see ya in the next video.

Until next time, stay well.