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, exhausted, envious. This page gathers 122 adjectives that start with E, arranged by the job you need doing rather than by whether the word is a compliment, because most of them can be either depending on the sentence.
Every word has a short meaning beside it. If you already know what you are describing — a person, a place, a mood — go straight to that section.
All 122 adjectives at a glance
eager, earnest, easygoing, ebullient, eccentric, eclectic, educated, effective, efficient, effusive, egotistical, elderly, elegant, eloquent, elusive, emotional, empathetic, enchanting, encouraging, endearing, energetic, engaging, enigmatic, enterprising, entertaining, enthusiastic, envious, equable, erratic, erudite, ethical, evasive, exacting, exceptional, excitable, exemplary, experienced, expressive, extroverted, exuberant, earthy, eastern, economical, edgy, edible, elaborate, elastic, electric, electronic, elevated, elongated, embroidered, empty, enclosed, endless, enormous, environmental, ephemeral, equatorial, essential, eternal, ethereal, everyday, evergreen, exotic, expansive, expensive, experimental, explosive, exquisite, extensive, external, extravagant, extreme, easeful, ecstatic, elated, embarrassed, embittered, emboldened, emotive, empowered, enamoured, enchanted, engrossed, enlightened, enraptured, equanimous, euphoric, exalted, exasperated, excited, excruciating, exhausted, exhilarated, expectant, exposed, exultant, ebon, edacious, effervescent, effulgent, egregious, elegiac, eleemosynary, elephantine, elfin, embryonic, eminent, emollient, empyrean, entropic, eponymous, equine, equivocal, ersatz, esoteric, estimable, evanescent, evocative, exiguous, expeditious
For people
Character and manner. Note how close some of these sit: earnest and exacting both describe seriousness, but earnest is about sincerity and exacting is about the standard someone holds others to.
| Adjective | What it means |
|---|---|
| eager | keen and impatient to do something |
| earnest | serious and sincere |
| easygoing | relaxed and tolerant |
| ebullient | bubbling with enthusiasm |
| eccentric | unconventional in a harmless way |
| eclectic | drawing from many sources |
| educated | well taught and informed |
| effective | producing the result intended |
| efficient | achieving much with little waste |
| effusive | expressing feeling without restraint |
| egotistical | excessively concerned with oneself |
| elderly | advanced in years |
| elegant | graceful and stylish |
| eloquent | fluent and persuasive in speech |
| elusive | hard to find or pin down |
| emotional | governed by feeling |
| empathetic | able to feel what another feels |
| enchanting | delightfully charming |
| encouraging | giving support and hope |
| endearing | inspiring affection |
| energetic | full of energy |
| engaging | holding attention pleasantly |
| enigmatic | mysterious and hard to read |
| enterprising | full of initiative |
| entertaining | enjoyable and diverting |
| enthusiastic | showing eager enjoyment |
| envious | resentful of what others have |
| equable | even-tempered |
| erratic | unpredictable in behaviour |
| erudite | having deep learning |
| ethical | guided by moral principle |
| evasive | avoiding a direct answer |
| exacting | demanding great care and effort |
| exceptional | far above the usual |
| excitable | easily stirred up |
| exemplary | serving as a model to follow |
| experienced | skilled through long practice |
| expressive | showing feeling clearly |
| extroverted | outgoing, sociable and unreserved |
| exuberant | overflowing with high spirits |
For places and things
Objects, spaces and conditions. Expansive describes size; extensive describes range. A field is expansive, a survey is extensive.
| Adjective | What it means |
|---|---|
| earthy | of soil, or plainly direct |
| eastern | from or facing the east |
| economical | using resources sparingly |
| edgy | tense, or daringly modern |
| edible | safe to eat |
| elaborate | worked out in fine detail |
| elastic | able to stretch and return |
| electric | charged, or thrillingly intense |
| electronic | operating by circuits |
| elevated | raised above the surroundings |
| elongated | stretched out in length |
| embroidered | decorated with needlework |
| empty | containing nothing |
| enclosed | shut in on all sides |
| endless | without apparent end |
| enormous | very large indeed |
| environmental | relating to the natural world |
| ephemeral | lasting a very short time |
| equatorial | of the earth’s middle band |
| essential | absolutely necessary |
| eternal | lasting forever |
| ethereal | delicate and unearthly |
| everyday | ordinary and routine |
| evergreen | keeping leaves all year |
| exotic | strikingly foreign |
| expansive | covering a wide area |
| expensive | costing a lot |
| experimental | testing something new |
| explosive | liable to burst violently |
| exquisite | finely and beautifully made |
| extensive | large in range or scope |
| external | on or from the outside |
| extravagant | spending or costing excessively |
| extreme | at the furthest limit |
For feelings and mood
The letter’s strongest suit. Many are past participles doing adjective work — embittered, enraptured, emboldened — which is why they carry a sense of something having been done to the person.
| Adjective | What it means |
|---|---|
| easeful | restful and unhurried |
| ecstatic | overwhelmingly joyful |
| elated | lifted by good news |
| embarrassed | uncomfortably self-conscious |
| embittered | soured by resentment |
| emboldened | given fresh courage |
| emotive | stirring strong feeling |
| empowered | given the confidence to act |
| enamoured | filled with love or admiration |
| enchanted | held under a delightful spell |
| engrossed | completely absorbed |
| enlightened | having come to understand |
| enraptured | carried away by delight |
| equanimous | calm under pressure |
| euphoric | intensely happy |
| exalted | lifted to a high state |
| exasperated | worn thin by irritation |
| excited | eagerly stirred |
| excruciating | causing intense pain |
| exhausted | completely drained |
| exhilarated | invigorated and thrilled |
| expectant | waiting for something to happen |
| exposed | unprotected and visible |
| exultant | triumphantly joyful |
Rare and unusual
Words worth knowing even if you use them once a year. Egregious once meant remarkably good and now means only remarkably bad, which is a useful reminder that lists like this one age.
| Adjective | What it means |
|---|---|
| ebon | deep black |
| edacious | greedy for food |
| effervescent | bubbling, literally or in spirit |
| effulgent | shining brilliantly |
| egregious | outstandingly bad |
| elegiac | mournful, like a lament |
| eleemosynary | relating to charity |
| elephantine | huge and clumsy |
| elfin | small and delicately mischievous |
| embryonic | at the earliest stage |
| eminent | distinguished and respected |
| emollient | soothing |
| empyrean | of the highest heaven |
| entropic | tending toward disorder |
| eponymous | giving its name to something |
| equine | of or like a horse |
| equivocal | deliberately ambiguous |
| ersatz | an inferior substitute |
| esoteric | understood by only a few |
| estimable | deserving respect |
| evanescent | vanishing quickly |
| evocative | calling up memory or feeling |
| exiguous | meagre and scanty |
| expeditious | done with speed and efficiency |
Positive and negative at a glance
Sorting by job rather than by tone means the compliments and the criticisms sit side by side above. Here they are separated, using words already defined on this page.
| Clearly positive | Clearly negative | Depends entirely on the sentence |
|---|---|---|
| eager, earnest, eloquent, empathetic, encouraging, endearing, energetic, exemplary, exquisite, exultant | egotistical, embittered, envious, erratic, evasive, egregious, exasperated, ersatz | eccentric, emotional, enigmatic, exacting, excitable, elusive, edgy, extravagant, extreme, effusive |
The third column is where most writing goes wrong. Calling someone exacting in a reference letter reads as praise; calling them exacting in a complaint reads as an accusation. The word did not change — the sentence around it did.
Using them in a sentence
- He was earnest without being effusive, which made people trust him faster than charm would have.
- The hall was expansive and entirely empty.
- She left the meeting emboldened; he left it exhausted.
- An ephemeral smell of woodsmoke, evocative of a house neither of them had seen in years.
- The plan was elaborate, expensive and egregious in roughly that order.
Related guides
- Adjectives for eyes — where the E-words for appearance do their closest work.
- Adjectives for the environment — expands the places-and-things section above.
- Adjectives for the evening — for ethereal, ephemeral and the light words around them.
- Adjectives for an event — pairs with elaborate, exclusive and extravagant.
- Adjectives for ears — the sound vocabulary this page only touches on.
- Adjectives for eyebrows — small-detail description, where elegant and elongated earn their place.
Checked against Merriam-Webster, the Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook. Spotted an error? Tell us — see our editorial policy.
