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 gift: when every second describing word you reach for begins with the same sound, your writing starts to hum. This page lists 171 adjectives that start with A, grouped by the job each one actually does, with a plain-English meaning beside every word so you can pick on sense rather than on sound.

If you are here for a specific job — a compliment, an insult, a description of someone’s face — skip to that section. If you are browsing for the right word, start with the full list.

All 171 adjectives at a glance

Every word on this page, in one block. Each one is defined further down.

able, abundant, accessible, accomplished, accurate, adaptable, adept, admirable, adorable, adventurous, affable, affectionate, affluent, agile, agreeable, alert, alluring, altruistic, amazing, ambitious, amiable, amicable, amusing, angelic, appealing, appreciative, apt, ardent, articulate, artistic, aspiring, assured, astonishing, astute, attentive, attractive, auspicious, authentic, available, awesome, abhorrent, abrasive, abrupt, absent-minded, absurd, abusive, adamant, aggressive, aimless, alarming, aloof, ambiguous, amoral, angry, annoying, anxious, apathetic, appalling, apprehensive, arbitrary, argumentative, arrogant, artificial, ashamed, asinine, atrocious, austere, avaricious, awful, awkward, academic, accommodating, accountable, acerbic, acquisitive, active, adolescent, affected, aged, agitated, agnostic, alienated, ambivalent, analytical, animated, apologetic, approachable, aristocratic, artful, ascetic, assertive, athletic, attached, attuned, authoritative, autonomous, average, aware, awestruck, abloom, aerodynamic, ageless, aglow, airy, alabaster, albino, amber, ample, androgynous, anemic, angular, antique, apish, aquamarine, aquiline, arched, armored, arrayed, ashen, ashy, auburn, august, awash, azure, abiding, accepting, adoring, adventuresome, amenable, appreciable, artless, aspirational, assiduous, audacious, authoritarian, avid, affirming, adroit, abstemious, accommodative, acrimonious, adversarial, aggrieved, abstract, absolute, accidental, acidic, acoustic, acrid, adjacent, aerial, aggregate, alien, alphabetical, alternate, ambient, ancient, annual, anonymous, apparent, approximate, aquatic, archaic, arid, aromatic, artisanal, assorted, astronomical, atmospheric, automatic, autumnal

Positive adjectives that start with A

These are the words you reach for in a compliment, a reference letter or a review. Amiable and affable both mean friendly, but affable suggests ease in conversation while amiable suggests general good nature — that gap is the reason to know both.

Negative adjectives that start with A

Criticism is where precision matters most. Abrupt describes a manner; abrasive describes its effect on other people. Choose the one that names what actually happened.

To describe a person: adjectives starting with A

Words for what someone is like, beyond simple praise or blame. Several here are neutral — academic, autonomous, average — and take their colour from the sentence around them.

Physical appearance: adjectives starting with A

Colour, shape and light. Auburn, amber and alabaster do more work than brown, yellow and pale because each carries a material with it.

Personality: adjectives starting with A

Settled traits rather than passing moods. Assiduous and avid both describe effort, but assiduous is about persistence and avid is about appetite.

Everyday and descriptive: adjectives starting with A

Adjectives for things, places and conditions rather than people — the ones that do quiet work in ordinary sentences.

Using them in a sentence

A list is only half the job. These show the words carrying weight rather than sitting decoratively in front of a noun.

• She was affable with strangers and aloof with everyone she already knew, which people found harder to forgive.
• The room was ample but austere — space without comfort.
• His answer was accurate, articulate and completely apathetic.
• An acrid smell came off the arid ground after the first rain in months.
• She gave an appreciative nod, then an ambiguous one, and he could not tell which had been meant.
• The light was amber and low, and the whole street looked ageless.

Choosing between two A-words that look alike

Related guides

These go deeper on subjects where A-adjectives do most of their work:

• Adjectives for appearance — the fuller vocabulary behind the physical-description section above.
• Adjectives for atmosphere — for ambient, atmospheric and the mood words around them.
• Adjectives for aroma — where acrid and aromatic sit among the rest of the smell vocabulary.
• Adjectives for assessment — for feedback and review writing, where accurate and apt earn their place.
• Adjectives for activities — pairs with active, athletic and adventurous.
• Adjectives for the alphabet — the wider letter-by-letter series.

Checked against Merriam-Webster, the Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook. Spotted an error? Tell us — see our editorial policy.