68 Adjectives That Start With Q
Q is a letter with a hole in the middle of it. There is a small everyday vocabulary — quick, quiet, quaint, quirky, queasy — and then almost everything else is Latin arithmetic: quadr- for four, quin- for five, quart- for a fourth part. Close to a third of this page is counting.
This page lists 68 adjectives that start with Q, each with its meaning. The rule is stated because it decides what belongs: a word is here if Merriam-Webster or Oxford gives it an adjective entry of its own with a definition attached. Five candidates failed that test and are not here — questing, quilled, quivering and quenched turn out to be inflected verb forms whose dictionary page belongs to another word, and quotative appears in Merriam-Webster only as a bare run-on with no definition under it.
32 of the 68 have no adjective entry in Oxford Learner’s, and they are grouped at the end under that heading. Most have no Oxford entry of any kind; a few — quarter, quantum — are there as nouns and simply not as adjectives. They are not called rare, because none of them carries a rare, dated or archaic label in either dictionary — missing from a learner’s dictionary is a fact about the dictionary, not about the word. 10 entries carry a usage label a dictionary prints, and 6 carry a note where something about the entry would otherwise mislead.
All 68 adjectives at a glance
Every word on this page in one block. Each is defined further down.
quack, quadraphonic, quadratic, quadrennial, quadric, quadrilateral, quadrilingual, quadrivalent, quadrupedal, quadruple, quadruplicate, quaggy, quaint, quakeproof, quaky, qualified, qualitative, quality, qualmish, quantal, quantifiable, quantitative, quantum, quarantinable, quarrelsome, quartan, quarter, quarterly, quartic, quartzose, quasi, quaternary, quavery, queasy, queenlike, queenly, queer, quenchable, quenchless, querulous, questionable, questioning, questionless, quick, quick-fire, quick-tempered, quick-witted, quicksilver, quiescent, quiet, quiet-spoken, quilted, quinary, quinquennial, quintan, quintessential, quintic, quintuple, quintuplicate, quippish, quirky, quivery, quixotic, quizzical, quondam, quotable, quotational, quotidian
Describing a person
The part of the letter you can use about someone. Quizzical is worth reading twice: Merriam-Webster’s first sense is comically quaint, which is not what anyone means by it now, so the useful sense is further down its entry.
| Adjective | What it means |
|---|---|
| quarrelsome | apt to quarrel, often over small things |
| quavery | of a voice, unsteady, usually because the speaker is nervous or old |
| queenly | of, like, or suitable for a queen |
| queer | describing a sexual or gender identity that is not the traditional one, as for someone non-binary, bisexual or transgender — Worth knowing: Oxford gives this contemporary sense no label at all, and confines ‘taboo, offensive, slang’ to the older pejorative sense. Merriam-Webster folds both together and adds a usage paragraph: the word is commonly a positive or neutral self-descriptor, but its long history of pejorative use continued into this century and some people still find it offensive in any context. |
| querulous | habitually complaining, and showing that you are annoyed (formal, disapproving) |
| quick-tempered | easily angered |
| quick-witted | quick to understand, and mentally alert |
| quiet | making very little noise; also reserved in manner |
| quirky | a little strange, in a way that is usually appealing |
| quixotic | full of imagination but not at all practical (formal) |
| quizzical | showing that you are slightly surprised or puzzled — Worth knowing: Merriam-Webster’s first sense is ‘comically quaint’, which is not what most people mean by it – the familiar sense is its third. |
Speed, manner and quality
The working vocabulary. Quality as an adjective is the one most people never notice they are using — quality journalism, quality time — and Oxford dryly observes it is used especially by people trying to sell you something.
| Adjective | What it means |
|---|---|
| quack | of or used by someone falsely claiming medical skill — Worth knowing: Oxford has only the noun and the verb; the adjective is Merriam-Webster’s. |
| quaint | attractive in an unusual or old-fashioned way |
| qualified | having the training or experience needed for a job; also limited in some way |
| quality | of a high standard (only before a noun) — Worth knowing: Oxford notes it is used especially by people trying to sell you something. |
| quasi | resembling something without quite being it — Worth knowing: Oxford records only the combining form quasi-, not the standalone adjective. |
| questionable | giving reason to be doubted or challenged |
| questioning | showing that you have doubts, or need to know more |
| quick | done with speed, or lasting only a short time |
| quick-fire | done or said very fast, one after another |
| quicksilver | changing or moving very quickly (literary) |
| quiescent | quiet and not active (formal) |
| quintessential | representing the perfect example of something (formal) |
| quotable | interesting or funny enough to be worth repeating |
| quotidian | happening every day; ordinary (formal) |
Number, measure and degree
The Latin counting words, and the reason Q looks bigger than it is. If you learn quadr- for four and quin- for five, most of this section and half of the last one decode themselves.
| Adjective | What it means |
|---|---|
| quadraphonic | coming from four separate speakers at once |
| quadratic | involving an unknown quantity multiplied by itself once (mathematics) |
| quadrilateral | having four straight sides (geometry) |
| quadruple | consisting of four parts, or four times as great |
| qualitative | concerned with what something is like rather than how much of it there is |
| quantifiable | able to be expressed as an amount or a number |
| quantitative | concerned with amounts and numbers rather than kind |
| quarterly | happening or payable every three months |
| quintuple | five times as great, or made up of five parts |
Body and health
One word. Quadriplegic would have been the second, but both dictionaries carry it only as a noun, so by this page’s own rule it does not belong here.
| Adjective | What it means |
|---|---|
| queasy | feeling sick, or causing that feeling |
Things, materials and places
One word, and it is the only entry here that Merriam-Webster does not carry as an adjective at all — quilted rests on Oxford alone.
| Adjective | What it means |
|---|---|
| quilted | made of two layers of cloth with soft padding held between them by lines of stitching — Worth knowing: Merriam-Webster has no adjective entry, not even a run-on; this one rests on Oxford alone. |
Not in Oxford Learner’s
Words with a defined adjective entry in Merriam-Webster and none in Oxford Learner’s. That is a real difference between a learner’s dictionary and a fuller one, and it is the honest description of this group — several are perfectly usable, and quondam, quenchless and quaky turn up in ordinary prose more often than the grouping suggests.
| Adjective | What it means |
|---|---|
| quadrennial | happening every four years, or lasting four years |
| quadric | involving an unknown quantity multiplied by itself once (same sense as quadratic) |
| quadrilingual | using or written in four languages |
| quadrivalent | able to combine with four equivalents of another element |
| quadrupedal | having four feet, and walking on all of them |
| quadruplicate | made in four identical copies |
| quaggy | marshy and soft underfoot; also flabby |
| quakeproof | built to withstand an earthquake |
| quaky | shaky and tremulous |
| qualmish | feeling nausea; also uneasily scrupulous |
| quantal | having only two possible outcomes, such as all or none |
| quantum | large and significant, as in a quantum leap |
| quarantinable | of a disease, serious enough to require quarantine (medical dictionary only) |
| quartan | of a fever, recurring every fourth day |
| quarter | being one of four equal parts |
| quartic | of the fourth degree |
| quartzose | containing or resembling quartz |
| quaternary | consisting of four units or members |
| queenlike | of, like or suitable for a queen (same sense as queenly) |
| quenchable | able to be put out or satisfied |
| quenchless | impossible to put out or satisfy |
| questionless | beyond doubt |
| quiet-spoken | speaking in a soft voice |
| quinary | consisting of five, or arranged by fives |
| quinquennial | occurring at five-year intervals, or lasting that long |
| quintan | occurring as the fifth after four others; of a fever, recurring every fifth day |
| quintic | of the fifth degree |
| quintuplicate | existing in five identical copies |
| quippish | witty or taunting in reply |
| quivery | trembling |
| quondam | former; being so at one time |
| quotational | of or consisting of quotation |
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.
- The objection was quixotic: admirable, and completely unworkable.
- She gave him a quizzical look and said nothing at all.
- He is quick-witted in a meeting and quick-tempered afterwards.
- The evidence was questionable and the conclusion drawn from it quotidian.
- A quilted jacket is warmer than it looks and heavier than you want.
- His manner was quiet-spoken and faintly querulous.
Words people get wrong
| Pair | The difference that matters |
|---|---|
| qualitative / quantitative | The pair worth getting right, because they sort in opposite directions. Quantitative is about how much: amounts and numbers. Qualitative is about what kind: what something is like, and how good it is. Neither dictionary marks either word, so the only thing that goes wrong here is the writer’s. |
| quaint / quirky | Both mean pleasantly odd, and the difference is where the oddness comes from. Quaint is attractive because it is old-fashioned — a village, a custom, a turn of phrase. Quirky has nothing to do with age: it is simply a little strange, usually in a way the writer likes. A quaint hotel is dated on purpose; a quirky one is not. |
| querulous / quarrelsome | Both are about friction and neither is a compliment, but they describe different behaviour. Quarrelsome is apt to pick a fight. Querulous is apt to complain — Oxford marks it formal, disapproving, and its force is a whine rather than a row. A querulous man is tiring; a quarrelsome one is dangerous. |
| quiescent / quiet | Quiet is the everyday word for making little noise. Quiescent, marked formal by Oxford, is mostly not about sound: Oxford’s gloss opens with quiet but goes straight on to not active, and that second half is the working sense. It means at rest, and in medical use it describes a condition that has stopped progressing for the time being. A quiescent volcano is not a silent one. |
Related guides
- Adjectives for quality — where the judgement half of this letter is a subject in its own right.
- Adjectives for quiet — for the sense of the word this page can only touch.
- Adjectives for clever — for what quick-witted is reaching at.
- Adjectives for curious — a neighbouring subject, and a larger vocabulary.
- Adjectives that start with P — the letter before, and one of the largest there is.
- Adjectives that start with R — the letter after.
Checked against Merriam-Webster, the Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook. Spotted an error? Tell us — see our editorial policy.
