How adjectives actually 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. Guides for writing more precisely, rather than lists of words for one subject.
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How adjectives actually 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. Guides for writing more precisely, rather than lists of words for one subject.
O is a small letter with a heavy accent. Its best-known words are almost all complaints — obnoxious, officious, obstinate, overbearing, ostentatious — and the handful of compliments it offers tend to be quiet ones: obliging, observant, orderly. This page lists 112 adjectives that start with O, grouped by the job each does, with a…
M is the letter of judgement. It holds an unusual number of words that pass a verdict while pretending to describe — mediocre, mawkish, meddlesome, measly, mercenary — and almost as many that praise without gushing: measured, methodical, magnanimous. This page lists 149 adjectives that start with M, each with its meaning and a short…
T is the letter of temperament. It holds more words for how somebody is holding themselves — tense, terse, testy, touchy, taciturn, tranquil — than almost any other. This page gathers 143 adjectives that start with T, sorted by the job you need doing rather than by whether the word flatters, because most of them…
S carries more adjectives than any other letter in English, and the reason matters: it holds three productive beginnings at once — s-, sc- and st- — plus every self- compound. This page lists 199 adjectives that start with S, grouped by the job each does, with a plain meaning beside every word. Because the…
Most lists of adjective examples give you a hundred words with nothing to hang them on. This one gives 196 adjectives arranged by what they actually describe — size, colour, sound, mood, quality — because that is how you look for a word when you are stuck mid-sentence. Each has a short meaning. After the…
N is a small letter that punches above its weight in criticism: negligent, notorious, noxious, nitpicking. It also holds some of the most precise words in English for things that are only half there — nebulous, nascent, notional. This page lists 100 adjectives that start with N, each with its meaning and a short example,…
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…
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…
Fixing commas in a paragraph you later delete is wasted work. Edit from the largest unit down to the smallest, and never in the other direction.
Most professional writing is pitched several years above its audience, and the writers doing it believe simplicity would make them look less capable.
Grammar Simplified
Plain-English grammar guides and curated adjective lists. Free to read, checked against Merriam-Webster, Chicago and AP before publication.
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