How To Effectively Use Adjectives To Describe A Person

Writers use adjectives to describe a person with precision so they come alive in the reader’s mind. But there are so many ways to use adjectives. These ways can add to your story or detract, so it’s important to discuss the topic. 

After all, budding writers are often cautioned to avoid lots of adjectives and adverbs and instead, to use strong nouns and verbs. But like all writing rules, there are caveats. 

In this post, I delve into why adjectives matter and the best tips for using them in your characterization. 

Adjectives to describe a person: what you learn

• What is an adjective?
• Why are adjectives important?
• Tips for using adjectives to describe a person
• Types of adjectives to describe a person

What is an adjective?

Merriam-Webster describes an adjective as, “typically serving as a modifier of a noun to denote a quality of the thing named.” Because of this, an adjective is dependent—it needs a word to modify. Adjectives cannot stand by themselves. 

Consider the following examples:

• The delighted two-year-old blew out his candles.
• She was adventurous, kind, and eager to learn. 
• Billowy clouds filled the smooth, blue sky. 

If you read with a bit of intention, you likely noticed various adjectives used above. However, if you were going above and beyond, you probably noticed that in using adjectives to describe a person, I broke the show don’t tell writing rule in my second example. 

Instead of showing you that the character is adventurous, kind, and eager to learn, I told you. But in the first example, it made sense to “tell you” that the two-year-old was delighted. 

With these competing discrepancies, are adjectives important? How do you effectively use adjectives to describe a person?

Why are adjectives important?

How you use adjectives to describe a person is important because it influences the tonality of your story. As you saw in the above examples, the first one quickly moved the story along (the young child was delighted) while in the second, it told the reader something they likely would like to see take place on the page.

I don’t know about you, but if an author tells me a character is adventurous, I want to see why. How you choose to write influences the power of your story. 

Two writers could be assigned the same plot, but how they choose to write the story will resonate with different audiences (more on this in a bit).

The same is true for how you choose to use adjectives in your writing. Using adjectives to describe a person can act as an aid in your storytelling process, especially in the opening of your book.

Look at the following examples of how to use adjectives to describe a character in their first scene:

• A man entered the airport, burly and unkempt, as if he paid more attention to his strength than his hygiene. 
• She was beautifully herself. Despite the cliché of glasses on her face or the worn book in her hand, or maybe in spite of them, she looked confidently at ease in the crowded lunchroom. 
• A dirty little girl peeked out of the alley. Her gaze flitted from the busy street to her bare toes and landed on me. 

There are ways to use adjectives to describe a person that momentarily breaks the show, don’t tell rule, in order to quickly establish a scene and propel the story forward. 

If you want to know how to write a novel that keeps readers reading, sometimes you must use adjectives to describe a person. If adjectives are a prerequisite to writing a page-turner, how should you use them?

Tips for using adjectives to describe a person

The character traits that you want readers to associate with a particular character are crucial to setting the stage for how readers view the character. 

For instance, in the above example, the man entering the airport is described as burly and unkempt. Those are powerful adjectives that create a very specific image of this character. 

How can you use adjectives to describe a person effectively and efficiently, without completely forgoing the show, don’t tell rule? Try the following tips.

Use brevity and dialogue 

When using adjectives to describe a person, less if often more. Gone are the days of the classics where authors spent pages describing every detail of a person. In the age of attention spans geared for TikTok and YouTube shorts, succinctness is key.

In fact, if you want to use adjectives to describe a person in more detail, learn how to write dialogue that does so. Consider the following example:

A man entered the airport, burly and unkempt, as if he paid more attention to his strength than his hygiene. A woman stood beside him. Even from where I stood, I could see the laugh in her eyes and hear her voice.

“We look a mess, like we just came out of the El Yunque rain forest or something. Look, you’re muddy and I’m still wet.”

The man smiled. “Probably because we did. And you’re actually soaking. Let’s change before our flight.”

When necessary, use adjectives to describe a person quickly and use dialogue to expand on the description. 

Use specificity 

Additionally, when you use adjectives for describing a character, it’s important to ensure your adjectives align in tone, or if they don’t, that it’s on purpose.

There are an exorbitant amount of adjectives you could use. Some adjectives go well in pairs, while others don’t. As if this isn’t ambiguous enough, sometimes you want to use clashing adjectives when describing a character.

Let me break this down for you. Different book genres use different writing styles. You can capitalize on this by doing the same in your description. How you write a book is unique to you. Use this to your advantage.

When choosing how to use adjectives to describe a person, consider the following: 

• What is the genre of your story?
• What is the tone of your writing voice?
• What is most important to describe about your character? 

The adjectives burly and unkempt go together much better than the adjectives dainty and gruff. However, on occasion, you may want to surprise your readers by pairing adjectives that do not typically come in pairs. 

Take the following examples:

• Dirty and regal, the shredded cape hanging from her shoulders couldn’t cover the dignity with which she carried herself. 
• He was a committed car salesman and devout Catholic, often going to confession after making a big sale, hinting that his professional negotiation skills bordered on manipulation. 
• The couple’s heated arguments couldn’t negate their fierce loyalty to each other.

Pairing opposing adjectives can be a fun challenge.

Use your voice

Be aware that how some writers use adjectives to describe a person simply will not be how you would do the same. This goes back to having two people write a story from the same prompt. 

For me to describe someone as “boorish” simply does not fit into my writing voice, but it may for you. Stay true to your voice when choosing adjectives to describe a person.

Have fun playing around with the different ways to use adjectives. Speaking of adjectives, let me give you a list to help you get started.

Types of adjectives to describe a person

There are just about endless adjectives to describe a person, but knowing the various types can be helpful. You can use adjectives interchangeably, but it can help to have some of them broken into distinct lists. Here are just a few. 

Positive adjectives: 

• Amicable 
• Happy
• Compassionate 
• Helpful 
• Strong 
• Caring 
• Bold
• Astute 
• Honorable 

Negative adjectives: 

• Dishonest 
• Inconsiderate 
• Conniving 
• Hostile 
• Stubborn
• Rude 
• Harsh
• Unkind
• Selfish 

Adjective to describe personality:

• Calm
• Abrasive 
• Timid 
• Shy
• Outgoing
• Confident 
• Diplomatic 
• Gregarious 
• Nervous 

Adjective to describe communication style:

• Redundant 
• Wordy
• Simple
• Educated 
• Distinct 
• Scatterbrained 
• Tactful 

Adjective to describe a person’s worldview/outlook:

• Cynical 
• Hopeful 
• Negative
• Upbeat
• Victim 
• Heroic 

Of course, you can use these interchangeably, but sometimes it’s helpful to have a list to draw from. For example, drawing a word from each list above, let’s describe a character.

She was a happy person at heart, never rude, and diplomatic in nature. While she often came across scatterbrained, she took life in stride, upbeat regardless of her circumstances. 

Now, I wouldn’t recommend using this many adjectives in a row, but the point is for you to see how you can use different types of adjectives to describe characters. 

Instead of drawing inspiration from my above description, I recommend choosing just one or two adjectives and then showing the rest of the character qualities via dialogue and actions/reactions. 

For example, you could start off by saying your protagonist takes life in stride, then show her scatterbrained nature through dialogue and her polite disposition by how she engages with those around her.

When writing, whether you want to learn how to write a romance novel or apply these tips to your  thriller or autobiography, use adjectives with purpose and then move on to following the show, don’t tell rule. Use our descriptive adjectives list for more suggestions! 

Adjectives to describe a person: take your next step

Using adjectives in your description can enhance your writing (you may have even clicked on this post due to the adjective used in the title). Now that you are equipped with tips and tricks to do so, take the next step on your writing journey. Use our free Book Outline Generator to get started!