Examples

1. I love that really big old green antique car that is always parked at the end of the street.
[quality size age color qualifier]
2. My sister has a beautiful big white bulldog. [quality size color]
3. A wonderful old Italian clock. [opinion age origin]
4. A big square blue box. [size shape color]
5. A disgusting pink plastic ornament. [opinion color material]
6. Some new slim French trousers. [age shape origin]
7. My small new red sleeping bag. [size age color purposee]
8. I bought a pair of black leather shoes. [color material]

Common adjectives

Good
New
First
Last
Long
great

little
own
other
old
right
big

high
differen
t

small
large
next

early
young
importa

bad
same
able

nt

few
public
1

Appearance adjectives

adorable
beautiful
clean
drab
elegant

fancy
glamorous
handsome
long
magnificent

oldfashioned
plain
quaint
sparkling

ugliest
unsightly
wide-eyed

Color adjectives

red
orange
yellow
pink

green
blue
purple
brown

gray
black
white
silver

lilac
lime
maroon
turquois
e

beige
olive
indigo
violet

Condition adjectives

alive
better
careful
clever
dead

easy
famous
gifted
helpful
important

inexpensive
mushy
odd
powerful
rich

shy
tender
uninterested
vast
wrong

silly
thankful
victorious
witty
zealous

thoughtless
uptight
worried

straight
wide

Personality adjectives Positive

agreeable
brave
calm
delightful
eager

faithful
gentle
happy
jolly
kind

lively
nice
obedient
proud
relieved

Personality adjectives Negative

angry
bewildered
clumsy
defeated
embarrasse
d

fierce
grumpy
helpless
itchy
jealous
lazy

mysterious
nervous
obnoxious
panicky
repulsive
scary

Shape adjectives

broad
chubby
crooked
curved
deep

flat
high
hollow
low
narrow

round
shallow
skinny
square
steep

Size adjectives

big
colossal
fat
gigantic
great
huge

immense
large
little
mammoth
massive
miniature

petite
puny
scrawny
short
small
tall

teeny
teeny-tiny
tiny
itsy-bitsy

voiceless
whispering

short
slow
swift
young

tasteless
uneven
weak
wet
wooden
yummy

fluffy
freezing
hot
warm
wet

Sound adjectives

cooing
deafening
faint
hissing

loud
melodic
noisy
purring

quiet
raspy
screeching
thundering

Time adjectives

ancient
brief
early
fast

late
long
modern
old

oldfashioned
quick
rapid

Taste/touch adjectives

bitter
delicious
fresh
greasy
juicy
hot

icy
loose
melted
nutritious
prickly
rainy

rotten
salty
sticky
strong
sweet
tart

Touch adjectives

boiling
breeze
broken
bumpy
chilly
cold

cool
creepy
crooked
cuddly
curly
damaged

damp
dirty
dry
dusty
filthy
flaky

Exercises (Order of Adjectives)

1. For each of the following sentences, choose the correct order of adjectives to fill in the blank.
A.
His grandfather lives in the ________________________ house down the street.

big old yellow

yellow old big

old big yellow

B.

The shop offers all kinds of _____________________ objects.

interesting old antique
old antique interesting
old interesting antique

C.

We went for a long walk on a __________________________ trail.

Beautiful new 5-mile
New, beautiful 5-mile
5-mile new, beautiful

2. Which sentence uses the correct order of adjectives?

A.
We took a ride on a red, new, Italian motorbike.
B.
We took a ride on an Italian, new, red motorbike.
C.
We took a ride on a new red Italian motorbike.
3. For each of the following sentences, choose the correct order of adjectives to fill in the blank.
A.
I was thrilled to receive a __________________ book with my order.

big, beautiful, leather-bound

leather-bound, big, beautiful

beautiful big leather-bound

B.

His clown costume consists of a red nose, oversized shoes, and a ________________ jacket.
Size 4X polka-dotted silk smoking
polka-dotted silk smoking size 4X
polka dotted size 4x silk smoking

C.

Ive been shopping for the perfect _______________ chopsticks.

Japanese long sushi
long Japanese sushi
long sushi Japanese