Adjectives to describe personality: 12 words with examples
B1–B212 words
Describing people is one of the first things you need in real conversation and one of the last things textbooks cover properly. These twelve adjectives cover the useful middle ground between “nice” and dictionary words nobody says out loud.
Where you will use it: Describing people, interviews and everyday conversation.
Personality Adjectives — The word list
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| outgoing | Friendly and comfortable with new people.“She's outgoing and makes friends quickly.” |
| reserved | Quiet, not showing feelings openly.“He's reserved until he knows you.” |
| reliable | Someone you can depend on.“Tom is the most reliable person on the team.” |
| stubborn | Unwilling to change your mind.“My brother is far too stubborn to apologise.” |
| easy-going | Relaxed and not easily upset.“Our manager is easy-going about deadlines.” |
| ambitious | Strongly wanting success.“She's ambitious and wants to run the department.” |
| considerate | Thinking about other people's feelings.“It was considerate of him to call ahead.” |
| impatient | Unwilling to wait calmly.“I get impatient in long queues.” |
| self-conscious | Uncomfortably aware of how others see you.“He's self-conscious about his accent.” |
| witty | Clever and quick with humour.“Her emails are surprisingly witty.” |
| down-to-earth | Practical and without pretension.“For a famous author she's very down-to-earth.” |
| generous | Happy to give time or money.“They were generous with their advice.” |
How to study this list
Add five or six of these words a day rather than all twelve at once, keep the example sentence on the card, and review them when they come due. WordNest schedules each word across seven growing intervals — same day, then 1, 3, 7, 14, 30 and 60 days — so the list is still with you months later. Read how spaced repetition works if you want the reasoning behind those numbers.
Studying personality adjectives pairs well with our English small talk phrases, job interview vocabulary and common English collocations, or browse all free English word lists.
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