Within the English language, adjectives are essential words that help us describe and understand with much more precision. Through this article, WordsRated looks at lists of the most frequently used adjectives, common trends between them and the different ways they can be used to give more description and meaning to our sentences.
Adjectives in books
Frequency of adjectives in books
- Within books, the most common adjective is the word “OTHER”, which appears 0.15% of the time in comparison with all other words.
- When compared to other top adjectives, it appears 5.24% of the time.
- The second most frequent adjective in books is “LITTLE” and the third-most frequent is “SUCH”.
- The average word length for an adjective in a book is approximately 5 letters.
- For the given adjectives in books, the most common first-letter is “S” (12%) and the most common last-letter is “T” (18%).
(based on the top 100 adjectives in books)
| Rank | Adjective | Frequency among all words | Frequency among top 100 adjectives |
| #1 | OTHER | 0.15% | 5.24% |
| #2 | LITTLE | 0.13% | 4.35% |
| #3 | SUCH | 0.11% | 3.88% |
| #4 | GREAT | 0.11% | 3.83% |
| #5 | FIRST | 0.10% | 3.34% |
| #6 | GOOD | 0.10% | 3.30% |
| #7 | OWN | 0.09% | 3.15% |
| #8 | OLD | 0.09% | 3.03% |
| #9 | LONG | 0.08% | 2.70% |
| #10 | MANY | 0.07% | 2.54% |
| #11 | SAME | 0.07% | 2.35% |
| #12 | LAST | 0.07% | 2.33% |
| #13 | YOUNG | 0.06% | 2.02% |
| #14 | LEFT | 0.05% | 1.82% |
| #15 | NEW | 0.05% | 1.70% |
| #16 | FEW | 0.05% | 1.59% |
| #17 | WHOLE | 0.04% | 1.49% |
| #18 | BETTER | 0.04% | 1.42% |
| #19 | FULL | 0.04% | 1.27% |
| #20 | SMALL | 0.04% | 1.23% |
| #21 | BEST | 0.03% | 1.15% |
| #22 | WHITE | 0.03% | 1.10% |
| #23 | NEXT | 0.03% | 1.07% |
| #24 | POOR | 0.03% | 1.06% |
| #25 | LARGE | 0.03% | 1.04% |
| #26 | CERTAIN | 0.03% | 1.01% |
| #27 | TRUE | 0.03% | 1.00% |
| #28 | PUBLIC | 0.03% | 0.95% |
| #29 | DEAR | 0.03% | 0.92% |
| #30 | HIGH | 0.03% | 0.91% |
| #31 | LEAST | 0.03% | 0.89% |
| #32 | OPEN | 0.03% | 0.87% |
| #33 | FREE | 0.02% | 0.80% |
| #34 | SEVERAL | 0.02% | 0.80% |
| #35 | SECOND | 0.02% | 0.79% |
| #36 | GENERAL | 0.02% | 0.77% |
| #37 | DEAD | 0.02% | 0.77% |
| #38 | DIFFERENT | 0.02% | 0.72% |
| #39 | POSSIBLE | 0.02% | 0.71% |
| #40 | HUMAN | 0.02% | 0.71% |
| #41 | SHORT | 0.02% | 0.70% |
| #42 | STRONG | 0.02% | 0.68% |
| #43 | ABLE | 0.02% | 0.68% |
| #44 | HARD | 0.02% | 0.67% |
| #45 | BLACK | 0.02% | 0.65% |
| #46 | BEAUTIFUL | 0.02% | 0.65% |
| #47 | CLOSE | 0.02% | 0.65% |
| #48 | DARK | 0.02% | 0.64% |
| #49 | FINE | 0.02% | 0.63% |
| #50 | READY | 0.02% | 0.62% |
| #51 | COMMON | 0.02% | 0.61% |
| #52 | ELECTRONIC | 0.02% | 0.61% |
| #53 | NECESSARY | 0.02% | 0.60% |
| #54 | EARLY | 0.02% | 0.59% |
| #55 | CONTINUED | 0.02% | 0.58% |
| #56 | PAST | 0.02% | 0.56% |
| #57 | STRANGE | 0.02% | 0.56% |
| #58 | DEEP | 0.02% | 0.56% |
| #59 | FURTHER | 0.02% | 0.55% |
| #60 | HAPPY | 0.02% | 0.55% |
| #61 | ADDED | 0.02% | 0.55% |
| #62 | COLD | 0.02% | 0.54% |
| #63 | CLEAR | 0.02% | 0.53% |
| #64 | REAL | 0.02% | 0.53% |
| #65 | BAD | 0.02% | 0.52% |
| #66 | LOW | 0.01% | 0.51% |
| #67 | NATURAL | 0.01% | 0.51% |
| #68 | FAIR | 0.01% | 0.50% |
| #69 | AMERICAN | 0.01% | 0.50% |
| #70 | COPYRIGHT | 0.01% | 0.50% |
| #71 | RED | 0.01% | 0.48% |
| #72 | BIG | 0.01% | 0.47% |
| #73 | GLAD | 0.01% | 0.45% |
| #74 | IMPORTANT | 0.01% | 0.45% |
| #75 | LATTER | 0.01% | 0.44% |
| #76 | WILD | 0.01% | 0.44% |
| #77 | GREEN | 0.01% | 0.43% |
| #78 | WRONG | 0.01% | 0.43% |
| #79 | VARIOUS | 0.01% | 0.43% |
| #80 | PARTICULAR | 0.01% | 0.42% |
| #81 | HEAVY | 0.01% | 0.41% |
| #82 | SWEET | 0.01% | 0.41% |
| #83 | PLAIN | 0.01% | 0.41% |
| #84 | RICH | 0.01% | 0.40% |
| #85 | AFRAID | 0.01% | 0.40% |
| #86 | SINGLE | 0.01% | 0.40% |
| #87 | BLUE | 0.01% | 0.37% |
| #88 | IMPOSSIBLE | 0.01% | 0.37% |
| #89 | FORMER | 0.01% | 0.37% |
| #90 | QUIET | 0.01% | 0.37% |
| #91 | USUAL | 0.01% | 0.36% |
| #92 | ANCIENT | 0.01% | 0.35% |
| #93 | THIRD | 0.01% | 0.35% |
| #94 | WORTH | 0.01% | 0.35% |
| #95 | SIMPLE | 0.01% | 0.35% |
| #96 | MERE | 0.01% | 0.35% |
| #97 | SILENT | 0.01% | 0.34% |
| #98 | PERFECT | 0.01% | 0.34% |
| #99 | FRESH | 0.01% | 0.34% |
| #100 | BRIGHT | 0.01% | 0.34% |
A graph is given below to show the top 5 adjectives used in books by frequency among all word types:
Adjectives vs. other word types in books
- In terms of their overall frequency in books, adjectives are present 4.94% of the time (6th).
- Adpositions (1st) are 3.60 times more common in books than adjectives.
- Adjectives rank third by their share of unique words in books (12.80%) when compared to all other word types.
- For unique words in books, nouns (1st) are 2.62 times more common than adjectives.
| Word type | Frequency of word type* | Rank | Share of unique words* | Rank |
| Adposition | 17.76% | #1 | 4.30% | #6 |
| Pronoun | 15.28% | #2 | 3.70% | #7 |
| Noun | 10.53% | #3 | 33.50% | #1 |
| Auxiliary verb | 9.92% | #4 | 2.90% | #8 |
| Verb | 8.23% | #5 | 23.20% | #2 |
| Adjective | 4.94% | #6 | 12.80% | #3 |
| Adverb | 4.50% | #7 | 7.30% | #4 |
| Proper noun | 1.58% | #8 | 6.40% | #5 |
A graph is given below to show how adjectives compare to other word types in books:
Adjectives in movies
Frequency of adjectives in movies
- The most common adjective in movies is the 4-letter word “GOOD”, appearing 0.25% of the time in comparison to all other words.
- However, when compared only with other top adjectives, it appears 7.59% of the time.
- “LITTLE” is the second-most frequent adjective in movies and “SORRY” is the third-most frequent.
- The average length of an adjective in a movie is also around 5 characters.
- In the given list, the most common starting letter for an adjective in a movie is “S” (16%) and the most common last letter is “D” (19%).
(based on the top 100 adjectives in movies)
| Rank | Adjective | Frequency among all words | Frequency among top 100 adjectives |
| #1 | GOOD | 0.25% | 7.59% |
| #2 | LITTLE | 0.16% | 4.99% |
| #3 | SORRY | 0.14% | 4.16% |
| #4 | SAID | 0.12% | 3.61% |
| #5 | GREAT | 0.09% | 2.65% |
| #6 | BETTER | 0.09% | 2.64% |
| #7 | FIRST | 0.08% | 2.56% |
| #8 | OTHER | 0.08% | 2.50% |
| #9 | FINE | 0.08% | 2.40% |
| #10 | LAST | 0.08% | 2.29% |
| #11 | LONG | 0.07% | 2.20% |
| #12 | BIG | 0.07% | 2.04% |
| #13 | WRONG | 0.07% | 1.98% |
| #14 | NEW | 0.06% | 1.97% |
| #15 | BAD | 0.06% | 1.84% |
| #16 | NICE | 0.06% | 1.70% |
| #17 | OWN | 0.05% | 1.55% |
| #18 | WHOLE | 0.05% | 1.53% |
| #19 | BEST | 0.05% | 1.47% |
| #20 | OLD | 0.05% | 1.46% |
| #21 | LEFT | 0.05% | 1.40% |
| #22 | REAL | 0.05% | 1.37% |
| #23 | SAME | 0.04% | 1.36% |
| #24 | HAPPY | 0.04% | 1.33% |
| #25 | NEXT | 0.04% | 1.27% |
| #26 | DEAD | 0.04% | 1.15% |
| #27 | HARD | 0.04% | 1.11% |
| #28 | READY | 0.04% | 1.09% |
| #29 | SECOND | 0.03% | 1.00% |
| #30 | TRUE | 0.03% | 0.97% |
| #31 | FEW | 0.03% | 0.96% |
| #32 | SUCH | 0.03% | 0.92% |
| #33 | MANY | 0.03% | 0.89% |
| #34 | LEAST | 0.03% | 0.85% |
| #35 | BEAUTIFUL | 0.03% | 0.81% |
| #36 | CRAZY | 0.03% | 0.80% |
| #37 | OPEN | 0.03% | 0.79% |
| #38 | AFRAID | 0.03% | 0.79% |
| #39 | IMPORTANT | 0.03% | 0.79% |
| #40 | FUN | 0.03% | 0.77% |
| #41 | GLAD | 0.02% | 0.76% |
| #42 | CLOSE | 0.02% | 0.72% |
| #43 | EASY | 0.02% | 0.71% |
| #44 | DIFFERENT | 0.02% | 0.67% |
| #45 | ALRIGHT | 0.02% | 0.66% |
| #46 | ABLE | 0.02% | 0.66% |
| #47 | PERFECT | 0.02% | 0.65% |
| #48 | FUNNY | 0.02% | 0.63% |
| #49 | STUPID | 0.02% | 0.63% |
| #50 | COOL | 0.02% | 0.62% |
| #51 | YOUNG | 0.02% | 0.59% |
| #52 | LUCKY | 0.02% | 0.59% |
| #53 | FREE | 0.02% | 0.57% |
| #54 | SERIOUS | 0.02% | 0.56% |
| #55 | HIGH | 0.02% | 0.56% |
| #56 | WONDERFUL | 0.02% | 0.56% |
| #57 | PAST | 0.02% | 0.55% |
| #58 | SICK | 0.02% | 0.55% |
| #59 | WORRIED | 0.02% | 0.53% |
| #60 | SAFE | 0.02% | 0.52% |
| #61 | CLEAR | 0.02% | 0.50% |
| #62 | HOT | 0.02% | 0.50% |
| #63 | SWEET | 0.02% | 0.48% |
| #64 | ALIVE | 0.02% | 0.48% |
| #65 | SPECIAL | 0.02% | 0.48% |
| #66 | FULL | 0.02% | 0.47% |
| #67 | DEAR | 0.02% | 0.47% |
| #68 | POSSIBLE | 0.01% | 0.44% |
| #69 | SCARED | 0.01% | 0.42% |
| #70 | WEIRD | 0.01% | 0.40% |
| #71 | COLD | 0.01% | 0.38% |
| #72 | WHITE | 0.01% | 0.38% |
| #73 | FAST | 0.01% | 0.38% |
| #74 | POOR | 0.01% | 0.36% |
| #75 | MAD | 0.01% | 0.36% |
| #76 | WORTH | 0.01% | 0.34% |
| #77 | AMAZING | 0.01% | 0.34% |
| #78 | INVOLVED | 0.01% | 0.34% |
| #79 | BUSY | 0.01% | 0.34% |
| #80 | BLACK | 0.01% | 0.34% |
| #81 | PERSONAL | 0.01% | 0.32% |
| #82 | STRONG | 0.01% | 0.32% |
| #83 | TIRED | 0.01% | 0.32% |
| #84 | HUMAN | 0.01% | 0.31% |
| #85 | RED | 0.01% | 0.31% |
| #86 | ENTIRE | 0.01% | 0.31% |
| #87 | CALM | 0.01% | 0.31% |
| #88 | FAIR | 0.01% | 0.31% |
| #89 | TERRIBLE | 0.01% | 0.30% |
| #90 | CLEAN | 0.01% | 0.30% |
| #91 | SMART | 0.01% | 0.30% |
| #92 | MISSING | 0.01% | 0.30% |
| #93 | SMALL | 0.01% | 0.30% |
| #94 | PREGNANT | 0.01% | 0.29% |
| #95 | CAREFUL | 0.01% | 0.29% |
| #96 | ANGRY | 0.01% | 0.29% |
| #97 | EARLY | 0.01% | 0.28% |
| #98 | TOUGH | 0.01% | 0.27% |
| #99 | PROUD | 0.01% | 0.27% |
| #100 | SIMPLE | 0.01% | 0.27% |
A graph is given below to show the top 5 adjectives used in movies by frequency among all word types:
Adjectives vs. other word types in movies
- In terms of frequency, 3.92% of words in movies are adjectives (7th).
- Pronouns have the highest frequency, appearing 6.11 times more often than adjectives.
- Adjectives rank third for their share of unique words in movies.
- Nouns have 2.62 times more unique words in movies than adjectives.
| Word type | Frequency of word type* | Rank | Share of unique words* | Rank |
| Pronoun | 23.97% | #1 | 5.50% | #6 |
| Verb | 13.56% | #2 | 24.90% | #2 |
| Auxiliary verb | 9.57% | #3 | 4.00% | #7 |
| Adposition | 8.99% | #4 | 3.20% | #8 |
| Noun | 8.73% | #5 | 28.60% | #1 |
| Adverb | 6.76% | #6 | 7.10% | #5 |
| Adjective | 3.92% | #7 | 10.90% | #3 |
| Proper noun | 1.44% | #8 | 8.40% | #4 |
A graph is given below to show how adjectives compare to other word types in movies:
If you are looking for adjectives to use in word games, try our word unscrambler and find the perfect word for your next turn!
Adjectives FAQ
What are adjectives?
- Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns (or pronouns).
- They can be used to describe the qualities of something or a living being on its/their own or as a comparison.
- Adjectives can be either attributive or predicative, occurring before or after the noun respectively.
- Example: “I like new clothes.” – (adjective is “new”)
What is a compound adjective?
- Compound adjectives use more than one word to function as an adjective.
- Most frequently, they are made up of two words, but they can also be longer.
- Hyphens are used between the words to show that compound adjectives function as one adjective.
- Example: “Do you work a full-time job?” – (compound adjective is “full-time”)
What are coordinate adjectives?
- When two or more adjectives are used with respect to the same noun, they are known as coordinate adjectives.
- As they both modify the noun in equal measure, it does not matter which of the two adjectives comes first within a sentence.
- For correct usage, coordinate adjectives must always be separated using a comma.
- Example: “I would like a cold, fizzy drink.” – (coordinate adjective is “cold, fizzy”)
What are possessive adjectives?
- Words that are used before a noun to demonstrate possession, ownership or a connection to another item or living being are known as possessive adjectives.
- Primarily, they are used to modify nouns or noun phrases and are never able to exist alone within a sentence.
- They are also sometimes known as possessive determiners.
- Example: “Welcome to my house.” – (possessive adjective is “my”)
What are demonstrative adjectives?
- Demonstrative adjectives are used to describe the position of something or a living being.
- They are intended to describe nouns with respect to their position in space or time.
- In terms of their placement, demonstrative adjectives come before all other adjectives in a given noun phrase.
- Example: “That dog is barking.” – (demonstrative adjective is “that”)
What do adjectives modify?
- The purpose of adjectives is to modify nouns.
- Often, adjectives are referred to informally as “describing words” as they give us additional details about nouns.
- Adjectives do not modify other adjectives or verbs.