What does adjective mean?
An adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun, adding information about qualities such as size, colour, age, shape, origin, or feeling. Words like 'golden', 'narrow', 'cheerful', and 'impossible' are all adjectives, and they are among the most versatile building blocks of English, allowing speakers to move from plain statement ('a house') to vivid description ('a ramshackle, ivy-covered house'). Adjectives can appear before the noun they modify, as in 'a quiet evening', or after a linking verb, as in 'the evening was quiet'; they can also be compared, taking forms like 'quieter' and 'quietest'. The term itself is chiefly a grammatical label, encountered in classrooms, dictionaries, and style guides rather than daily conversation, yet the concept it names underpins nearly all expressive writing. Mastering adjectives — and knowing when to restrain them — is one of the simplest ways to make prose more precise and evocative.
nounA word belonging to a class of words that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun, typically by indicating a quality, quantity, or attribute, such as 'red', 'happy', or 'tall'. Also used more broadly in grammar to refer to the category or function of such describing words.
- A word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun, expressing a quality, quantity, or attribute (e.g. 'blue', 'ancient', 'several').
- In traditional grammar, the part of speech or word class comprising such descriptive words; sometimes extended to include words functioning like adjectives.
"In the phrase 'a brilliant idea', the word 'brilliant' is an adjective."
"Choose your adjectives carefully — 'a crumbling mansion' paints a very different picture from 'a stately home'."
"The teacher asked the students to underline every adjective in the opening paragraph of the novel."
The plural follows the standard English -s pattern and is common in grammatical and educational writing when discussing multiple describing words.
"Long strings of adjectives can weigh down otherwise lively prose."
The word 'adjective' is itself a noun — one of grammar's little ironies that has amused schoolchildren for centuries.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of adjective
The word 'adjective' comes from the Latin 'adiectivus', meaning 'additive' or 'attributive', derived from 'adicere', meaning 'to throw to' or 'to add', formed from 'ad-' ('toward') plus 'iacere' ('to throw'). It entered English via Old French in the late Middle Ages, originally appearing in the fuller phrase 'noun adjective' before standing alone. The same Latin root 'iacere' gives English a family of related words including 'adjunct', 'adjourn', 'conjunction', and 'junction'.
Related word forms
How adjective is actually used
'Adjective' is a neutral, technical term used mainly in educational, linguistic, and editorial contexts rather than everyday conversation. In casual speech people usually talk about 'describing words'. Grammarians distinguish attributive use (before the noun, as in 'a red car') from predicative use (after a linking verb, as in 'the car is red').
Easily confused with adjective
An adjective describes nouns and pronouns, while an adverb modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, often answering how, when, where, or to what degree.