Positive and Negative Words to Describe a Person: Positive Words to Describe a Person

Do you know someone who's great, fantastic, stupendous, or wonderful? Master the words on this list, and you'll be ready to describe all the phenomenal folks who cross your path.
25 words 24033 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. affable
    diffusing warmth and friendliness
    On the comedy circuit he is known as affable, quiet and polite. The Guardian (Jun 23, 2012)
  2. amiable
    diffusing warmth and friendliness
    “Madame, the most kind, the most amiable are not always the cleverest.” Murder on the Orient Express
  3. benevolent
    showing or motivated by sympathy and understanding
    But many of his people saw him as a benevolent ruler who kept peaceful co-existence of diverse ethnicities. Reuters (Dec 19, 2018)
  4. blithesome
    carefree and happy and lighthearted
    She seemed the very embodiment of blithesome happiness. Richardson, Dorothy
  5. charitable
    showing or motivated by sympathy and generosity
    When someone felt charitable, our bellies were relatively full. The Shakespeare Stealer
  6. charming
    pleasing or delighting
    We were told he was a charming man, calm, likable, and polite. Night
  7. debonair
    having a sophisticated charm
    Mr. Coles and Atkins were in the tradition known as the class act: suave, debonair, cultivated. New York Times (Mar 13, 2019)
  8. empathetic
    showing ready comprehension of others' states
    Habitually putting himself in other people’s shoes, he was in his private life charming and engaging, generous and genuinely empathetic. Seabiscuit: An American Legend
  9. exquisite
    of extreme beauty
    Caroline is tiny and exquisite, her blonde curls framing a face that is glowing with laughter, her arms outstretched to whoever is taking the picture. Jacob Have I Loved
  10. faithful
    loyal and reliable
    “But I’ve heard all about you, Percy Jackson. Oh, yes, the young man who saved Olympus. And his faithful sidekick, Annabeth Chase.” The Mark of Athena
  11. gallant
    being attentive and courteous like an ideal knight
    He is all concern, all gallant attention, gently drawing them toward more savory matters. Water for Elephants
  12. generous
    willing to give and share unstintingly
    But it was very different with her father; he was—and so Elizabeth never failed to think of him—young, and handsome, and kind, and generous; and he loved his daughter. Go Tell It on the Mountain
  13. heroic
    having qualities appropriate for brave figures
    She described Percy as brave and heroic, which made him uncomfortable. The Son of Neptune
  14. honest
    not deceptive or disposed to cheat
    He says, “Mason is nothing if not honest. You should believe him.” The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
  15. illustrious
    widely known and esteemed
    The concert is part of extensive celebrations marking the centenary of the birth of Britten, one of the UK's most illustrious and prolific 20th Century composers. BBC (Sep 25, 2013)
  16. industrious
    characterized by hard work and perseverance
    Her mother, an industrious and striking woman, went from harvesting red onions on her family’s farm to a career in the town’s textile factory. New York Times (Jul 18, 2016)
  17. jaunty
    having a cheerful, lively, and self-confident air
    A veneer of jaunty self-confidence thinly concealed his nervousness. Brave New World
  18. lionhearted
    extraordinarily courageous
    Brawny and lionhearted, the men took deep pride in fighting the wildfires that raged across the West each summer. New York Times (Jul 9, 2013)
  19. merciful
    showing or giving forgiveness
    Somewhere inside me is a merciful, forgiving person. Divergent
  20. optimistic
    hopeful that the best will happen in the future
    My hope was that they’d grow up to be bright and energetic, optimistic like their father and hard-driving like their mom. Becoming
  21. reliable
    able to be depended on; consistent or steady
    To demonstrate what a good, reliable, always-there sort of friend I was, I reluctantly agreed to track down Fang. Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet
  22. scintillating
    brilliantly clever
    Then, he would look around the room, and there, sitting in some booth with some scintillating group, would be Brian. New York Times (Jul 17, 2021)
  23. seraphic
    having a sweet nature befitting an angel
    How lighthearted, how human he seemed as he laughed now, his seraphic face untroubled. Twilight
  24. trustworthy
    worthy of trust or belief
    That night he must spend with his swineherd, Eumaeus, a man faithful and trustworthy beyond praise. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
  25. urbane
    showing a high degree of refinement
    She smiled her way through the cafe’s front door, urbane and black-clad and somehow delightfully busy-looking, a person to whom things were always about to happen. New York Times (Jun 9, 2017)
Created on Fri Jul 09 13:42:34 EDT 2021 (updated Mon Jul 19 13:04:43 EDT 2021)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.