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

Looking for the right words to describe the villain in your latest short story? Searching for more colorful language to characterize your worst enemy? Then master these terms for petty, patronizing, and peevish people.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. arrogant
    having or showing feelings of unwarranted importance
    He was also arrogant and vain, it seemed to Asha, hungry for glory, deaf to caution, a glutton for praise, and contemptuous of smallfolk, wolves, and women. A Dance with Dragons
  2. avaricious
    immoderately desirous of acquiring something
    The viewer’s avaricious inner collector will drool over these and dozens more marvelous objects of desire on display. New York Times (Dec 31, 2010)
  3. belligerent
    characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight
    The Little Rock School Board now demanded belligerent students be brought under control. Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High
  4. boorish
    ill-mannered and coarse in behavior or appearance
    Bascom is the boorish one — quick with his fists, impatient with the social niceties. Seattle Times (Dec 1, 2011)
  5. churlish
    having a bad disposition; surly
    Mom is a lovely person who seemed not to see her child was often churlish and badly behaved. Washington Post (Oct 24, 2019)
  6. crotchety
    having a difficult and contrary disposition
    She was as crotchety and sullen as a three-legged mule, and I was not quite sure why. Walk Two Moons
  7. crude
    conspicuously and tastelessly indecent
    His manners are extremely crude, I thought, trying to put him at a disadvantage in my own mind by pointedly taking a small piece of the cheesy stuff and placing it neatly into my mouth. Invisible Man
  8. curmudgeonly
    brusque, surly, and forbidding
    These people were almost always ill-humored and curmudgeonly. Salon (Apr 27, 2014)
  9. dour
    showing a brooding ill humor
    He married a rather dour woman against the objections of her family, and their marriage eventually soured. New York Times (May 8, 2015)
  10. duplicitous
    marked by deliberate deceptiveness
    History is littered with duplicitous characters promising voters the world but refusing to deliver a smidgeon after being elected. New York Times (Aug 28, 2016)
  11. grim
    harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
    “My husband is often bad-tempered when he gets home, wrathful and grim of mind. He treats his guests badly,” the giantess warned them. Norse Mythology
  12. gross
    conspicuously and tastelessly indecent
    “You’re gross. Why would you talk about a woman like that?” I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
  13. implacable
    incapable of being appeased or pacified
    The Wolfpack fans are implacable rivals of the Tar Heels fans, and the two groups are continually looking for ways to plague one another. New York Times (Apr 26, 2014)
  14. miserly
    characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity
    Many of the wealthy are miserly in their sharing with those less fortunate, or those less opportunistic. New York Times (Nov 25, 2017)
  15. morose
    showing a brooding ill humor
    Despondent and morose, he held himself apart from the festivities, seated alone with his back to the room. Big Science
  16. nasty
    offensive or even (of persons) malicious
    “Stop that immediately and get on with your work, you nasty little beast!” James and the Giant Peach
  17. notorious
    known widely and usually unfavorably
    Yet within days Davis was spotted consorting with some of the county’s notorious criminals. Killers of the Flower Moon
  18. pompous
    puffed up with vanity
    “It’s not a crime if you consider him handsome. I’ll admit I judged him wrong; I thought him to be a pompous, selfish idiot, but he’s not so bad.” Throne of Glass
  19. quarrelsome
    given to arguing
    Intolerant individuals are often characterized as quarrelsome, distrustful, egocentric and more competitive. Scientific American (Jan 21, 2019)
  20. savage
    able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
    “He was so savage, I thought he was going to bite me,” said Aunt Eliza. Little House in the Big Woods
  21. selfish
    concerned chiefly with your own advantage
    "Listen to this. Heinrich Mann says that revolutions are rare because people are too selfish. They think only of themselves." The Boy Who Dared
  22. treacherous
    tending to betray
    In later poems she is usually shown as treacherous and malicious, exerting a deadly and destructive power over men. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
  23. vainglorious
    feeling self-importance
    He loves himself so much that he is startled if he discovers that his victims don’t share his vainglorious self-opinion. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
  24. vile
    exceptionally bad or unpleasant
    “I’m intimately acquainted with the term myself, but you . . . surely—” “You are not vile, base, or depraved,” Lyddie said. Lyddie
  25. vulgar
    conspicuously and tastelessly indecent
    She was a haughty, vulgar, utterly impertinent assassin. Throne of Glass
Created on Tue Jul 13 15:17:50 EDT 2021 (updated Mon Jul 19 13:51:10 EDT 2021)

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