Definition · Plain-language
Adjective
An adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun, telling us more about its quality, quantity or identity — words such as tall, blue and honest.
The step most authors miss
Doing CRediT right? Don’t stop at the statement.
A CRediT statement credits you inside one paper. The recognition CRediT was built for happens when those roles are tied to you, persistently. Sign in with your ORCID — free — and claim your CRediT contributions on casrai.org, the home of the standard. They become a verified, portable part of your identity, not a line that disappears into one PDF.
Free: claim your contributions, then export a journal-ready CRediT statement, schema.org structured data, JATS XML, CSV or BibTeX — and preview your public profile. A membership publishes that profile publicly and verifies the journals you serve.
What adjectives describe
An adjective adds detail to a noun or pronoun, answering questions such as "what kind?", "which one?", "how many?" and "whose?". In "the three old wooden chairs", three tells how many, old describes age, and wooden describes material — all modifying the noun chairs. Adjectives can describe almost any quality: size, colour, shape, age, origin, material, emotion and opinion. They also include articles (a, an, the) and other determiners such as this, that, my and some, which limit or specify the noun. Without adjectives, writing loses precision; with too many, it becomes cluttered, so choosing the most informative adjective matters more than piling them up.
Where adjectives go, and adjective order
Adjectives appear in two main positions. In the attributive position they sit directly before the noun: "a bright idea". In the predicative position they follow a linking verb such as be, seem or become: "the idea is bright". When several adjectives describe one noun, English follows a fairly fixed order: opinion, then size, age, shape, colour, origin, material and purpose — which is why "a lovely small old round table" sounds natural but rearranging it does not. Native speakers apply this order instinctively; learners often have to study it. Commas separate adjectives of the same type (a cold, wet morning) but not adjectives from different categories.
Comparatives and superlatives
Many adjectives can show degree. The comparative form compares two things and usually adds -er or the word more: taller, more careful. The superlative form marks the extreme among three or more and usually adds -est or most: tallest, most careful. Short adjectives generally take the endings (-er, -est), while longer ones take more and most; a few are irregular, such as good–better–best and bad–worse–worst. Some adjectives, called absolute or non-gradable, resist comparison because they already express an absolute state — something cannot logically be "more perfect" or "very unique", a point careful writers keep in mind.
Key facts
At a glance
- Definition: a word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun
- Answers: what kind, which one, how many or whose
- Positions: before the noun (attributive) or after a linking verb (predicative)
- Degrees: comparative (-er / more) and superlative (-est / most)
- Examples: tall, blue, honest, three, ancient, British
- Includes: determiners such as a, the, this, my, some
Common misconceptions
What people often get wrong
Often heard: Adjectives always come immediately before the noun they describe.
Actually: Adjectives can also follow a linking verb in the predicative position. In "the sky looks clear", the adjective clear describes sky but sits after the verb looks, not before the noun.
Often heard: Any word that describes another word is an adjective.
Actually: Adjectives modify only nouns and pronouns. Words that modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs are adverbs — "she sings beautifully" uses an adverb, not an adjective.
Often heard: You can intensify any adjective with "very" or make it comparative.
Actually: Absolute (non-gradable) adjectives resist degree. Because perfect, unique and dead already express an absolute state, careful writers avoid "very unique" or "more perfect".
Going deeper
