adjective
Grammar. any member of a class of words that modify nouns and pronouns, primarily by describing a particular quality of the word they are modifying, as wise in a wise grandmother, or perfect in a perfect score, or handsome in He is extremely handsome. Other terms, as numbers (one cup; twelve months), certain demonstrative pronouns (this magazine; those questions), and terms that impose limits (each person; no mercy) can also function adjectivally, as can some nouns that are found chiefly in fixed phrases where they immediately precede the noun they modify, as bottle in bottle cap and bus in bus station.
pertaining to or functioning as an adjective; adjectival: the adjective use of a noun.
Law. concerning methods of enforcement of legal rights, as pleading and practice (opposed to substantive def. 9).
(of dye colors) requiring a mordant or the like to render them permanent (opposed to substantive def. 10).
Archaic. not able to stand alone; dependent: Women were seen by some (by some men, that is) as adjective creatures, needing to be cared for and protected from the vicissitudes of life.
Origin of adjective
1Grammar notes for adjective
In addition, many true adjectives are gradable. That is, they can be upgraded ( very pretty ), downgraded ( somewhat disorganized ), or intensified ( really tired ). Usually, those that should not be compared, as correct, impossible, and mortal, are also not gradable. A vote, for example, cannot be very unanimous, too unanimous, or not unanimous enough; it is either unanimous or not. And only in The Wizard of Oz is the Wicked Witch “not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead.” That is not to say that there are no exceptions, as can be seen at the expanded usage note for the absolute adjective unique.
Pronouns, as your, this, and each, can also function as adjectives. But it is the noun as modifier, like bottle and bus in bottle cap and bus station, that gives headaches to dictionary compilers. Faced with evidence, they must ask themselves if occasional use as a modifier makes a particular noun worthy of full adjective status. Bottle and bus certainly do not pass comparison or gradation tests; my cap isn’t more bottle than yours, nor is it very bottle. These nouns are not listed as adjectives in this dictionary. Yet similar nouns, like coffee, kitchen, and summer, are. The number of items they can modify, the number of adjectival senses they have, and the degree to which such senses differ from their noun senses all play a part in the decision. That decision, however is never final. Meanings expand and evolve. Language changes as we speak.
Other words for adjective
1 | modifier, qualifier, identifier, describer, describing word |
Other words from adjective
- ad·jec·ti·val, adjective
- ad·jec·ti·val·ly, ad·jec·tive·ly, adverb
- non·ad·jec·tive·ly, adverb
- pre·ad·jec·tive, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use adjective in a sentence
You can use more sensory adjectives like smooth, crunchy, velvety, sweet, aromatic, and crisp to your descriptions to dazzle your readers.
Eight simple steps to write epic product descriptions that boost conversions | Ricky Hayes | January 29, 2021 | Search Engine WatchFor example, equities pros struggle to find an adjective for the craze in blank-check SPACs.
What the savvy investor can learn from the bonkers rally in GameStop shares | Bernhard Warner | January 25, 2021 | FortuneShe also notes that there’s no equivalent revulsion around adjectives that might describe a man’s anatomy.
Hate the word ‘moist’? Get over it — the alternatives are worse. | Emily Heil | January 19, 2021 | Washington PostIn that blistering moment of twisted candor, “Orwellian” became the adjective of our era.
Conservatives crying ‘Orwell’ are downright Orwellian | Ron Charles | January 11, 2021 | Washington PostPhiladelphians, who lay claim to the sandwich, barely let you utter the word unless you have the birthright and disdain people who use the implicit — and therefore silent — adjective Philly before cheesesteak.
Give in to pandemic cravings, starting with a homemade cheesesteak sandwich | David Hagedorn | December 10, 2020 | Washington Post
Dear Thief is worthy of the abused critical adjectives philosophical, atmospheric, and masterful.
Just as often, and to more stinging effect, the adjectives come from black people in this town an hour north of Detroit.
Pinker notes that roughly a fifth of English verbs began life as nouns or adjectives.
Go Ahead, End With a Preposition: Grammar Rules We All Can Live With | Nick Romeo | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd anyone who disagrees need look no further than the addition of adjectives to the Gamer.
Death of ‘Gamer’ Identity: How Hardcore Trolls Pwned Themselves | Alec Kubas-Meyer | September 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn writing the report, controversial adjectives were removed.
The 9/11 Commission Is Back With a New Warning for America | Eleanor Clift | July 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMr. Asquith evidently has given in his adhesion to the new system of "colour adjectives."
Each of these pairs, he realised, was really a single state of which the adjectives represented the extremes at either end.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodLike the corresponding French nouns in -eur, these nouns in -aire, as well as those in -èire, are also used as adjectives.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred DownerOne third of the words in this paragraph are descriptive nouns and adjectives, none of which the reader wishes to change.
English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) WebsterTo show the use of adjectives and nouns in description, the following from Kipling is a good illustration.
English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
British Dictionary definitions for adjective
/ (ˈædʒɪktɪv) /
a word imputing a characteristic to a noun or pronoun
(as modifier): an adjective phrase Abbreviation: adj
additional or dependent
(of law) relating to court practice and procedure, as opposed to the principles of law dealt with by the courts: Compare substantive (def. 7)
Origin of adjective
1Derived forms of adjective
- adjectival (ˌædʒɪkˈtaɪvəl), adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for adjective
A part of speech that describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives are usually placed just before the words they qualify: shy child, blue notebook, rotten apple, four horses, another table.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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