There are some words in the English language which are helpful for describing many different types of situations. They are very versatile and can be applied in all sorts of ways which is great! However, they are also incredibly general, overused and can sound boring!
Typical examples of these types of words are: good, bad, big, small, nice, happy and sad.
Being able to communicate in a second language is a fantastic skill but it’s also important to be able to articulate what you want to say in an interesting way. Sometimes this is difficult but using specific, descriptive vocabulary will help you to sound more compelling.
Take a look at these examples:
A: He saw her at the bar and thought she looked nice.
B: He caught sight of her at the bar and thought she looked stunning.
Sentence A is fine, there is nothing wrong with it grammatically, but it just doesn’t sound very interesting. The verb ‘saw’ is OK however it’s so general and the adjective ‘nice’ is not explanatory. I think it’s especially important to use more descriptive adjectives when we are talking about people. We are so different from each other in many ways and each of us have our own complexities and notable points.
Sentence B, in my opinion, is much more expressive. It paints a clearer picture in the readers’ mind of what actually happened. The adjective ‘stunning’ gives us a much more vivid idea of the writer’s opinion of that person.
Of course, in some situations you may not need to be as expressive as this example, but I think it’s helpful for you to have more options in your mind for when you do need to be more illustrative!
Now, I’d like to give you some vocabulary to replace those boring words!
Happy
Are you just happy? Or are you…
Pleased – I’m so pleased about my exam result.
Merry – He’s such a merry person, he’s a joy to be around.
Content – I’m not exactly over the moon with the situation but I’m more or less content with it.
Thrilled – You must be thrilled with your new car; it looks so flash.
Delighted – I’m absolutely delighted with my new laptop; it runs so smoothly.
Sad
Do you feel sad today or…
Miserable – I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I’ve felt miserable all day.
Gloomy – He has such a gloomy outlook on life.
Down – I will call Stacey later because I know she’s been feeling a bit down recently.
Melancholic – There was a melancholic atmosphere in the air.
Big
Is it big or is it…
Gigantic – Her house is gigantic! I wonder what she does for a living.
Mammoth – I’m sorry I can’t meet you for lunch, I have a mammoth amount of work to do.
Massive – There’s a massive equality gap in my country.
Enormous – It’s an enormous task but I’m sure we can do it!
Small
I might be small or it might be…
Minute – The changes were minute but still important.
Minuscule – We only have a manicure amount of data to work with.
Miniature – Have you seen those types of dogs before, they’re almost miniature!
Microscopic – The cells are microscopic so they can’t be seen by the naked eye.
Good
Did you have a good time or…
Superb – I hope you had a superb time at the party last night.
Terrific – The atmosphere at the concert was terrific.
Amazing – Have you ever seen something as amazing as that?
Grand – We had a grand time catching up with friends yesterday.
Bad
Was it a bad situation or was it…
Despicable – Your behaviour last night was despicable, I’m ashamed of you!
Vile – She has some vile attitudes, that’s why I don’t hang out with her anymore.
Brutal – Jack has made some brutal business decision during his career.
Dreadful – We had a dreadful time whilst on holiday.
I hope these alternatives to some boring adjectives will help you to be more expressive and interesting when speaking and writing in English.
I’d also like to remind you that if you are interested in becoming fluent in English then you can download my E-book titled ‘The five-step guide to English fluency’ for free!
Please leave a comment below, I will reply to you!
Take care!
Mitch
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