French Adjectives – The Words You Want

This is a list of adjectives, the ones that author Tim Green says are “the type that usually come least easily to hand when you want them.” His book is Harrap’s French in the Real World, and sadly, it’s out of print. I would love to support Mr. Green directly by buying new copies, but they can only be found on used book sites.

The list is alphabetized according to the french; I believe it would be more useful to the English speaker if it followed the alphabet from the English words. I’ve tried to memorize them by covering the french with my hand and going down the list in a random (aléatoire) order. Many of these words are not that common in spoken french, but they will refine your powers of description; for example, it will now be possible to shade your use of the word “sad” without having to talk more in order to explain yourself. And once again we find that many of the words are the same or similar in English, but are perhaps your second choice, such as “prudent” for “careful,” or “bizarre” for “strange.”

The catagorizations may be confusing; also, I don’t have the accent grave on this computer.

Describing People

1. Physical appearance
aguichant enticing, alluring
avachi limp, sloppy, baggy
baraqué well-built
bizarre strange
boursouflé bloated
bronzé sunburnt
chétif, -ive weak, puny
débraillé untidy, sloppy, slipshod
dépenaillé unkempt
douteux, -euse doubtful, dubious, questionable
élancé slim
frêle frail, fragile
grand tall
grassouillet, -ette plump
gros, grosse fat
hâlé weatherbeaten
insolite unusual
maigre skinny
mignon nice, sweet
mince thin
musclé brawny, muscular
nerveux nervous, upset
pâle pale
potelé plump (like a baby)
rabougri wizened, shrivelled
séduisant attractive, appealing, seductive

2. Character
abruti idiotic
acariâtre sour, cantankerous
antipathique unfriendly
anodin harmless
astucieux, euse shrewd
atone lifeless, expressionless
avisé sensible, wise
borné narrow-minded (“bornez-vous!” limit yourself)
braillard noisy
brave good, honest
candide naive, ingenuous
casanier,-iere stay-at-home
compassé starchy, stiff
compliqué complicated; fussy (e.g. about food)
compréhensif,-ive understanding
dépravé degenerate
dévoyé delinquent
difficile difficult, tiresome
destrait absent-minded
drôle funny
enneyeux,-euse boring
évolué broad-minded, independent, progressive
exigeant demanding
extraverti extrovert
faiblard weak, feeble, slow on the uptake
fainéant lazy, idle
falot dreary
farfelu hair-brained, eccentric
franc candid
futé cunning, smart
guindé stilted, stuffy
imprévisible unforeseeable
juste fair
lunatique temperamental
maladroit clumsy
mal commode bad-tempered
malicieux,-euse mischievous, naughty
malin smart, clever
malveillant malicious, malevolent, spiteful
maniaque finicky, fussy
marrant funny; odd
maussade gloomy, sullen
méchant malicious, nasty
méfiant distrustful, suspicious
méprisant contemptuous, disdainful
pas naturel, -elle affected, mannered
névrosé neurotic
perspicace perceptive, shrewd
primesautier-iere impulsive
rébarbatif -ive forbiding, off-putting
renfrogné sullen
replié sur soi-meme introverted
rusé cunning
sage well-behaved, good
saugrenu preposterous
sensé sensible
sensible sensitive
sérieux,-euse serious, responsible
susceptible touchy, sensitive
sympathique nice, friendly
terre-á-terre down-to-earth
tordu warped
travailleur-euse hard-working

3. Mood
accablé distressed
admiratif, -ive admiring
affolé in a panic
amer, -ere bitter
assoupi drowzy
béat blissful; smug, complacent
cafardeux,-euse in the dumps
débordé (de travail) snowed under (with work)
décontracté relaxed
détendu relaxed
découragé disheartened, discouraged
dépité vexed
désemparé distraught, at a loss
effaré (de) alarmed (at)
énergique energetic
enthousiaste enthusiastic
gai cheerful
bien ententionné well-intentioned
lointain distant
mélancolique gloomy
navré sorry, apologetic, upset
paumé lost, at sea
ravi delighted
surpris surprised
tendu tense
vanné dead beat, exhausted
vexé annoyed

Describing ideas or events

1.Positive
alléchant tempting, mouth-watering
attendrissant touching
bénéfique beneficial
commode convenient
cocasse droll, comical
conforme (á) conforming (with)
convenable fitting, acceptable, respectable
déroutant disconcerting
détaillé comprehensive, detailed
distinct separate, distinct
équitable fair
excellent excellent, first-rate
formidable fantastic
fulgurant dazzling
grave serious
honnête decent
hors pair exceptional
impeccable great, smashing
important important; considerable, sizable
marrant funny
merveilleux marvellous
parfait great, fine
passionant exciting
percutant forceful
primordial of prime importance
propice favorable, liable to happen
raisonnable reasonable
rarissime extremely rare
recherché much sought-after, studied
réconfortant comforting
réjouissant delightful
rentable profitable, financially viable
réussi successful, well-done
sagace sagacious
sage wise
sensationnel sensational
spontané spontaneous
subtil subtle
surprenant surprising
véridique truthful

2. Negative
aberrant absurd, nonsensical
abominable abominable
affreux dreadful, ghastly
agaçant irritating
aléatoire uncertain, random
ardu arduous
chimérique fanciful, imaginary
complexe complex
courant common, current
déchirant heart-breaking
dégoûtant disgusting
déprimant depressing
déraisonnable unreasonable
discutable questionable, arguable
écoeurant sickening
ennuyeux,-euse boring
épouvantable frightful
éprouvant strenuous, exacting
étrange strange
fastidieux,-euse tedious, dull
frustrant frustrating
gênant annoying
immonde filthy
impensable unthinkable
impossible difficult; impossible
improbable unlikely
inadmissible intolerable
inattendu unexpected
loufoque nuts, crazy
lourd gross, dull
malaisé difficult
malencontreux-euse unfortunate, awkward, untoward
médiocre mediocre
minable seedy, hopeless, pathetic
minant boring, deadly
pénible difficult, tiresome; painful
pitoyable pathetic
prosaique prosaic
quelconque ordinary, mediocre
rebutant off-putting
répugnant repugnant
ridicule ridiculous
sclérosé ossified, hidebound