Could your writing use more showing and less telling? Do the words on the page capture what’s in your head? Artful use of adjectives can go a long way in making your prose more engaging and meaningful.
Adjectives are used to describe nouns. They give a person, place, or thing more emotional punch and clarity. Using adjectives in your writing help convey feelings, sensory perceptions, and provide a means of bonding with readers.
A negative adjective adds a connotation or tone to a noun to reflect bad feelings, criticism, or some other negative association. Using negative adjectives helps readers understand what you are saying and why it matters. They create tension and set up potential conflict. Perhaps they express criticism of negative actions or pessimism regarding a situation or a circumstance. They can paint a darker picture of a location or capture the nuances of a character’s mood or true personality.
Using negative adjectives clarifies your tone, applies the appropriate connotation to a character, communicates critical or pessimistic feelings, and succinctly describes the colors, textures, and sensory elements of a thing or place.
Negative adjectives can be broken down into four uses: describing people, describing things, describing personality traits, and describing places.
Negative Adjectives to Describe Personality Traits
Because we often hear how important it is to “show, not tell” in fiction writing, it can often help to define a character by using a negative personal trait adjective, especially when the character is first introduced in a story.
Here is a list of negative personality trait adjectives you can use to describe the not-so-nice things about your characters:
- Accusatory: Critical, snappish
- Adamant: Unyielding, resolute
- Agitated: Restless, anxious
- Aimless: Purposeless, drifting
- Amoral: Unscrupulous, dishonorable
- Antagonistic: Hostile, aggressive, unfriendly
- Aloof: Reserved, indifferent
- Apathetic: Uninterested, dispirited
- Arrogant: Egotistical, haughty, superior
- Authoritarian: Controlling, rigid, despotic
- Awkward: Inept, gauche, self-conscious
- Cowardly: Weak, spineless
- Cruel: Vicious, merciless, callous
- Cynical: Skeptical, distrustful, suspicious
- Deceitful: Fraudulent, devious, cheating
- Defensive: Overly self-protective, forcefully apologetic
- Disruptive: Unruly, distracting
- Distant: Cold, unfriendly, detached
- Domineering: Bossy, overbearing
- Egotistical: Self-centered, proud
- Evasive: Shifty, slippery, ambiguous
- Greedy: Insatiable, covetous, materialistic
- Hypocritical: Duplicitous, phony
- Impatient: Irascible, intolerant, edgy
- Impertinent: Insolent, impudent, disrespectful
- Inconsiderate: Thoughtless, unkind, uncharitable
- Inflexible: Obstinate, strict, unyielding
- Insensitive: Indifferent, blasé, callous
- Irritable: Cross, petulant, touchy
- Judgmental: Hypercritical, condemnatory, disapproving
- Lazy: Indolent, lethargic, slothful
- Malicious: Spiteful, malevolent
- Materialistic: Worldly, acquisitive, selfish
- Narrow-minded: Bigoted, prejudiced, biased
- Neglectful: Careless, inattentive, slack
- Neurotic: Overanxious, phobic, fearful
- Obnoxious: Insufferable, unbearable, repugnant
- Overcritical: Disapproving, disparaging, severe
- Paranoid: Obsessed, mistrustful, suspicious
- Pessimistic: Doubtful, gloomy, cynical
- Petulant: Peevish, cantankerous
- Reckless: Irresponsible, hasty, rash
- Reclusive: Cloistered, solitary, antisocial
- Rigid: Inflexible, unyielding, strict
- Ruthless: Brutal, merciless, cold-blooded
- Scheming: Conniving, calculating, cunning
- Selfish: Self-interested, venal, mercenary
- Unappreciative: Thankless, ungracious, churlish
- Uncooperative: Contrary, truculent, difficult
- Unreliable: Fly-by-night, fickle, capricious
- Vain: Proud, big-headed, conceited
- Vindictive: Spiteful, vengeful, mean
Negative Words to Describe Someone
Bring your characters to life by describing their appearance. The basics focus on height, weight, facial features, hair, and complexion, but there are many other ways to give readers an impression of your characters.
There’s no end to the ways you can use negative adjectives to reflect the more unpleasant aspects or imperfections of a character. Keep in mind that some of these adjectives can also reflect a neutral or even positive aspect of a character, depending on context and intent:
- Big-boned: Euphemism for fat
- Bloody: Wounded, bruised, battered
- Clumsy: Uncoordinated, inept
- Dirty: Unkempt, messy
- Dumpy: Pudgy, round
- Decrepit: Infirm, feeble, broken-down
- Emaciated: Skeletal, thin, skinny
- Fat: Overweight, big
- Flabby: Loose, wobbly skin
- Frizzy-haired: Unruly, frizzy hair
- Gangly: Lanky, uncomfortable with their own build
- Gaunt: Emaciated, skeletal
- Greasy: Dirty, unkempt
- Grotesque: Distorted, bizarre, weird
- Lanky: Tall and awkwardly thin
- Pale: Colorless, sallow, wan
- Pigeon-toed: Standing/walking with feet turned in
- Plain: Not ugly, just boring, forgettable
- Podgy: Fleshy, chunky
- Pot-bellied: With a large stomach/gut
- Rough: Very ugly (quite rude in British English)
- Scrawny: Underweight, slight, small
- Scruffy: Disheveled, grubby
- Senile: Feeble-minded, disoriented, doddering
- Sloppy: Disheveled, rumpled
- Stout: Plump, portly
- Stunted: Undersized, diminutive
- Threatening: Looming, menacing
- Ugly: Unattractive, homely
- Unattractive: Plain, not handsome
- Unkempt: Ragged, untidy, bedraggled
Negative Descriptive Words for Places
Just as people and things can be given emphasis and clarification with adjectives, so can places. Consider these words to give negative connotations to your settings:
- Bleak: Austere, depressing, dismal
- Boring: Uninspiring, blasé
- Chaotic: Disordered, frenzied, unruly
- Congested: Mobbed, stuffy, crammed
- Cramped: Confined, close
- Crowded: Jam-packed, swarming, full
- Dark: Unlit, shadowy
- Dreary: Dismal, cheerless
- Dangerous: Hazardous, precarious, dodgy
- Deafening: Loud, ear-splitting
- Decaying: Rotten, crumbling
- Dilapidated: Run-down, in disrepair
- Desolate: Remote, uninhabited, bleak
- Eerie: Strange, weird, frightening
- Filthy: Grimy, soiled, mucky
- Forbidding: Daunting, menacing
- Gloomy: Dismal, murky
- Hazardous: Risky, perilous, precarious
- Hollow: Barren, vacant
- Imposing: Daunting, arresting
- Insignificant: Small, minuscule, tiny
- Mundane: Commonplace, humdrum, monotonous
- Noisy: Raucous, blaring
- Pedestrian: Hackneyed, trite, unimaginative
- Rowdy: Unruly, lawless
- Shadowy: Sinister, eerie, spectral
- Somber: Unadorned, sparse, severe
- Stagnant: Inert, dull, motionless
- Stale: Musty, out of date, old
- Squalid: Neglected, dirty, seedy
- Tumultuous: Boisterous, agitated, noisy
- Unaccommodating: Difficult, troublesome
- Uninspiring: Drab, boring
- Uninviting: Repellent, unenticing, unwelcome
- Unsanitary: Filthy, germ-riddled
List of Negative Adjectives to Describe Things
Bring the darker side to life in objects by enhancing their description with these negative adjectives:
- Abysmal: Dreadful, appalling
- Acidic: Sharp, sour
- Anemic: Feeble, pale, colorless
- Alarming: Distressing, disquieting, worrying
- Astringent: Biting, caustic, acerbic
- Bad: Wicked, harmful, injurious
- Barren: Stark, austere, deserted
- Battered: Damaged, beat-up, weather-beaten
- Beady: Overly shiny, bright, small
- Biting: Sharp, stinging
- Bland: Insipid, tasteless, lackluster
- Blaring: Shrieking, rowdy
- Brassy: Flashy, gaudy, showy
- Breakable: Fragile, brittle, flimsy
- Bulky: Unwieldy, cumbersome
- Calamitous: Catastrophic, cataclysmic
- Caustic: Corrosive, burning
- Cheap: Inferior, substandard
- Chilly: Frosty, icy
- Choppy: Rough, irregular
- Convoluted: Drawn-out, long-winded
- Corny: Clichéd, trite, hackneyed
- Corrosive: Caustic, eroding
- Damaged: Impaired, spoiled, marred
- Damp: Clammy, soggy
- Dangerous: Treacherous, risky
- Decimated: Annihilated, demolished
- Declining: Waning, abating
- Drastic: Extreme, sweeping
- Dreadful: Horrible, awful
- Droopy: Limp, flaccid
- Empty: Vacant, hollow
- Encrusted: Caked, enveloped
- Evil: Unpleasant, nasty
- Faded: Waned, washed out
- Faint: Dim, indistinct
- Faulty: Broken, damaged
- Flavorless: Bland, boring
- Fleeting: Transitory, momentary
- Flimsy: Insubstantial, rickety
- Foggy: Murky, muddled
- Forbidding: Grim, stern, bleak
- Freakish: Inexplicable, weird
- Frozen: Immobile, petrified
- Fruitless: Futile, useless
- Garish: Gaudy, tasteless
- Generic: Basic, common
- Heavy: Substantial, hefty
- Helpless: Vulnerable, dependent
- Hideous: Repugnant, gruesome
- Hoarse: Gravelly, throaty
- Hollow: Vacant, worthless, empty
- Horrendous: Unspeakable, appalling, terrible
- Horrible: Appalling, atrocious, horrid
- Horrific: Sickening, ghastly, gruesome
- Hushed: Muted, silent, soft
- Idiotic: Reckless, foolhardy, senseless
- Illegible: Indecipherable, scrawled
- Illogical: Contradictory, unreasoned
- Indecent: Lewd, inappropriate
- Lame: Weak, unconvincing, feeble
- Laughable: Ludicrous, absurd
- Lowly: Modest, simple
- Malignant: Wicked, malicious
- Moody: Sullen, morose
- Muddled: Untidy, cluttered
- Nasty: Foul, vile
- Obscene: Explicit, crude
- Odd: Peculiar, eccentric
- Oppressive: Stifling, close
- Predictable: Unsurprising, obvious
- Repugnant: Repulsive, abhorrent
- Squalid: Filthy, fetid, foul
- Tacky: Cheap, nasty, tasteless
- Tasteless: Inelegant, garish, insensitive
- Toxic: Lethal, noxious
- Wretched: Shameful, abject
Negative Adjective Examples in Popular Literature
Check out these quotes to see how well-known authors use adjectives to show negative aspects of people, places, and things in their work:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
“On the afternoon of my encounter with Peeta Mellark, the rain was falling in relentless icy sheets. I had been in town, trying to trade some threadbare old baby clothes of Prim’s in the public market, but there were no takers. Although I had been to the Hob on several occasions with my father, I was too frightened to venture into that rough, gritty place alone. The rain had soaked through my father’s hunting jacket, leaving me chilled to the bone…”
“I couldn’t go home. Because at home was my mother with her dead eyes and my little sister, with her hollow cheeks and cracked lips. I couldn’t walk into that room with the smoky fire from the damp branches I had scavenged at the edge of the woods after the coal had run out, my hands empty of any hope…”
“…She seemed like such a sniveling, cowardly fool that no one bothered about her until there were only a handful of contestants left…”
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
“…He was nothing to look at that day, I can tell you. His lower lip swelled up so big it looked like a summer sausage, his right eye was swollen half-shut, and there was an ugly washboard scrape across one cheek. He was having his troubles with the sisters, all right, but he never mentioned them…”
“…He was a short man with a tight, hard gut and the coldest brown eyes you ever saw. He always had a painful, pursed little grin on his face, as if had to go to the bathroom and couldn’t quite manage it…”
“…There was an emotion dawning on his face, something that was grotesque overlying that long, ugly countenance and that receding, sunburned brow. An almost obscene emotion when seen on the features of Byron Hadley. It was hope…”
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
“Cold weather set in abruptly with a killing frost. Chilling winds swept beneath the doorsills and rattled the loose windowpanes with a monotonous tinkling sound. The last of the leaves fell from the bare trees and only the pine trees stood clothed, black and cold against pale skies. The rutted red roads were frozen to flintiness and hunger rode the winds through Georgia.”
“She was in a wild, strange country so thick with swirling mist she could not see her hand before her face. The earth beneath her feet was uneasy. It was a haunted land, still with a terrible stillness, and she was lost in it, lost and terrified as a child in the night. She was bitterly cold and hungry and so fearful of what lurked in the mists about her that she tried to scream and could not. There were things in the fog reaching out fingers to pluck at her skirt, to drag her down into the uneasy quaking earth on which she stood, silent, relentless, spectral hands…”
“His eyes had left Suellen’s and were wandering about the room, to Gerald’s childlike puzzled eyes, to the floor, bare of rugs, to the mantelpiece denuded of its ornaments, the sagging springs and torn upholstery into which Yankee bayonets had ripped, the cracked mirror above the sideboard, the unfaded squares on the wall where pictures had hung before the looters came, the scant table service, the decently mended but old dresses of the girls, the flour sack which had been made into a kilt for Wade.”
“Melanie lay in the bed, her figure under the counterpane shrunken and flat like a little girl’s. Two black braids fell on either side of her face and her closed eyes were sunken in twin purple circles. At the sight of her, Scarlett stood transfixed, leaning against the door. Despite the gloom of the room, she could see that Melanie’s face was of a waxy yellow color. It was drained of life’s blood and there was a pinched look about the nose…”
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
“Something very painful was going on in Harry’s mind. As Hagrid’s story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before – and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel, laugh.”
“Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood.”
“Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid’s, but they had none of Hagrid’s warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.”
“They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.”
Angels Fall by Nora Roberts
“The pain was so shocking, so vicious, she couldn’t scream over it. The black, the anvil of black plummeted onto her chest to trap her. It crushed her lungs so she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. The hammer beat on that anvil, pounding her head, her chest, slamming, slamming down on her. She tried to gasp for air, but the pain was too much, and the fear was beyond even the pain…The sudden light was blinding, and the wild screams that burst in her head came out as feral growls.”
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
“The smug witch smirked at Mark and blatantly looked me up and down in a most impolite manner…:
“…I realize it was only a complicated form of denial. Was believing could reinvent self in space of small number of days, thereby negating the impact of Daniel’s hurtful and humiliating infidelity, since it had happened to me in a previous incarnation…”
“…Sink into morbid, cynical reflection on how much romantic heartbreak is to do with ego and miffed pride rather than actual loss…”
“There was a deathly hush, then Richard Finch started to laugh. It was the most repulsive laugh I’ve ever heard in my life.”
Ulysses by James Joyce
“Pain that was not yet the pain of love, fretted his heart. Silently, in a dream she had come to him after her death, her wasted body within its loose brown graveclothes giving off an odour of wax and rosewood, her breath, that had bent upon him, mute, reproachful, a faint odour of wetted ashes. Across the threadbare cuffedge he saw the sea hailed as a great sweet mother by the wellfed voice beside him. The ring of bay and skyline held a dull green mass of liquid. A bowl of white china had stood beside her deathbed holding the green sluggish bile which she had torn up from her rotting liver by fits of loud groaning vomiting.”
“Where Cranly led me to get rich quick, hunting his winners among the mudsplashed brakes, amid the brawls of bookies on their pitches and reek of the canteen, over the motley slush…Dicers and thimbleriggers we hurried by after the hoofs, the vying caps and jackets and past the meatfaced woman, a butcher’s dame, nuzzling thirstily her clove of orange.”
Tips For Using Negative Adjectives
- Emphasize the aspects of your character(s), plot, and/or setting that best convey the tone.
- Create vivid imagery in settings and atmosphere using words that paint a picture of the world your characters inhabit.
- Infuse dialogue with words that reveal your characters’ view of the world, themselves, and their relationships.
- Heighten conflict between characters with descriptive interactions and observations.
- Pay attention to context. An otherwise positive adjective, used in a different scenario, could become a negative attribute.
- Identify your characters’ less attractive physical traits by focusing on visual imperfections
- Avoid overuse of negative adjectives by balancing them with positive and neutral descriptions.
- Be consistent. If a place or person has been described in a negative manner in one place, make sure they remain so, unless you demonstrate the appropriate change.
- Use words that fit with your genre and tone.
- Vary your use of words. Repeating an unusual adjective too often will stick out and reduces its effectiveness.
Using negative adjectives is a great way to show rather than tell, and polishing your prose is an important step in your writing process. First make sure your story is strong, with a compelling plot, well-defined settings, and fascinating characters. Using a tool like Fictionary to strengthen your story structure will help your narrative captivate your readers and allow your words to shine.
