Describing people's personality – A2 English Vocabulary

Describing people’s personality

In this lesson, you will learn how to describe different types of people using simple personality adjectives. Check the following pictures and look at the definitions and sentence examples below.

Positive Adjectives

1 Someone who is friendly is happy to talk to you and makes you feel welcome.

• Anna was friendly and welcomed me to the class.

2 A kind person is considerate towards other people and says and does nice things.

• The kind lady offered to drive me home.

3 A person who is generous is willing to give or share things with others.

• The generous old man left the waiter a $20 tip.

4 Optimistic people are positive and believe that good things will happen in the future.

• Tom is so optimistic; he always sees the bright side of things.

5 People who are reliable always keep their promises and do what they say they will.

• Sue is a reliable person; she always keeps her promises.

6 Responsible people make good decisions and usually do the right thing.

• Sam is very responsible, so I trust him with my children.

7 Someone who is cheerful is usually happy and has a smile on their face.

• Harry is always cheerful, even when things go wrong.

8 Outgoing people are confident around others and find it easy to socialise.

• Mary is so outgoing; she loves going to parties and meeting up with friends.

9 People who are easygoing are very calm and rarely get stressed about anything.

• Joe is so easygoing. Nothing ever seems to bother him.

10 Hardworking people work hard and always try their best.

• Tony is one of the most hardworking people that I have ever met.

Negative or Neutral Adjectives

11 Pessimistic people have a negative attitude and think that bad things are more likely to happen.

• Peter is so pessimistic; he makes me see the negative side of everything.

12 People who are unfriendly do not welcome you or act like they’re happy to see you.

• Ken was unfriendly and did not make me feel welcome at all.

13 Rude people are not polite and rarely say “please” or “thank you”.

• The rude shop assistant took my money without speaking or even looking at me.

14 A person who is mean is unkind or cruel.

• Little Henry started to cry when the mean boys took away his ball.

15 A mean person is also someone who isn’t generous and doesn’t like sharing things or spending money.

• Gary is so mean; he didn’t even buy his wife a birthday present.

16 People who are unreliable often break their promises, so you cannot trust them or depend on them.

• Sally lost her job because she was unreliable and kept calling in sick.

17 Irresponsible people aren’t careful and don’t always think about the results of their actions.

• I don’t trust Tim to stay alone at home all weekend. He’s too irresponsible.

18 Miserable people are usually unhappy, so you rarely see them smile.

• I wish Dan would smile more. He always looks so miserable.

19 Someone who is shy doesn’t talk very much and is uncomfortable in social situations.

• Jerry is a shy boy and rarely speaks in class.

20 Lazy people don’t like working or using energy, and they try to do as little as possible.

• Sara’s lazy husband sits on the sofa all day.

After completing the exercises in this lesson on Describing People’s Personality, you can use the unit’s Vocabulary Flashcards to revise and help you memorize the terms.