Knowing adjectives in Spanish makes expressing yourself infinitely easier.
And since native speakers use them everyday, it’ll make Spanish easier to understand, too.
So in this post, you’ll learn 50 common Spanish descriptive adjectives and how to use them correctly in sentences.
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Essential Spanish Adjectives You Should Know
For this post, all adjectives will be written in masculine singular. When you want to change the adjectives to the feminine, often the end of the adjective will change to -a.
There are a few exceptions which you will be able to read about below.
1. Abierto — Open
Él es una persona bastante abierta. — He is a pretty open person.
2. Aburrido — Boring
No me digas que está aburrido. — Don’t tell me it’s boring.
3. Alto — Tall
Le gustan las chicas altas. — She likes tall girls.
4. Bajo — Short
Algunas son bajas. — Some are short.
5. Barato — Cheap
Compra ese, es más barato. — Buy that one, it’s cheaper.
6. Bueno — Good
Hacer ejercicio es muy bueno para la salud. — Exercising is very good for your health.
7. Caluroso — Hot
El día está caluroso. — The day is hot.
8. Cansado — Tired
Dormí mal y estoy muy cansada. — I slept badly and I’m really tired.
9. Caro — Expensive
¿Salió muy caro el pasaje a Chile? — Was the ticket to Chile expensive?
10. Cerrado — Closed
La tienda está cerrada hasta las cinco de la tarde. — The shop is closed until 5 in the afternoon.
11. Complicado — Complicated
La situación está un poco complicada, así que es difícil hablarlo. — The situation is a bit complicated, so it’s difficult to talk about it.
12. Débil — Weak
Ahorita estoy débil porque estuve enfermo la semana pasada. — Right now I am weak because I was sick last week.
13. Delgado — Thin
Mis primos son muy delgados. — My cousins are very thin.
14. Delicioso — Delicious
Creo que la comida mexicana es la más deliciosa. — I think Mexican food is the most delicious.
15. Despierto — Awake
¿Todavía estás despierto? — Are you still awake?
16. Divertido — Fun
Juan es divertido. — Juan is fun.
17. Dulce — Sweet
Gracias, eres muy dulce. — Thanks, you’re so sweet.
Este vino está demasiado dulce. — This wine is too sweet.
18. Enfermo — Sick
No puedo salir esta noche; estoy enferma. — I can’t go out tonight, I’m sick.
19. Feliz — Happy
Me haces muy feliz. — You make me very happy.
20. Feo — Ugly
Esta camisa es tan fea. — This shirt is so ugly.
21. Frío — Cold
¡Que frío hace! — It’s so cold!
22. Fuerte — Strong
Si vas al gimnasio todos los días, te harás fuerte. — If you go to the gym everyday, you’ll get strong.
23. Gordo — Fat
Como mi cuaderno está lleno, también está gordo. — Because my notebook is full, it’s also fat.
24. Grande — Big
Tiene una sonrisa muy grande. — He has a very big smile.
25. Injusto — Unfair
¡Qué injusto! — How unfair!
26. Inteligente — Intelligent
Me encanta mi novio porque es muy inteligente. — I love my boyfriend because he’s very intelligent.
27. Justo — Fair
El juez fue justo. —The judge was fair.
28. Lento — Slow
Soy un poco lento al conducir. — I’m a little slow when driving.
29. Limpio — Clean
Me gusta que mi casa esté limpia todo el tiempo. — I like my house to be clean all the time.
30. Lindo — Pretty
¡Qué lindos son! — They’re so pretty!
31. Lleno — Full
Mi cuaderno está lleno de nuevas palabras en español. — My notebook is full of new Spanish words.
32. Loco — Crazy
El trabajo me está volviendo loco. — Work is driving me crazy.
33. Malo — Bad
Comer muchos dulces es malo para la salud. — Eating lots of sweets is bad for your health.
34. Mojado — Wet
Llovió anoche y la ropa quedó toda mojada. — It rained last night and the laundry got all wet.
35. Nuevo — New
Su vestido nuevo era caro. — Her new dress was expensive.
36. Pequeño — Small
Mi departamento es demasiado pequeño. — My apartment is too small.
37. Pobre — Poor
La chica es muy pobre. — The girl is very poor.
38. Rápido — Fast
¡Ese chico corre tan rápido! — That boy runs so fast!
39. Repugnante — Disgusting
El olor que sale de la cocina es repugnante. — The smell coming from the kitchen is disgusting.
40. Rico — Rich, yum
Ella es rica. — She is rich.
¡El postre estuvo muy rico! — The dessert was so yum!
41. Salado — Savory, Salty
Prefiero la comida salada. — I prefer savory food.
42. Sano — Healthy
Hago ejercicio todos los días porque me hace sentir sana. — I exercise everyday because it makes me feel healthy.
43. Seco — Dry
El pan de esa panadería es un poco seco. — The bread from that bakery is a little dry.
44. Simple — Simple
La comida es demasiado simple para mí. — The food is too simple/bland for me.
45. Sucio — Dirty
Este carro se ve algo sucio. — This car looks a bit dirty.
46. Tonto — Stupid
¡No seas tonto! — Don’t be stupid!
47. Tranquilo — Tranquil, Calm
Tranquilo, todo estará bien. — (Be) calm, everything will be fine.
48. Triste — Sad
Todos nos sentimos tristes cuando termina la canción de Pharrell. — We all feel sad when Pharrell’s song is over.
49. Vacío — Empty
Mi vida está vacía sin él. — My life is empty without him.
50. Viejo — Old
El reloj de mi papá es muy viejo. — My dad’s watch is very old.
Spanish Adjective Grammar
Adjective Placement in a Spanish Sentence
Where does an adjective go in a Spanish sentence? Many beginners struggle to get their heads around the order of adjectives in Spanish.
But remember that unlike in English, Spanish descriptive adjectives usually go after the noun.
So instead of saying “He has beautiful blue eyes,” you say the equivalent of “He has eyes blue beautiful”: Tiene unos ojos azules preciosos.
It might sound weird at first, but once you get the idea, nouns before adjectives will come naturally to you. Check out this post for more in-depth info on the topic.
Importance of Gender and Number
Another important thing to remember is that you need to consider whether the adjective is masculine, feminine, singular or plural. Spanish adjectives must agree with gender and number.
For example, the word lindo (pretty) can have four different forms, depending on what it’s referring to:
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Lindo | Linda |
| Plural | Lindos | Lindas |
That means if you’re talking about a plural, feminine noun—like palabras (words)—you’d need the plural, feminine adjective.
¡Qué lindas palabras! (What beautiful words!)
Adjectives That Don’t Change With Gender
On top of all that, there are some adjectives that don’t change with gender. These mostly follow a pattern. As a general guideline you can remember this, plus a few common examples:
- Adjectives that end with -ista: realista (realistic), idealista (idealistic), materialista (materialistic)
- Adjectives that end with -e: grande (big), caliente (hot), interesante (interesting), inteligente (intelligent)
- Adjectives that end with -or (comparatives): mejor (better), menor (less), peor (worse)
- Adjectives that end with a consonant: gris (gray), azul (blue), marrón (brown), fácil (easy), feliz (happy)
Of course, adjectives can behave quite differently in the wild, away from the confines of this article! To really understand how native Spanish speakers use adjectives, you may need to eavesdrop on some conversations.
Or get a program like FluentU and find tons of authentic videos for all your adjective-learning needs.
FluentU is a language learning program that teaches Spanish through authentic content such as movie clips, music videos, vlogs and other short videos that are made by and for native speakers.
It has a key word bank, transcripts, flashcards and interactive subtitles that can help you do this.
When you’ve amassed a collection of adjectives, you can practice them with FluentU’s adaptive and multimedia quizzes. FluentU is available in your browser and the iOS and Android apps.
So, go on and be un(a) estudiante bueno/a (a good student) and learn this whole list!
It’ll be divertido (fun), simple (simple) and you’ll come across as really inteligente (intelligent) once you’re using these adjectives in your everyday Spanish life.
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
