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Questions tagged [adjectives]

Adjectives are just one of several different types of noun modifiers, typically used to premodify or describe a noun. Do not confuse adjectives with nouns used attributively to modify other nouns. Adjectives have comparative and superlative degrees, can be used as predicate adjectives in copulae, and can themselves be modified by intensifiers and adverbs but not by other adjectives. Nouns in attribution fail all those tests.

Adjectives are a part of speech used for a class of words that qualify a noun or noun phrase, but there are many other types of noun modifiers than just adjectives alone.

  • Examples of adjectives are: beautiful, nice, colorful.

  • Examples of non-adjectives are: a, the, these, thirteen, many, dog, hazelnut.

Adjectives are usually used either predicatively or else prenominally, but some postpositive examples are possible. Unlike nouns, adjectives enjoy comparative and superlative degrees and cannot be modified by other adjectives.

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My shoes can't think; how can they be sensible?

Recently as some of us were getting ready to take a walk through the snow, somebody said to me "you're wearing sensible shoes". Now my shoes haven't developed cognitive abilities so far as I know (and I spend enough time with them that I think I…
Monica Cellio
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Why is "hysterical" applied to women but rarely to men?

hysterical :  affected by or deriving from wildly uncontrolled emotion, Janet became hysterical and began screaming. Why is the adjective hysterical usually applied to women and rarely to men? For what it's worth, Google Books shows 42,700 hits…
user52941
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Is there a word to imply 'used to be beautiful'?

Is there a word to imply when someone used to be beautiful back in the day? I thought of 'ex-beauty' but sounds too harsh. (Though either way it will be inappropriate for the modern age) it's for 60s literature.
TMRC
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Is accuracy binary?

I'm writing a thesis in a scientific area, and in a draft I wrote that it was "not possible to tell which set of data is more accurate", meaning that it was not possible to tell which was closer to the true values of the thing being measured. One…
Flyto
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Name for type of adjective such as "porcine"

Is there a specific name for adjectives such as porcine that are special forms of words meaning "relating to" some other thing? They are often: based on classical words and end in 'al' and 'ine' can exist separately and mean differently than tyical…
Joshua Honig
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Adjective for "Bear"

Is there an adjective for "bear" in a similar sense as how "feline" and "canine" are adjectives for cat and dog?
Brad
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What's the adjective for the Republic of Ireland (Eire)?

What's the adjective for the country of Ireland (Eire in Irish) that specifically excludes Northern Ireland? For example when referring to the accent of people from the the Republic of Ireland but not to Ulster. Ireland is geographically the whole…
Hugo
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Is "America" an example of markedness?

There are North America, Central America, and South America. And, even within North America, there are the USA and Canada. Yet, in US English, if you mention "America" that means the USA. I am almost certain that UK English has "America" refer…
red shoe
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What adjective is/will be used to describe the scope of all things within a solar system?

For example: when we look up news stories online, or tune in on TV, we are being given news reports that fall within a spacial scope. Local news: City and surrounding county. Regional news: "Pacific Northwest" for example. National news:…
Nomad
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What's the meaning if someone says you are ridiculously cute

Meaning of ridiculously cute. It is in positive or in negative sense??
Siddharth Raj
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What is the ending-in-y version of 'atomic'?

I don't know the correct way to explain this type of word in English, but it's similar to the word 'specificity'. You can describe something as specific using this word. I'm looking for a similar way to use 'atomic'. My intended usage of 'atomic'…
void.pointer
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Lexical class of "walking" in this sentence

Reading the sentence shown in the sign below got me thinking about what part of speech, or lexical class, the word 'walking' is. "In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase,…
user19148
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4 answers

Is there a word to describe someone who dislikes incompetence?

I'm looking for a word or words to describe a person who dislikes incompetence (when someone can't do a job successfully), or those they deem ineffective in their work. It would also especially irk them if the person won't admit that they are…
haven
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What is a word/phrase to describe someone who thinks someone else is perfect?

What is a word/phrase to describe someone who thinks someone else is perfect? For instance, if parents think that their child can do no wrong, then they are . . .? (Not necessarily biased or partial, because it is not in comparison to anyone else)
Jeepers
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A word to describe someone or something that is not last?

I'm looking for a word that describes the state of not being last. A word that would apply to everything in an ordered list that is not the last thing in that list. From I wasn't the last person to finish the race. to (the phrasing is off, but it…
Celos
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