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by Janey 

November 22, 2018

3 Comments

Adjectives… Wonderful, useful adjectives. They make language so much more precise and delightful to use--regardless of what language it is!

See how adjectives described adjectives in the previous sentences? They do make sentences more nuanced, don’t you think? Which is why here in this article, we’ll be learning a big chunk of German adjectives---250 to be exact!

German Adjectives vocabulary list pdf

And if you download the PDF, you’ll be getting 50 additional German verbs on the list.

PDF download

Ready for your list of useful German adjectives? Let's go!

English vs. German Adjectives

While German adjectives do the same things English adjectives do (in fact, there are plenty of cognates in German and English adjectives which we’ll talk about briefly later), the main difference is that:

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  • German adjectives need to agree in gender and number of the noun it modifies, and
  • German adjectives would change depending on the case, whether it’s nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive.

But this is an altogether different lesson for another day. Today we will just talk about German adjectives in their original form.

Having said that, let’s jump into your list of the most frequently used German adjectives.

250 Useful German Adjectives

aalglattslippery
abenteuerlichadventurous
abhängigdependent
aggressivaggressive
ähnlichsimilar
ahnungslosclueless
aktivactive
alleinalone
altold
anpassungsfähigadaptable
anständigdecent
ärgerlichannoying
armpoor
artkind
attraktivattractive
aufgeklärtenlightened
aufgeregtexcited, upset, nervous
aufgeschlossenopen-minded
aufrichtigsincere, genuine, candid
blasspale
begabtgifted, talented
begeistertexcited, enthusiastic, thrilled
berühmtfamous
beliebt, populärpopular
bestimmtspecial, certain
besserbetter
bequemcomfortable
bescheidenmodest, humble
bestebest
bezauberndenchanting, fascinating
billigcheap, inexpensive
blödstupid, ignorant
blondineblond
boshaftmalicious, mean
bravwell-behaved, good
charmantcharming
dankbargrateful, thankful
dickthick
direktdirect, straight
doof, dummstupid, dumb
dunkeldark
dünnthin
ehrgeizigambitious
ehrlichhonest
eifersüchtigjealous
einfachsimple, plain, easy
eingebildetconceited, vain
einmaligunique
einsamlonely
ekelhaftnasty, detestable
ekligdisgusting, gross
empfindlichsensitive
engnarrow, close
engagiertdedicated, committed
engstirnignarrow-minded
entscheidenddecisive
entspannendlaidback
erfolgreichsuccessful
ernstserious
erstefirst
erstklassigfirst-class, high-quality, topnotch
falschwrong, false
fantastischfantastic
faszinierendfascinating
faullazy
feigcowardly
feinfine
festsolid, strong, firm
fettfat
feiglingcoward
fleißigdiligent, hard-working, industrious
fortgeschrittenadvanced
frechnaughty, cheeky, sassy
freifree
fremdforeign, strange
freundlichfriendly, kind
frohhappy
fröhlichcheerful
frommpious
frühearly
ganzwhole
gastfreundlichhospitable
gebildeteducated, cultured
geduldigpatient
gefährlichdangerous
gefühlvollsensitive, emotional
geistreichwitty, brilliant
geizigstingy, cheap
gemeinlow, rude, vulgar
gemeinsamcommon, mutual
gemütlichpleasant, cozy
genialingenious, brilliant
gerechtjust, righteous
geschätztdear, valued
gescheitclever, bright
geschicktskillful
geschwätzigtalkative, chatty
geselligsociable, friendly
gesundhealthy
gieriggreedy
glaubwürdigcredible, believable
gleichsame, right away, just
gleichzeitigsimultaneous
glücklichhappy, lucky, blessed
grausamcruel
grobcoarse, uncouth, rude
großzügiggenerous
großbig, large, tall
grüngreen
gutgood, well
gut angezogenwell-dressed
gut gelauntcheerful, in a good mood
halbhalf
halsstarrigstubborn
harthard, tough
hartnäckighard-headed, stubborn
hässlichugly
häufigfrequent
heißhot
heitercheerful
hellbright, vivid
hemmungslosuninhibited, unrestrained
herrlichwonderful, magnificent, marvelous
herzlosheartless, unfeeling
hilfreichhelpful
hinterlistigdeceitful, treacherous
hochhigh
hochmütighaughty, proud
hochnäsigsnooty, stuck up
höflichpolite
hübschpretty, handsome
hundemüdedog-tired
hungrighungry
idealistischidealistic
intelligentintelligent
interessantinteresting
intolerantintolerant
jungyoung
kaltcold, unfriendly
kindischchildish
kindlichchildlike
klarclear
klasse, toll, supergreat, super
kleinsmall, little, short
kleinlichpetty, nit-picky
klugsmart, clever
komischfunny, comical, odd
kompliziertcomplicated
konservativconservative
kontaktfreudigsociable, outgoing
kräftigstrong
kranksick
kreativcreative
kritischcritical
krummcrooked, hunched, bent
labilunstable, frail
langlong
langsamslow
langweiligboring
launischmoody, temperamental
lautloud, rowdy
lebendigalive, lively
leichtlight, easy
leidenschaftlichpassionate
leisequiet, soft
letztelast
liebdear, beloved
liebenswürdiglovable, amiable
lustigfunny
merkwürdigunusual, strange
misstrauischmistrustful, distrustful
modischfashionable, stylish
molligplump, chubby
möglichpossible
moralischmoral, ethical
mutigbrave
nächstenext
nachlässigcareless, negligent
nahnear
naßwet
neidischenvious
nervösnervous
nettkind, nice (person)
neunew
neugierigcurious
niedergeschlagendepressed, dejected
niedlichcute
niedriglow
notwendignecessary
oberflächlichsuperficial, shallow
offenopen
öffentlichpublic
optimistischoptimistic
ordentlichorderly
passivpassive
parteiischpartial, biased, one-sided
peinlichembarrassing
pessimistischpessimistic
praktischpractical
privatprivate
pünktlichpunctual, prompt
radikalradical, revolutionary
raffiniertrefined, elegant
rauhrough
rebellischrebellious
rechthaberischself-opinionated
redlichhonest
reichrich
reifmature
reinpure, clean, clear
religiösreligious
richtigcorrect, proper
riesighuge
romantischromantic
rotred
rücksichtslosruthless, inconsiderate
rücksichtsvollconsiderate
ruhigcalm
sauberclean
sauerangry, sour
schickchic, stylish, fancy
schlampigmessy, sloppy
schlauclever, cunning
schlecht, schlimmbad, awful
schmutzigdirty, filthy, soiled
schnellfast, quick
schönbeautiful, pretty, nice
schüchternshy
schwachweak, frail
schwarzblack
schwer, schwierigdifficult, heavy
schwerfälligcumbersome, heavy, sluggish
schwermütiggloomy, melancholic
selbstlosunselfish
selbstsicherself-confident
selbstsüchtigselfish
seltenrare
seltsamstrange, weird
sensationellsensational
sensibelsensitive
sichersafe, secure, certainly
sorgenlos, sorgenfreicarefree
sorgfältigcareful
spätlate
spontanspontaneous
sportlichathletic
spöttischmocking, scornful
ständigconstant
starkstrong, powerful
stolz (auf)proud (of)

If you want to download a longer list of 300 German adjectives, download your copy of the PDF below.

PDF download

German Cognate Adjectives

There are lots of German adjectives that you could recognize easily if you’re an English speaker. These are some of them:

  • Some adjectives that end in -al are the same in English and German:  normal, original, rational, ideal, diagonal
  • Some English adjectives that end in -al are changed to an -ell ending in German: sensationnel, generell, individuell
  • Some adjectives that end in -ent and -ant are the same in English and German: elegant, tolerant, excellent, intelligent
  • Some English adjectives that end in -ic or -ical are changed to -isch in German: analytisch, egoistisch, musikalisch
  • In cognate adjectives, the letter c in English is replaced with k: aktiv, kreativ, kompetent

This cognate list should already add several German adjectives in your vocabulary!

Conclusion

Adjectives are an important part of any language such as German. I hope this list of 250 (or 300 of you downloaded the PDF) will help broaden your German vocabulary.

To learn new German words painlessly, check out our e-book German Short Stories with Audio.

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About the author 

Janey

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