Adjectives of emotion describe how someone feels or the emotional quality of a person’s expression, reaction, or experience. Words such as relieved, anxious, delighted, and frustrated help us describe feelings in English.
The passengers were relieved when their delayed flight finally landed.
Here, relieved describes how the passengers felt.
List of Common Adjectives of Emotion
Emotion adjectives can express pleasant feelings, difficult emotions, or reactions that depend on the situation.
| Feeling | Common emotion adjectives |
|---|---|
| Happiness and pleasure | happy, delighted, joyful, pleased, elated |
| Sadness and disappointment | sad, disappointed, miserable, heartbroken |
| Anger and frustration | angry, annoyed, irritated, frustrated, furious |
| Fear and worry | afraid, nervous, anxious, worried, terrified |
| Calm and relief | calm, relaxed, content, relieved |
| Surprise and interest | surprised, astonished, amazed |
| Shame and embarrassment | ashamed, embarrassed, humiliated |
The same situation can also produce more than one emotion.
Maya was relieved that the missing documents had been found but embarrassed that she had overlooked them.
How Emotion Adjectives Work in Sentences
Emotion adjectives commonly appear after linking verbs such as be, feel, seem, look, and sound.
The researchers were delighted with the unexpected results.
He seemed uneasy about signing the agreement.
Her parents sounded reassured after speaking to the doctor.
These sentences do not all tell us exactly what someone feels. A person who seems uneasy may be hiding a different emotion, while someone who sounds reassured may still have concerns.
Before Nouns
Emotion adjectives can also appear before nouns.
An irritated customer asked to speak to the manager.
A nervous performer waited behind the curtain.
They can describe outward signs of emotion as well.
A sorrowful expression crossed his face when he saw the empty house.
Her cheerful voice made the announcement sound encouraging.
An expression or voice does not experience an emotion. It may communicate one, although the person speaking may feel differently.
A cheerful reply, for instance, does not necessarily mean the speaker is happy.
-ed and -ing Emotion Adjectives
Some emotion adjectives come in pairs such as excited/exciting, frustrated/frustrating, and embarrassed/embarrassing.
The -ed form commonly describes someone’s emotional reaction. The related -ing form describes something that causes or is likely to produce that reaction.
Compare:
The volunteers were excited about the wildlife survey.
The wildlife survey was an exciting opportunity for the volunteers.
Excited describes the volunteers’ feelings. Exciting describes the opportunity.
Other common pairs include:
| Emotional reaction | What produces the reaction |
|---|---|
| annoyed | annoying |
| bored | boring |
| confused | confusing |
| disappointed | disappointing |
| embarrassed | embarrassing |
| frightened | frightening |
| interested | interesting |
| relaxed | relaxing |
| surprised | surprising |
| worried | worrying |
The distinction is especially useful when both forms can describe a person.
The speaker was bored during the discussion.
The speaker was boring during the discussion.
In the first sentence, the speaker felt bored. In the second, the speaker was uninteresting to listen to.
An -ing adjective can therefore describe a person, not just an activity or an object.
Similarly, an -ed adjective can describe something other than a person:
The frightened dog hid beneath the table.
Not every adjective ending in -ed or -ing describes an emotion. The meaning of the word determines whether it belongs in this group.
Emotion Adjectives with Prepositions
Some emotion adjectives are commonly followed by particular prepositions.
| Combination | Example |
|---|---|
| afraid of | The hikers were afraid of getting lost after dark. |
| anxious about | Priya was anxious about the interview results. |
| proud of | His grandparents were proud of his graduation. |
| grateful for | We were grateful for the extra time to finish the repairs. |
| disappointed with | The audience was disappointed with the shortened performance. |
The preposition can change what the sentence emphasizes.
Compare:
The tenants were angry with the landlord.
The tenants were angry about the unexpected rent increase.
Angry with identifies the person toward whom the anger is directed. Angry about introduces the situation causing it.
Some emotion adjectives also work with other constructions.
The children were excited about their first camping trip.
The children were excited to spend a night outdoors.
Both sentences are natural, but the adjective connects to the rest of the sentence differently.
Emotion Adjectives vs Opinion Adjectives
Emotion adjectives usually describe feelings, while opinion adjectives express judgments about people, things, experiences, or ideas.
Compare:
Nina felt proud after completing the restoration.
Her colleagues thought the restoration was impressive.
Proud describes Nina’s emotional state. Impressive expresses her colleagues’ judgment about the quality of her work.
Another example shows why the distinction matters:
The applicant was anxious about the interview.
The applicant thought the interview process was unreasonable.
The first sentence tells us how the applicant felt. The second tells us what the applicant thought about the process.
Feelings and opinions often influence each other, so the distinction is not always absolute. Someone may describe a film as disappointing because of the feeling it produced and the judgment they formed about it.
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