describing personality

able to change in order to deal successfully with new situations. Adaptable people are resourceful and often have a contingency plan in place for when Plan A doesn’t work.

willing to take risks or to try out new ideas or experiences. He is very adventurous and loves going to exotic places where he doesn’t speak the language.

readily showing caring feelings or tenderness for someone My kids are very affectionate. They are always giving me hugs.

friendly and easy to talk to Despite being a famous actor, he was very approachable.

having natural creative skill, especially being able to paint or draw well. She comes from an artistic family.

helpful; making sure that people have what they need. The hotel staff were attentive.

fearless before danger; brave and confident; not afraid to say what you feel. The young man is already considered a bold warrior.

courageous; not afraid to do things that are difficult or dangerous; to have mental strength to face danger. I think you are brave to want to change your life and go and live in a foreign country.

intelligent; clever; quick to learn new things. She is the brightest student in her class.

not excited or nervous; not showing agitation or excitement He is always calm under pressure.

always thinking about what you are doing so that you avoid getting hurt, avoid damaging something or doing something wrong. They have been careful not to waste any money while saving for a house.

careful to avoid potential problems or dangers. She is a very cautious driver.

having a compelling charm which attracts or impresses other people. He is a charismatic leader.

very polite, friendly and likeable; very pleasant Everyone likes him because he is so charming.

noticeably happy and showing it by the way you behave It was nice talking to that cheerful shop assistant at the local store.

intelligent; quick to understand things or learn something. She is very clever and has no problem getting good grades.

feeling or showing sympathy or concern for other people or animals who are suffering or having a difficult time. During difficult times, compassionate people reach out to help those in need.

feeling sure about your own ability to do things successfully He is always confident that every project he starts will be successful.

taking care to do things carefully and correctly. He is a conscientious worker who likes to get things done right the first time.

always thinking of the feelings and rights of other people; being careful not to hurt or upset other people; careful not to inconvenience or harm others. Angelica is a considerate young woman who always thinks of others.

to have a willingness and ability to work with others. You can always ask Jim to help you; he is very cooperative.

brave; not deterred by danger or pain; showing courage. It was courageous of you to stand up to those bullies.

polite, especially in a way that shows respect; considerate in manner She was so courteous when we went to her office.

having the skill and ability to create something new, especially art; can easily use the imagination for original ideas or to create something. My son is very creative. He is always telling us fantastic stories that he has made up.

have a strong desire to investigate and learn about (new) things. I was very curious when I was a child and always asked difficult questions to adults.

to have the ability to decide something quickly and with confidence. I am glad she is so decisive because it saves us time.

devoted to a task or purpose; working hard at something because it is important to you. She is a dedicated teacher who works many extra hours to help her students.

very pleasant; highly pleasing Your children are delightful. They can come and stay with us whenever they want.

trustworthy and reliable; can be relied on to do what you want or need It is great having a dependable person who can help me manage the store.

having the ability to make a firm decision and being resolved not to change it. The opposition against his project made him even more determined to complete it.

having or showing care and effort in your work or studies You are such a diligent student that I’m sure you will easily get into the university of your choice.

having the skill to deal with people (using tact and conciliation) in difficult situations, especially in order to keep the peace. She is very diplomatic and is careful not to offend anyone.

to show a controlled form of behavior or way of working He is very disciplined and trains every single day to try and get to the Olympic Games.

careful in what you say or do in order to keep something confidential (or secret) or to avoid making someone feel embarrassed; tactful. The doctor is very discreet and won’t let anyone else know about your health issue.

having a lot of energy and a strong personality. He is a dynamic person and a great addition to our sales team.

relaxed and casual in style or manner. I’m glad our boss is so easy-going.

working in a good, well-organized and competent way with no waste of time or money. She has always been an efficient worker.

having a lot of energy (and enthusiasm) The child is young and energetic.

having a lot of excitement and interest about things. He is always so enthusiastic about everything he does.

loyal; always staying with or supporting a person or organization. He is a faithful husband.

not afraid, in a way that people can admire; brave A firefighter has to be fearless when putting out a fire.

able to change and adapt to new or different situations. I’m flexible; I can do any odd jobs that suddenly come up.

directs a lot of attention or activity towards a certain goal without distraction. He is always very focused when he is doing his job.

ready and willing to forgive Don’t worry about what you did to him. He is very forgiving.

behaves in a kind and pleasant way towards people. Your grandmother is so friendly.

makes people laugh easily; easily causes amusement. He is really funny and always makes us laugh.

gives freely to other people, often giving more than necessary or more than what was asked for. She is so generous because she always donates a part of her salary to charity every month.

calm and kind; doing things in a careful way to avoid harming someone. Yes, the giant looks big and scary but he is really gentle.

sincere and honest; a person that can be trusted; real He came across as a very genuine person.

tending to put a lot energy and commitment into a job in order to do it well; diligent. She just got a pay rise because she is such a hard-working employee.

willing to help other people; having a disposition to help or improve a particular situation. Their staff are very helpful whenever you have any doubts.

always tells the truth; never cheats; free from fraud or deception. You can trust him because he is very honest.

to be modest and not proud or arrogant; to have or show a low estimate of one’s importance. Despite having an important position in the company, he is very humble.

constantly having new and exciting ideas; having a good imagination or showing creativity. You must be very imaginative if you can come up with a story like that!

good at thinking in a logical way about things; has the ability to learn and understand things quickly. You’re intelligent so you should be able to solve this problem quickly.

being instinctive which is based on what you feel to be true even without conscious facts or reasoning. She is very intuitive; she seems to know what is going to happen before it does.

caring about other people; gentle, friendly, sympathetic or helpful towards others. Our grandparents were always kind to us when we were growing up.

full of life and energy; enthusiastic and outgoing Our lively fitness instructor asked if we wanted to have another class. He’s very lively and always has time to try new things and make new friends.

feeling or showing love or care for somebody; affectionate They are a loving family.

faithful; remaining constant in your support of someone Thank you for being such a loyal friend.

behaving in a sensible way with the mental and emotional development characteristic of an adult. Jessica is very mature for her age.

not talking much about your own abilities or achievements; humble She has always been very modest about her success.

having a strong desire to do well or succeed in something, even if it involves hard work. I am motivated to help as many people as possible to learn English.

kind, friendly and pleasant. I love hanging out with him because he's a really nice guy.

good at noticing or paying attention to things that are around you. The reason he is knows what to do at exactly the right time is because he is so observant.

willing to listen to and consider different viewpoints or ideas; unprejudiced. She is very open-minded and loves trying different things from other cultures.

hopeful and confident about the future; expecting good things to happen or that something will be successful. George is optimistic and always sees the best in every situation.

having strong feelings of enthusiasm or a strong belief in something She has always been passionate about the well-being of animals.

able to tolerate delays or difficulties without becoming annoyed or anxious. You just have to be patient and wait until I've finished.

not violent; quiet and calm; not upset or worried in any way. He is so peaceful; he wouldn't hurt a fly.

having sensitive insight; good at seeing or understanding things quickly, especially things that are not obvious. It was very perceptive of you to notice that I was having difficulty.

determined to continue doing something despite difficulties or being in an undesirable situation. He phoned again asking for an interview. He's very persistent.

full of fun; always wanting to play; light-hearted and cheerful. He is still playful despite being an adult.

courteous and with good manners toward other people. She is always polite when she visits the in-laws.

optimistic; thinking about what is good in a situation; confident that something good will happen. Despite going through some difficult times, she managed to remain positive.

makes sensible decisions and is realistic; skilled at manual tasks. Frank will fix it - he's quite practical.

creates or controls a situation instead of just responding to it after it has happened. It is great having such a proactive person on our team.

acting with or showing care and thought for the future. It would be prudent not to spend all of your savings at once.

always arriving on time; never late. She has always been punctual, even if it means she has to run to get there on time.

having thoughts or making decisions based on reason rather than on emotion. He is very rational and never lets his emotions get the better of him.

having a sensible and practical idea of what can be achieved or expected. He thinks he can complete that difficult task though he is also realistic and knows he may not be able to do it.

calm; not worried; free from tension and anxiety He is always relaxed. It seems that nothing bothers him.

can be trusted to do something well; you can depend or rely on them. He may appear to be disorganized but he is in fact quite reliable.

able to quickly recover from unpleasant or damaging events She must be resilient if she can handle all of those setbacks.

good at finding clever ways of doing things, solving problems or overcoming problems. He has a reputation for being a resourceful problem-solver.

shows respect to others She is always respectful when talking to her elders.

behaves properly and sensible, without needing to be supervised. She is always allowed to work from home because she is a responsible person.

does or says things that make their partner feel special and loved; readily demonstrating feelings of love. Her husband is very romantic and always leaves special little surprises for her around the house.

to be practical and reasonable; having or using good sense or sound judgment. It seems sensible to have a routine checkup by a doctor before going overseas.

genuine; not pretended; saying what you really think or feel. I think his offer to help me move house was sincere.

very friendly and likes spending time with other people. She will have no problem making friends at her new school because she's very sociable.

uncomplicated and easy to be understood. He love dealing with him because he is so straightforward.

providing encouragement and emotional help or sympathy. You have been very supportive of me during these hard times.

think about and care for other people; you remember what other people need or want. Thank you for helping me. That was very thoughtful of you.

able to accept what other people say or do even if you don't agree with it or like it. We must be tolerant of others and not try and convince them of our own way of thinking.

tending to believe in other people's honesty or sincerity; not suspicious. He is very trusting and will believe what anyone says.

capable of being trusted; you can rely on them to be good or honest. You can allow him to look after the money. He is very trustworthy.

modest; not pretentious or arrogant; not wanting to draw attention to yourself or to what your abilities. His unassuming manner gave no hint of his vast knowledge of other languages.

to have the ability to understand people and forgive them when they do something different or wrong. The teacher was understanding because she knew that her students were new to this type of task.

able to do many different things He is a versatile actor who can play a variety of roles.

quickly clever and humorous; characterized by a quick and inventive verbal humor. She is so witty. She can think of a funny remark about anything I say.