People

Vocabulary for Physical Description

Age:

(with the verb ‘to be’)

• twenty-one
• a young sixty-five
• fifty  years old
• old
• elderly
• middle-aged
• youngish
• in her thirties
• in her  mid-sixties
• infant
• toddler
• new-born

Examples:

• She is fifty, years old.
• He was an elderly man in his mid-sixties.

Hair:

Colour :

• dark
• fair
• blonde
• blond
• a red head
• brunette
• ginger
• platinum blonde

Blond Vanuatu boy

Length and style:  

• short
• curly hair
• balding
• bald
• wavy
• frizzy
• crew-cut
• short back and sides
• length
• feather cut
• loose-flawing

Examples:

• He had short, fair hair.
• His hair is short and curly .
• His is balding.

Eyes / Colour :

• blue
• brown
• green
• hazel

Eyes / Shape :

• large
• almond-shaped
• round
• bulging
• squiting

Eyes / Character:

• direct
• laughing
• warm
• cold
• close-set

Examples:

• She has large brown eyes.  
• His eyes are warm and laughing.

Eyebrows:

• arched
• pencilled
• thin
• heavy
• bushy

Face:

• smooth
• lined
• wrinkled round the eyes
• oval
• square
• heart-shaped
• spotty
• high cheek bones
• round
• thin
• has glasses
• a moustache
• a beard
• sideburns
• freckles
• long face

Examples:

• He had a round, smooth face.
• His face was lined.

 Skin (complexion):

• fair
• olive
• dark
• tanned
• freckled
• blotchy
• white
• oily
• dry
• normal
• ruddy
• smooth
• pock-marked
• sallow

Other Facial Features:

Mouth :

• wide
• mean
• generous
• thin-lipped
• thick lips
• bow lips
• small mouth
• big mouth

Eyebrows:

• bushy
• plucked

Nose:  

• turned up
• a long nose
• a French nose
• a Greek nose
• big nose
• flared nostrils
• cute
• straight

Examples:

• He had bushy eyebrows and a turned-up nose.
• Her mouth was wide and generous.

Size and shape:

(with the verb ‘to be’)

• big
• small
• thin
• slim
• slender
• plump
• fat
• stout
• overweight
• dwarf
• tall
• short
• average height
• medium height
• broad-shouldered
• well-built
• excellent figure
• large waist
• tiny waist
• long legs
• a long-legged girl

Examples:

• She was tall and thin.
• He is well-built.

Figure:

• long-legged
• flat-chested
• flat-footed
• knock-kneed
• pigeon-toed
• short-waisted
• long-waisted

Voice:

• deep
• loud
• piercing
• husky
• smooth
• high
• squeaky

Examples:

• Her voice was loud and piercing.  
• She had a deep voice.

Clothes / Appearance:

• an apron
• a suit
• clothes that she makes herself
• well-dressed
• fashionable / shabby / shapeless clothes
• handsome
• plain
• good-looking
• pretty
• untidy
• ugly
• scruffy

Examples:

• Her clothes are always fashionable.  
• He was a well-dressed man.
• She wears shapeless clothes that she makes herself.
• I was wearing my best suit.

Marital status:

• married
• single
• divorced
• a widow
• a widower
• separated
• living apart
• moved out
• single parents
• one-parent
• family
• foster parents
• adoptive parents
• guardian