By rosiehilder Last updated: January 18, 2023

Starter List of 50 Common Spanish Adjectives for Beginners

Knowing adjectives in Spanish makes expressing yourself infinitely easier.

And since native speakers use them everyday, it’ll make Spanish easier to understand, too.

So in this post, you’ll learn 50 common Spanish descriptive adjectives and how to use them correctly in sentences.

Essential Spanish Adjectives You Should Know
Where Does an Adjective Go in a Spanish Sentence?
Spanish Adjectives Must Agree with Gender and Number

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Essential Spanish Adjectives You Should Know

For this post, all adjectives will be written in masculine singular. Click here for more information on the ins and outs of the order of adjectives in Spanish.

1. Lindo — Pretty

¡Qué lindos son! — They’re so pretty!

2. Feo — Ugly

Esta camisa es tan fea. — This shirt is so ugly.

3. Feliz — Happy

Me haces muy feliz. — You make me very happy.

4. Triste — Sad

Todos nos sentimos tristes cuando termina la canción de Pharrell. — We all feel sad when Pharrell’s song is over.

5. Alto — Tall

Le gustan las chicas altas. — She likes tall girls.

6. Bajo — Short

Algunas son bajas. — Some are short.

7. Grande — Big

Tiene una sonrisa muy grande. — He has a very big smile.

8. Pequeño — Small

Mi departamento es demasiado pequeño. — My apartment is too small.

9. Simple — Simple

La comida es demasiado simple para mí. — The food is too simple/bland for me.

10. Complicado — Complicated

La situación está un poco complicada, así que es difícil hablarlo. — The situation is a bit complicated, so it’s difficult to talk about it.

11. Divertido — Fun

Juan es divertido. — Juan is fun.

12. Aburrido — Boring

No me digas que está aburrido. — Don’t tell me it’s boring.

13. Rico — Rich, yum

Ella es rica. — She is rich.

¡El postre estuvo muy rico! — The dessert was so yum!

14. Pobre — Poor

La chica es muy pobre. — The girl is very poor.

15. Delicioso — Delicious

Creo que la comida mexicana es la más deliciosa. — I think Mexican food is the most delicious.

16. Repugnante — Disgusting

El olor que sale de la cocina es repugnante. — The smell coming from the kitchen is disgusting.

17. Inteligente — Intelligent

Me encanta mi novio porque es muy inteligente. — I love my boyfriend because he’s very intelligent.

18. Tonto — Stupid

¡No seas tonto! — Don’t be stupid!

19. Nuevo — New

Su vestido nuevo era caro. — Her new dress was expensive.

20. Viejo — Old

El reloj de mi papá es muy viejo. — My dad’s watch is very old.

21. Abierto — Open

Él es una persona bastante abierta. — He is a pretty open person.

22. Cerrado — Closed

La tienda está cerrada hasta las cinco de la tarde. — The shop is closed until 5 in the afternoon.

23. Cansado — Tired

Dormí mal y estoy muy cansada. — I slept badly and I’m really tired.

24. Despierto — Awake

¿Todavía estás despierto? — Are you still awake?

25. Caluroso — Hot

El día está caluroso. — The day is hot.

26. Frío — Cold

¡Que frío hace! — It’s so cold!

27. Caro — Expensive

¿Salió muy caro el pasaje a Chile? — Was the ticket to Chile expensive?

28. Barato — Cheap

Compra ese, es más barato. — Buy that one, it’s cheaper.

29. Rápido — Fast

¡Ese chico corre tan rápido! — That boy runs so fast!

30. Lento — Slow

Soy un poco lento al conducir. — I’m a little slow when driving.

31. Loco — Crazy

El trabajo me está volviendo loco. — Work is driving me crazy.

32. Tranquilo — Tranquil, Calm

Tranquilo, todo estará bien. — (Be) calm, everything will be fine.

33. Fuerte — Strong

Si vas al gimnasio todos los días, te harás fuerte. — If you go to the gym everyday, you’ll get strong.

34. Débil — Weak

Ahorita estoy débil porque estuve enfermo la semana pasada. — Right now I am weak because I was sick last week.

35. Enfermo — Sick

No puedo salir esta noche; estoy enferma. — I can’t go out tonight, I’m sick.

36. Sano — Healthy

Hago ejercicio todos los días porque me hace sentir sana. — I exercise everyday because it makes me feel healthy.

37. Dulce — Sweet

Gracias, eres muy dulce. — Thanks, you’re so sweet.

Este vino está demasiado dulce. — This wine is too sweet.

38. Salado — Savory, Salty

Prefiero la comida salada. — I prefer savory food.

39. Limpio — Clean

Me gusta que mi casa esté limpia todo el tiempo. — I like my house to be clean all the time.

40. Sucio — Dirty

Este carro se ve algo sucio. — This car looks a bit dirty.

41. Seco — Dry

El pan de esa panadería es un poco seco. — The bread from that bakery is a little dry.

42. Mojado — Wet

Llovió anoche y la ropa quedó toda mojada. — It rained last night and the laundry got all wet.

43. Injusto — Unfair

¡Qué injusto! — How unfair!

44. Justo — Fair

El juez fue justo. —The judge was fair.

45. Vacío — Empty

Mi vida está vacía sin él. — My life is empty without him.

46. Lleno — Full

Mi cuaderno está lleno de nuevas palabras en español. — My notebook is full of new Spanish words.

47. Delgado — Thin

Mis primos son muy delgados. — My cousins are very thin.

48. Gordo — Fat

Como mi cuaderno está lleno, también está gordo. — Because my notebook is full, it’s also fat.

49. Bueno — Good

Hacer ejercicio es muy bueno para la salud. — Exercising is very good for your health.

50. Malo — Bad

Comer muchos dulces es malo para la salud. — Eating lots of sweets is bad for your health.

Where Does an Adjective Go in a Spanish Sentence?

Many beginners struggle to get their heads around the order of adjectives in Spanish.

But remember that unlike in English, Spanish descriptive adjectives usually go after the noun.

So instead of saying “He has beautiful blue eyes,” you say the equivalent of “He has eyes blue beautiful”: Tiene unos ojos azules preciosos.

It might sound weird at first, but once you get the idea, nouns before adjectives will come naturally to you. Check out this post for our full post on the topic.

Spanish Adjectives Must Agree with Gender and Number

Another important thing to remember is that you need to consider whether the adjective is masculine, feminine, singular or plural.

For example, the word lindo (pretty) can have four different forms, depending on what it’s referring to:

	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	Lindo	Linda
Plural	Lindos	Lindas

That means if you’re talking about a plural, feminine noun—like palabras (words)—you’d need the plural, feminine adjective.

¡Qué lindas palabras! (What beautiful words!)

Of course, adjectives can behave quite differently in the wild, away from the lab-like confines of this article. To really understand how native Spanish speakers use adjectives, you may need to eavesdrop on some conversations.

Or get a program like FluentU and find tons of authentic videos—for all your adjective learning needs.

FluentU is a language learning program that teaches Spanish through movie clips, music videos, vlogs and other short videos that are made by and for native speakers.

There are a few ways to see adjectives in use through FluentU’s videos:

One is to watch whatever videos interest you (sort them by difficulty and topic to find the perfect ones) and catch the adjectives in each video.

FluentU has a key word bank, transcript and interactive subtitles that can all help you do this. Click on any word in the subtitles for a definition, example videos and sentences and a chance to add it as a flashcard.

Another way you can find adjectives on FluentU is by searching for them in the video-based dictionary. You’ll find each word’s flashcard and see videos where it’s used.

When you’ve amassed a collection of adjectives, you can practice them with FluentU’s adaptive and multimedia quizzes. These will have you typing, selecting and speaking your vocabulary words.

FluentU is available in your browser and the iOS and Android apps.

So, go on and be un(a) estudiante bueno/a (a good student) and learn this whole list!

It’ll be divertido (fun), simple (simple) and you’ll come across as really inteligente (intelligent) once you’re using these adjectives in your everyday Spanish life.