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Korean descriptive words help you talk about feelings, appearance, weather, taste, and everyday situations. This list has 100 entries covering 96 different Korean words or phrases. Four words appear twice to illustrate their uses. It is a study list, not a measured frequency ranking.
Most entries are adjectives in dictionary forms ending in 다. A few are related verbs or phrases, identified in the English column. 잘생겼다 and 못생겼다 are common descriptive forms. Dictionary forms are vocabulary forms; use suitable endings when speaking, and noun-modifying forms before a noun.
The Latin column uses Revised Romanization. It does not represent every detail of pronunciation; for example, predictable consonant tensification is not written in RR. Listen to dictionary recordings as well as reading the spelling.
Words such as 뚱뚱하다, 못생겼다, and 멍청하다 can offend when directed at someone. Learn their meaning and context before using them in a personal description.
100 Korean descriptive entries
| Korean word or phrase | Revised Romanization | Meaning and context |
|---|---|---|
| 행복하다 | haengbokada | to be happy |
| 피곤하다 | pigonhada | to be tired |
| 기쁘다 | gippeuda | to be glad |
| 화나다 | hwanada | to get angry (verb) |
| 슬프다 | seulpeuda | to be sad |
| 아프다 | apeuda | to hurt / be sick or painful |
| 배가 고프다 | baega gopeuda | to be hungry |
| 목이 마르다 | mogi mareuda | to be thirsty |
| 졸리다 | jollida | to be sleepy |
| 걱정하다 | geokjeonghada | to worry (verb) |
| 무섭다 | museopda | to be scary / afraid |
| 짜증 나다 | jjajeung nada | to feel annoyed (verb phrase) |
| 놀라다 | nollada | to be surprised / startled (verb) |
| 수줍다 | sujupda | to be shy |
| 재미있다 | jaemiitda | to be interesting |
| 재미없다 | jaemieopda | to not be interesting |
| 심심하다 | simsimhada | to be bored |
| 지루하다 | jiruhada | to be boring / feel bored |
| 조용하다 | joyonghada | to be quiet |
| 시끄럽다 | sikkeureopda | to be noisy / loud |
| 뜨겁다 | tteugeopda | to be hot |
| 따뜻하다 | ttatteutada | to be warm |
| 차갑다 | chagapda | to be cold |
| 시원하다 | siwonhada | to be pleasantly cool / refreshing; also relieved, depending on context |
| 신선하다 | sinseonhada | to be fresh |
| 아름답다 | areumdapda | to be beautiful |
| 예쁘다 | yeppeuda | to be pretty |
| 귀엽다 | gwiyeopda | to be cute |
| 잘생겼다 | jalsaenggyeotda | to be handsome / good-looking |
| 못생겼다 | motsaenggyeotda | to be ugly (can be insulting) |
| 크다 | keuda | to be big |
| 작다 | jakda | to be small |
| 많다 | manta | to be a lot, many |
| 적다 | jeokda | to be few, little |
| 좁다 | jopda | to be narrow |
| 넓다 | neolda | to be wide, broad |
| 뚱뚱하다 | ttungttunghada | to be fat, overweight |
| 통통하다 | tongtonghada | to be chubby |
| 날씬하다 | nalssinhada | to be slim, slender |
| 깡마르다 | kkangmareuda | to be skinny, scrawny |
| 덥다 | deopda | to be hot (weather, surroundings, or how a person feels) |
| 뜨겁다 | tteugeopda | to be hot (objects) |
| 따뜻하다 | ttatteutada | to be warm (both weather and objects) |
| 춥다 | chupda | to be cold (weather, surroundings, or how a person feels) |
| 차갑다 | chagapda | to be cold, icy (objects) |
| 싸늘하다 | ssaneulhada | to be chilly, frosty |
| 습하다 | seupada | to be damp, humid |
| 건조하다 | geonjohada | to be dry |
| 흐리다 | heurida | to be cloudy |
| 좋다 | jota | to be good, fine |
| 어렵다 | eoryeopda | to be difficult |
| 쉽다 | swipda | to be easy |
| 깨끗하다 | kkaekkeutada | to be clean |
| 더럽다 | deoreopda | to be dirty |
| 빠르다 | ppareuda | to be fast |
| 천천하다 | cheoncheonhada | to be slow / unhurried; less common than 느리다 |
| 느리다 | neurida | to be slow |
| 급하다 | geupada | to be urgent |
| 늦다 | neutda | to be late |
| 이르다 | ireuda | to be early |
| 똑똑하다 | ttokttokada | to be smart, clever |
| 멍청하다 | meongcheonghada | to be stupid, foolish |
| 싸다 | ssada | to be cheap |
| 비싸다 | bissada | to be expensive |
| 새롭다 | saeropda | to be new |
| 오래되다 | oraedoeda | to be old / long-established; to have existed for a long time |
| 튼튼하다 | teunteunhada | to be strong, sturdy |
| 씩씩하다 | ssikssikada |