German adjectives are your ticket to saying more than just “the house is big.” With the right ones, you can describe a cozy café, a grumpy waiter, or the exact shade of someone’s questionable sweater. This collection rounds up around 1,000 of the most common German adjectives you’ll actually use in daily life – not the obscure ones from a poetry anthology.
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| Word | Type | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| angenehm | Adjective | pleasant, pleasing, agreeable, nice | |
| angetan | Other | apt, calculated | |
| angst | Adjective | I am afraid... | |
| ängstlich | Adjective | timid, nervous, fearful, timorous | |
| anonym | Adjective | anonymous | |
| anscheinend | Adjective | apparent, seeming | |
| anschließend | Adjective | adjacent | |
| anstrengend | Adjective | strenuous, demanding, taxing | |
| Antike | Other | classical antiquity, ancient world | |
| anwesend | Adjective | present | |
| Apfelkuchen | Other | apple cake | |
| arabisch | Adjective | Arab, Arabian, Arabic | |
| arbeitslos | Adjective | unemployed, out of work, jobless | |
| ärgerlich | Adjective | annoyed, irritated, cross angry | |
| arm | Adjective | poor, needy | |
| arrogant | Adjective | arrogant, overbearing, haughty | |
| attraktiv | Adjective | attractive | |
| ätzend | Adjective | corrosive, caustic, mordant | |
| au | Other | ouch! ow! | |
| auffällig | Adjective | showy, flashy, loud, gaudy | |
| aufgeräumt | Adjective | cheerful | |
| aufgeregt | Adjective | excited, nervous, flustered, upset, agitated | |
| aufmerksam | Adjective | attentive | |
| aufregend | Adjective | exciting | |
| aufschreiben | Verb | make out |
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