Adjectives are the color in your Mandarin sentences – without them, everything’s just ‘good’ or ‘not good’. That gets old fast. This list gathers around 1,000 of the most common Chinese adjectives you’ll actually use, from 大 to 漂亮, so you can describe people, food, places, and moods with precision.
Every entry pairs a clear meaning with a natural example sentence, so you see exactly how the adjective behaves in real Chinese – not a lifeless translation. There’s audio playback right in the table, because your ears need practice just as much as your eyes.
Ready to give your Chinese vocab a little extra sparkle? Scroll to the bottom of this article to find the free downloadable printable Most Common Chinese Adjectives flashcards and the free printable Most Common Chinese Adjectives vocabulary list PDF, both made to help you review with less stress and a lot more confidence.
Want more than one list? Browse our Chinese section for more Yak Yacker study pages, printable lists, and quiz-friendly review material.
Quick Quiz
Think you can match an adjective to its meaning in a flash? Give the quick quiz below a go – no pressure, just a friendly check.
Browse the Full List
| Grammar Word | Pinyin | Function | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 科幻 | kēhuàn | Other | science fiction/abbr. for 科學幻想|科学幻想[ke1 xue2 huan4 xiang3] | |
| 积极 | jījí | Other | active/energetic/vigorous/positive (outlook)/proactive | |
| 稠密 | chóumì | Other | dense | |
| 稳 | wěn | Other | settled | |
| 稳定 | wěndìng | Other | steady/stable/stability/to stabilize/to pacify | |
| 穷 | qióng | Other | poor/destitute/to use up/to exhaust/thoroughly/extremely/(coll.) persistently and pointlessly | |
| 空 | kōng | Other | empty/air/sky/in vain | |
| 空旷 | kōngkuàng | Other | spacious and empty/void | |
| 穿 chuān | to wear | Other | 今天别穿太少。Jīntiān bié chuān tài shǎo. | |
| 突出 | túchū | Other | prominent/outstanding/to give prominence to/to protrude/to project | |
| 窄 | zhǎi | Other | narrow/narrow-minded/badly off | |
| 立体 | lìtǐ | Other | three-dimensional/solid/stereoscopic | |
| 站 zhàn | to stand | Other | 请站这边。Qǐng zhàn zhè biān. | |
| 端正 | duānzhèng | Other | upright/regular/proper/correct | |
| 笨 | bèn | Other | stupid/foolish/silly/slow-witted/clumsy | |
| 笨重 | bènzhòng | Other | heavy/cumbersome/unwieldy | |
| 笼罩 | lóngzhào | Other | to envelop/to shroud | |
| 等 děng | to wait | Other | 你等我五分钟。Nǐ děng wǒ wǔ fēnzhōng. | |
| 等价 | děngjià | Other | equal/equal in value/equivalent | |
| 简便 | jiǎnbiàn | Other | simple and convenient/handy | |
| 简单 | jiǎndān | Other | simple/not complicated | |
| 算了 | suànle | Other | let it be/let it pass/forget about it | |
| 类似 | lèisì | Other | similar | |
| 粗 | cū | Other | coarse/rough/thick (for cylindrical objects)/unfinished/vulgar/rude/crude | |
| 粗心 | cūxīn | Other | careless/thoughtless |
Free Most Common Chinese Adjectives PDF and Flashcards to Download
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