95 Adjectives That Start With “A”

The letter “A” has a lot of awesome responsibilities. It’s the first letter of the alphabet, it’s got several vowel sounds, and it’s the best academic grade you can get. In fact, “A” is so accessible that many of its most acceptable adjectives in English also start with “A” — not to mention the word adjective itself. With an adjective, a friend becomes an acrimonious friend, a joke becomes an acerbic joke, and a problem becomes an astronomical problem.

In this article

Positive Adjectives That Start With “A”

Negative Adjectives That Start With “A”

Descriptive Adjectives That Start With “A”

Neutral Adjectives That Start With “A”

Example Sentences for Adjectives That Start With “A”

Additional “A” Words

Positive adjectives are helpful for writing about your favorite people, whether it’s your affable best friend, the adept plumber you hired, or the amazing baristas at your local coffee shop. Choose from an abundant list of positive adjectives that start with “A.”

Adjective	Definition	Synonyms
able	having the skills to do a task	skilled, apt, proficient
abiding	lasting for a long time	everlasting, enduring, unwavering
abundant	well-supplied	copious, rich, ample
absolute	100 percent complete	definite, assured, certain
accepting	showing acceptance to others	amenable, undoubting, magnanimous
accountable	responsible for one’s actions	answerable, obliged, trustworthy
accurate	without error	errorless, correct, unquestionable
adept	very skilled	accomplished, expert, proficient
admirable	deserving admiration	praiseworthy, commendable, excellent
adroit	talented in body or mind	knowledgeable, deft, clever
advanced	ahead in position, time, or manner	ahead, foremost, progressive
advantageous	creating favorable circumstances	beneficial, successful, profitable
affable	easy to talk to	gentle, gracious, kindly
affectionate	having fond feelings	warmhearted, sympathetic, devoted
alacritous	quick and eager	expeditious, agile, harefooted
allegiant	very loyal	staunch, faithful, steadfast
alluring	highly attractive or charming	enchanting, tempting, captivating
altruistic	generous to others’ needs	unselfish, beneficent, regardful
amaranthine	eternally beautiful and unfading	everlasting, immortal, perpetual
amazing	full of wonder or excitement	astonishing, astounding, marvelous
ambitious	greatly desirous of power	determined, aspiring, enterprising
amiable	agreeable in disposition	friendly, cordial, congenial
amenable	open to suggestion	agreeable, responsive, acquiescent
angelic	exceptionally kind or beautiful	otherworldly, heavenly, ethereal
appealing	inviting and enjoyable	intriguing, likable, beseeching
appropriate	something that is suitable	applicable, proper, well-chosen
approachable	easy to talk to	receptive, accessible, available
ardent	having a deep level of enthusiasm	fervent, passionate, zealous
attractive	appealing, drawing attention	alluring, appealing, beautiful
august	inspiring awe and reverence	majestic, eminent, dignified
auspicious	boding well for the future	favorable, propitious, successful
awesome	inspiring admiration	wonderful, remarkable, impressive

When writing negatively about people, such as your acrimonious neighbors who fight all day or the abrasive politician whose words are harsher than necessary, you need “A” adjectives that are appropriately negative.

Adjective	Definition	Synonyms
abhorrent	causing disgust or hatred	detestable, repugnant, loathsome
abject	utterly miserable	wretched, degraded, paltry
abominable	highly disagreeable and bad	atrocious, nauseating, hateful
abrasive	unpleasantly rough	harsh, offensive, caustic
abusive	causing harm	scurrilous, insulting, injurious
abysmal	profoundly bad	appalling, wretched, unfathomable
acerbic	sharp or biting taste or language	sarcastic, severe, sharp
acrimonious	when someone or something is bitter or harsh in manner or speech	sharp, rancorous, caustic
adversarial	going against someone or something	confrontational, adverse, oppositional
afraid	to be filled with fear or regret	apprehensive, cowardly, fearful
aggressive	prone to being competitive and makes strong attempts to win	ambitious, assertive, contentious
agonizing	causing extreme pain	excruciating, distressing, tortuous
ailing	in poor health	feeble, sickly, wasting
alienated	emotionally isolated	estranged, disaffected, disunited
aloof	distant in sympathy and interest	uninvolved, remote, indifferent
amoral	without morals	uncivilized, unethical, corrupt
annoying	causing emotional irritation	vexatious, bothersome, provoking
antagonistic	acting in opposition	contentious, adversarial, clashing
apocalyptic	widespread, world-ending destruction	baneful, disastrous, doom-laden
argumentative	prone to arguing and fighting	disputatious, disagreeable, contentious
arrogant	having an overbearing and elevated self-worth	prideful, contemptuous, haughty
asinine	utterly stupid	doltish, idiotic, inane
avaricious	extremely greedy	grasping, covetous, mercenary
awkward	lacking social poise	ungainly, clumsy, bungling

Why describe the sky as merely blue, when the adjective azure is right there? Get those artistic descriptions just right with “A” descriptive adjectives.

Adjective	Definition	Synonyms
abloom	flowering	flourishing, thriving, burgeoning
aesthetic	visually pleasing	decorative, harmonious, picturesque
aglow	glowing from within	radiant, luminous, gleaming
airy	light and breezy	delicate, fluttering, fresh
alabaster	smooth and white	porcelain, pearl, ivory
alight	illuminated with light	glowing, vibrant, flaming
amber	a warm brownish color	golden, tan, butterscotch
ambient	surrounding on all sides	reverberant, circumfluent, encompassing
amethyst	a reddish purple color	mauve, violaceous, orchid
ample	fully sufficient	copious, abundant, spacious
appetizing	appealing to the appetite	savory, stimulating, delectable
aquamarine	a blue-green color	turquoise, iridescent, sea-green
arctic	extremely cold	wintry, glacial, frigid
aromatic	having a distinctive aroma	fragrant, pungent, odorous
aubergine	a dark purple color	eggplant, violet, pomegranate
azure	something bright blue in color, resembling a cloudless sky	cerulean, sky blue, deep blue

Not everything in life qualifies as positive or negative. When you’re looking for acceptable adjectives to use for general, neutral situations, you need an authoritative list of “A” adjectives.

Adjective	Definition	Synonyms
academic	relating to schooling, learning	collegiate, learned, scholastic
acceptable	of a satisfactory or agreeable level	adequate, average, decent
accessible	something that is easily reached or entered	convenient, handy, nearby
active	having or engaging in movement	agile, mobile, dynamic
actual	existing at the present time	authentic, bona fide, real
adamant	a refusal to change; hard and unyielding	inflexible, resolute, fixed
additional	extra or supplementary to what is already there	extra, more, supplemental
administrative	involved in carrying out of duties and responsibilities	executive, managerial, official
alive	being active, full of life	active, animate, zestful
alluvial	relating to or found in alluvium, sediment left by flowing water	earthy, geotic, temporal
ambivalent	mixed or contradictory ideas about someone or something	uncertain, irresolute, conflicted
ancient	old, often very old	aged, archaic, old
annual	happening yearly	yearly, seasonal, yearlong
anonymous	unknown, usually by choice	incognito, nameless, unidentified
applicable	something appropriate or relevant	appropriate, apt, befitting
astronomical	derived from astronomy, this denotes something really large	celestial, heavenly, planetary
audio	anything relating to sound	phonic, aural, auditory
auricular	relating to the ear or sense of hearing	audible, phonic, otic
automatic	done by habit	habitual, instinctive, natural
available	ready for use	accessible, attainable, obtainable
average	normal, typical	common, fair, median
avuncular	relating to a helpful uncle	counseling, familial, advising
aware	to know, see or realize something	alert, apprised, knowing

A list of words is helpful, but seeing them in action within sentences is a great way to choose the appropriate “A” adjective for your writing.

This red dress is an absolute must; you have to buy it!
Just ignore Mallory’s angry, acrimonious speech.
Tim felt alienated after his friends went on the trip without him.
Having three job offers puts you in an advantageous position.
My love is abiding and patient.
The field of flowers is wonderfully aromatic.
Cody is being ambivalent about which college he wants to attend.
Mechanics are very adept with their tools.
It’s time to stop living in such an amoral manner.
The wait is agonizing; just tell me the answer!
His little four-year-old is absolutely angelic.
He’s an automatic worrier.
Michelle wore a gorgeous amethyst gown to the party.
The smell of barbecue was immediately appetizing.
Penelope is an amiable dog who is always wagging her tail.
An avaricious lifestyle is focused on material possessions.
Your dad’s taken on an avuncular role in my life.
The salesperson’s speech was too aggressive, so we didn’t buy anything.
My brother and his girlfriend are aglow with love.
Be sure to wear a jacket; the weather is positively arctic out there.

Are you all aglow with “A” adjectives? Add to your adroit vocabulary with different parts of speech that end in “A.”

They’re a great way to incorporate alliteration into your writing or poetry, or to find that tricky word in your favorite word game (you know it starts with an “A,” but can’t quite put your finger on it).