120 Adjectives That Start With “D”

Desperate for delightful adjectives that start with “D”? Or are you looking for more difficult and distasteful words to describe a dire situation? Either way, you’ll find a wealth of “D” adjectives ready for dreamy dates or dastardly deeds.

Without positive adjectives beginning with “D,” how could you compliment the distinguished, dear, and deserving people in your lives? Use these dazzling “D” adjectives in thank you cards, birthday greetings, and alliterative poetry.

Adjective	Definition	Synonyms
dapper	tidy and stylish	chic, spiffy, swanky
dashing	ruggedly handsome	romantic, raffish, jaunty
dazzling	brilliantly attractive	sparkling, ravishing, splendid
dear	something beloved	cherished, esteemed, precious
debonair	effortlessly charming	sophisticated, charming, suave
decent	appropriate or good	fitting, mannerly, adequate
deft	very skilled	adroit, adept, nimble
deific	godlike	hallowed, holy, beatific
delectable	utterly enjoyable, especially food	mouthwatering, piquant, luscious
delicious	pleasing to the taste	appetizing, succulent, flavorful
delightful	lovely and enjoyable	congenial, entertaining, captivating
deluxe	the highest quality	opulent, magnificent, palatial
depurated	cleansed of impurities	purified, absolved, abluted
deserving	worthy of praise and respect	exemplary, meritorious, estimable
desirable	worth wanting or having	advantageous, preferable, worthwhile
devil-may-care	charming, without worries	rakish, casual, raffish
dignified	expressing dignity	noble, august, courtly
diligent	working with careful effort	responsible, hardworking, persevering
diplomatic	easily solves problems without hurting others	tactful, courteous, conscientious
disarming	using charm to keep the peace	ingratiating, convincing, inveigling
discerning	having excellent, choosy taste	judicious, selective, cultured
dishy	beautiful in a flashy way	glamorous, attractive, sultry
distinguished	important and accomplished	eminent, prestigious, venerable
divine	utterly perfect	saintly, wonderful, heavenly
dollish	as cute as a doll	adorable, cherubic, cute
dominant	taking control	authoritative, commanding, hegemonic
dovish	peacekeeping	pacifistic, nonaggressive, peaceable
dreamy	pleasantly calm	soothing, gentle, lulling
dutiful	acting from a sense of duty	obedient, loyal, conscientious
dynamic	full of energy	active, energetic, vigorous

Two important prefixes begin with “D” (de- and dis-), and they both mean “not” or “the opposite of.” That’s why there are so many discouraging, demoralizing, and dismaying adjectives beginning with “D.”

Adjective	Definition	Synonyms
damaging	causing injury or harm	afflicting, marring, injurious
dangerous	having hazard or risk	perilous, precarious, unsafe
dastardly	backstabbing and cruel	underhanded, craven, pusillanimous
defamatory	harmful to one’s reputation	slanderous, libelous, vilifying
deleterious	causing damage	unfavorable, inimical, adverse
demoralizing	emotionally undermining	crushing, upsetting, crippling
deplorable	shockingly bad	reprehensible, unforgivable, inexcusable
depraved	morally corrupt	reprobate, deviant, wicked
despairing	having no hope left	forlorn, inconsolable, bereft
desperate	in great need	frantic, hopeless, wretched
despondent	miserably depressed	downcast, forlorn, morose
destructive	bringing massive damage	catastrophic, ruinous, pernicious
detrimental	causing damage or harm	inimical, baneful, disadvantageous
devastating	overwhelmingly terrible	annihilating, cataclysmal, crushing
diabolical	wickedly bad	devilish, fiendish, unholy
difficult	complicated, hard to understand	arduous, formidable, onerous
dire	urgent, bringing terrible consequences	critical, harrowing, portentous
disappointing	an unsatisfactory event or result	frustrating, upsetting, let down
discomfiting	causing uneasiness	nonplussing, awkward, exasperating
disconcerting	causing confusion or frustration	unsettling, perturbing, unnerving
disconsolate	completely cheerless	inconsolable, gloomy, miserable
discouraging	depriving someone of confidence	bleak, frustrating, unfavorable
disenchanted	no longer feeling pleased or charmed by something	depressed, soured, cynical
disgraceful	bringing shame	scandalous, contemptible, ignominious
disillusioned	losing ideals and beliefs	world-weary, undeceived, embittered
dismaying	upsetting and frustrating	troubling, distressing, befuddling
disrespectful	failing to show respect	impolite, rude, uncivil
distressed	in a state of anxiety or discomfort	agitated, concerned, nervous
distasteful	unpleasant, not wanted	repugnant, undesirable, unpleasant
dowdy	not attractive or fashionable	frumpy, outmoded, shabby

Can someone be both deliberate and defensive? It’s possible, but chances are, you’ll need more “D” adjectives to describe your dearest friends’ personalities.

Adjective	Definition	Synonyms
daft	unaware of something obvious	foolhardy, unwise, idiotic
deadpan	without humor or expression	impassive, inscrutable, stony
decisive	capable of making quick decisions	absolute, unhesitating, intent
decorous	showing decorum and good taste	civilized, staid, befitting
defensive	an attitude or position of defense	touchy, shielding, guarding
deliberate	thinking carefully before taking action	intentional, conscious, considered
deluded	having beliefs not based on reality	confused, neurotic, unrealistic
demure	reserved and modest	bashful, coy, prim
dense	not perceptive or intelligent	slow-witted, insensitive, ignorant
desultory	wandering from one thing to the next	erratic, sporadic, haphazard
determined	making one’s mind up	intent, single-minded, resolute
devious	sneaky and dishonest	underhanded, unscrupulous, fraudulent
devout	showing devotion, particularly in religion	pious, reverent, spiritual
diametric	directly opposed to	contradictory, contrary, converse
didactic	instructive, teacher-like	pedagogic, informational, academic
dilatory	prone to procrastination	delaying, sluggish, slothful
disaffected	resentful of authority	malcontent, restless, insubordinate
disagreeable	constantly irritable and arguing	ill-humored, unpleasant, obnoxious
disciplined	well-managed	trained, orderly, controlled
discreet	careful about what one says	prudent, restrained, circumspect
discursive	overly wordy or talkative	circumlocutory, rambling, verbose
disingenuous	slyly deceptive	pretentious, misleading, insincere
doleful	miserably unhappy	crestfallen, gloomy, woeful
dolorous	in terrible pain or distress	mournful, wretched, dismal
doltish	behaving in a foolish way	blockheaded, brainless, obtuse
dramatic	having high emotion and expression	histrionic, spectacular, breathtaking
driven	highly motivated and eager to work hard	compelled, guided, directed
droll	wryly amusing	sarcastic, whimsical, absurd
duplicitous	marked by treachery or deceit	sneaky, underhanded, two-faced
dyspeptic	consistently angry or rude	short-tempered, snappish, cantankerous

Would you enter a dark, dank, decaying cave? What about a drizzly, dewy meadow? There are many different descriptive adjectives that begin with “D” — including the word descriptive!

Adjective	Definition	Synonyms
dainty	small and pretty	petite, slight, precious
dank	wet and cold	clammy, soggy, slimy
dark	lacking light	gloomy, shadowy, tenebrous
deafening	unpleasantly loud	vociferous, ear-splitting, roaring
decayed	broken down and rotting	ruined, withered, corroded
deep	far beneath, under a surface	bottomless, fathomless, nethermost, subterranean
delicate	light and subtle	fragile, gentle, graceful
derelict	abandoned and run-down	neglected, shabby, faded
desiccated	completely lacking moisture	parched, shriveled, evaporated
dewy	pleasantly wet	refreshing, moist, vaporous
dichotomous	divided in two	bifurcate, bilateral, split
different	unlike something else	alien, unrelated, opposed
dilapidated	falling apart	battered, crumbling, unkempt
diminutive	miniature and small	lilliputian, pint-size, bantam
dingy	beat up and run down	tarnished, seedy, bedimmed
dirty	unclean, covered in grime	foul, grimy, soiled
discordant	harsh, unpleasant to the ear	cacophonous, grating, shrill
disparate	dramatically different from each other	contrasting, incommensurate, unlike
dissonant	sounds that clash	inharmonious, incongruous, sour
distinctive	a trait that sets something apart	characteristic, distinguishing, unique
distracting	taking one’s attention	engaging, intriguing, sidetracking
divergent	moving in different directions	aberrant, anomalous, variant
diverse	having variety	assorted, various, heterogeneous
drizzly	slightly rainy or wet	muggy, misty, moist
downy	featherlike, soft	fuzzy, fleecy, velvety
drab	not bright or lively	grungy, boring, lackluster
dry	lacking water	arid, barren, parched
durable	resistant to damage and age	enduring, hardy, lasting
dusky	dark-colored, shadowed	funereal, swarthy, bistered
dusty	covered in powder or fine particles	sooty, arenose, crummy

Determine which “D” adjectives can make your discourse more durable and droll (though never distasteful) with several example sentences. They include different types of adjectives, depending on what you’re trying to decide.

We washed the dirty team uniforms before the big game.
This forest is home to a diverse ecosystem of plants, animals, and fungi.
I’m not even going to respond to that doltish request.
Aunt Ellen is so discursive that she can talk for an hour without taking a break.
Debbie drank a delicious cup of coffee before getting back to her daily tasks.
Patrick was disappointed to find a broken sprinkler head in his lawn.
I called in sick because of a dolorous headache.
Thomas stepped out to the dewy morning and took a deep, refreshing breath.
The dissonant sounds of the baby crying and the fire alarm made me cringe.
Don’t you think that long, shapeless dress is a little dowdy for the banquet?
The disaffected group of students protested against the university administration.
I gently stroked the baby duckling’s soft, downy head.
Mike flashed a disarming smile at the mechanic, who agreed to take a look at our car.
“That’s just great,” she quipped in a deadpan tone.
Staying up late can be deleterious to your sleep schedule.
Hearing the news about the newest layoffs was disconcerting to the rest of the department.
Margot is decisive and straightforward, making her an excellent manager.
Your devil-may-care attitude may be cute now, but someday you’ll need to be serious.
The rumors were quite damaging to the mayor’s reputation.
Your actions were disgraceful, and you owe everyone an apology.

The journey into words that start with “D” doesn’t end with adjectives. Try out these daring parts of speech in your next dictionary destination.

120 Adjectives That Start With “D”

Positive Adjectives That Start With “D”

Negative Adjectives That Start With “D”

Personality Adjectives That Start With “D”

Descriptive Adjectives That Start With “D”

Example Sentences Using Adjectives Starting With “D”

Dive Into Diverse “D” Words