102 Adjectives That Start With “H”

By
, Staff Writer
Updated July 25, 2022
List of Adjectives That Start with H
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    Adjectives That Start with H
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The humble “H” is an often forgotten but always important letter. Sometimes it’s quiet and honest. Sometimes it’s loud and heavy. Adjectives help to describe all the people, places, and things around you, adding extra character and color to your world. However you handle it, it’s always handy to have the perfect adjective that starts with “H” to describe your happy friends, the hot weather, or a horrible case of the Mondays.

Positive Adjectives Starting With “H”

The letter “H” offers up a whole host of positive adjectives for those halcyon days, healthy appetites, and happy people you love.

Adjective Definition Synonyms
halcyon peaceful or restful, especially of weather calm, idyllic, soothing
hale free of disease or injury; strong and healthy robust, flourishing, vigorous
hallowed considered holy or sacred blessed, consecrated, sacrosanct
handsome attractive and imposing in appearance good-looking, beautiful, stylish
handy capable or skilled at a given task able, dexterous, skillful
happy in high spirits; satisfied cheerful, delighted, glad
happy-go-lucky happily unworried and unconcerned carefree, easygoing, untroubled
hardy able to withstand difficult conditions robust, tough, stout
harmless not possessing the desire or ability to do harm innocuous, innocent, inoffensive
harmonious free from disagreement, dissent, or discord agreeable, amicable, congenial
healthy having good health; possessing wellness hale, hearty, sound
heartening encouraging or causing cheer reassuring, promising, supportive
heavenly having to do with paradise; something pleasant or joyful celestial, divine, lovely
helpful something beneficial, characterized by improving a situation advantageous, constructive, supportive
high-quality having good characteristics, desirable excellent, impressive, valuable
hilarious characterized by being funny, causing laughter comical, humorous, jocular
holy something considered sacred by one or more religions blessed, hallowed, revered
homey inviting and comfortable; having a feeling like home comfy, homelike, hospitable
honest speaking truthfully, being sincere candid, forthright, frank
honest-to-goodness genuine or real actual, authentic, legitimate
honorable characterized by honesty and integrity reputable, honest, respectable
hospitable being warm or generous to strangers or guests friendly, neighborly, congenial
humanitarian concerned with promoting human welfare altruistic, philanthropic, humane
humble not arrogant or overconfident, meek lowly, respectful, self-effacing
hygienic conducive to good health sanitary, clean, healthful

Negative Adjectives That Start With “H”

There are plenty of times when you’re just feeling horrible, hapless, or haggard. The negative vibes can get to anyone, but sometimes you need the right “H” adjective to describe heartbreaking moments, heinous memories, or hateful actions.

Adjective Definition Synonyms
hackneyed something overused or trite cliche, overdone, stale
haggard looking exhausted, gaunt, or worn out in appearance weakened, emaciated, fatigued
haphazard lacking any sense of organization disorganized, unplanned, unsystematic
hapless unfortunate unlucky, cursed, ill-fated
hard something firm in texture; demanding, difficult, or unforgiving arduous, laborious, onerous
hard-handed stern or cruel oppressive, tyrannical, ruthless
hard-headed not easily moved; stubborn headstrong, obstinate, inflexible
harebrained Ill-judged, absurd, rash asinine, unthinking, careless
harmful something that does damage or injury adverse, hazardous, hurtful
harried feeling stressed or strained by persistent demands harassed, pressured, agitated
harsh caustic or unpleasant to experience acrimonious, coarse, severe
hateful unpleasant or distasteful; malevolent abhorrent, despicable, bitter
haughty scornfully arrogant or proud snobby, snooty, egotistical
hazardous creating a dangerous or undesirable circumstance dicey, perilous, unsafe
heartbreaking characterized by intense sadness or anguish agonizing, distressing, tragic
hebetudinous the state of being dull dozy, dreamy, lethargic
hegemonic wielding power, in charge controlling, despotic, ruling
heinous something frightening or disturbing cruel, dreadful, terrifying
hideous shocking, revolting, or horrible to the senses appalling, grotesque, dreadful
ho-hum dull or routine boring, lifeless, banal
horrible evoking horror or disgust abhorrent, harrowing, loathsome
horrid dreadful or unpleasant; causing horror atrocious, ghastly, grisly
horrific causing horror, disturbing dreadful, frightening, terrifying
hostile something violently opposed to something else antagonistic, averse, inimical
humiliating lowering someone’s pride, self-respect, or dignity mortifying, embarrassing, demeaning
hyperbolic overstated, presented in an excessively dramatic manner excessive, hammy, overdramatic
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Neutral Adjectives That Start With “H”

Sometimes you need a solid “H” adjective that isn’t positive or negative. Just a perfect medium word to describe herbal medicines for hoarse voices or homemade food for your hungry family.

Adjective Definition Synonyms
hands-on taking an active role, being involved in a situation involved, proactive, tangible
haunting not easily forgotten unforgettable, persistent, memorable
heavy of great weight; difficult or depressed cumbersome, ponderous, weighty
hebdomadal occurring every seven days septal, weekly
hedonistic characterized by pleasure-seeking, being self- indulgent epicurean, sybaritic, voluptuary
herbal having to do with herbs, leafy plants with various culinary and medicinal applications herbaceous, grassy, vegetal
heteroclite outside normal behavior abnormal, eccentric, unusual
heuristic of answering questions, to use both empirical and non-empirical methods interrogative, intuitive, investigative
high raised vertically elevated, lofty, soaring
hircine resembling a goat caprine
hirsute hairy shaggy, hair-covered, furry
historic momentous, having to do with an important moment in history meaningful, relevant, significant
historical something of significance that actually happened ancient, chronicled, past
histrionic something theatrical or overdramatic dramatic, melodramatic, pantomime
hoarse sounding rough or harsh gruff, husky, croaky
holistic having to do with the whole system, rather than any one part aggregate, comprehensive, entire
homemade made at home, not purchased handcrafted, handmade, homegrown
horizontal extending from side to side rather than up and down decumbent, endwise, flat
hortative relating to speech that encourages action declamatory, encouraging, urging
hot high in temperature, aroused in emotion fiery, heated, warm
huge extremely large colossal, enormous, giant
human of or relating to a person or people anthropic, anthropomorphic, anthropomorphous
hungry desiring food craving, famished, starving
hybrid composite or mixture of two or more things blend, cross, mixture
hypnotic inducing sleep or lowering mental awareness anodyne, lenitive, mesmeric
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Adjectives for Personality Traits That Start With “H”

Many of the words above can apply to people, but it doesn’t hurt to fill your personal lexicon with “H” adjectives for personality traits. Whether you’re writing about a humble character or just want better words to describe your hip and happening friends, you have a huge selection of adjectives that start with “H” to describe people.

Adjective Definition Synonyms
hangdog looking dejected or guilty in appearance sheepish, shamefaced, ashamed
happening lively and fashionable trendy, contemporary, stylish
hardhearted unfeeling, merciless brutish, cold-blooded, insensitive
hardworking industrious; zealous diligent, dedicated, persevering
hasty quick, rash, impatient, without thought speedy, careless, hurried
hearty warm-hearted, affectionate, sincere jovial, genuine, exuberant
heroic daring, brave, noble courageous, valiant, bold
high-maintenance demanding a lot of time or effort needy, demanding
high-minded possessing strong moral principles and feelings honest, virtuous, conscientious
high-strung highly nervous or excitable edgy, restless, tense
hip familiar with styles and trends of the time cool, chic, sophisticated
hoity-toity snobby, haughty arrogant, condescending, pretentious
homely plain; lacking in physical attractiveness unattractive, ordinary, unalluring
hopeful feeling positive about a future event optimistic, buoyant, sanguine
hot-blooded excitable, passionate fiery, ardent, impassioned
hotheaded rash, impetuous, or easy to anger touchy, short-fused, volatile
huffy easily offended; sulky angry, grumpy, irritable
huggable warm and inviting a close embrace cuddly, lovable, embraceable
hulking physically large, heavy, or clumsy imposing, bulky, brawny
humane characterized by a love and care for people and animals compassionate, kind, considerate
humorous having a sense of humor; causing laughter and amusement funny, comedic, amusing
hunky large, well-built, and attractive handsome, attractive, strapping
husky large and strong burly, stocky, stout
hyper extremely energetic; overstimulated active, fidgety, frenetic
hypercritical excessively critical fault-finding, carping, pedantic
hysterical (usually) extremely funny; uncontrollably emotional agitated, distraught, excited
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Example Sentences Using Adjectives That Start With “H”

Now that your personal vocabulary is full of helpful, honest-to-goodness adjectives that start with “H,” it’s a good idea to look at some sentence examples to get the hang of using them.

  1. Debbie took on some harsh new workouts to improve her conditioning.
  2. On her run home, she stopped for some herbal tea and a scone.
  3. After dinner, she enjoyed some homemade brownies and wine.
  4. A healthy mindset gave her the energy to get through the week.
  5. Monday arrived with its usual troubles, including a frustrating conversation with a hostile customer.
  6. She went home happy, however, thanks to some hilarious jokes from a coworker.
  7. She limbered up with some horizontal stretches before going on her evening run.
  8. The rhythm of the air conditioner was almost hypnotic as she returned home.
  9. Settling into bed, Debbie drifted into a halcyon night's sleep.
  10. He preferred more hands-on carpentry lessons to get the hang of handling wood.
  11. He was jealous of his hip friends who always seemed to know about the new trends and fashions.
  12. She was getting hungry just from watching the cooking videos.
  13. Everyone on the team was a little high-strung after the boss’ stern speech about layoffs.
  14. His parents still tended to be a bit hypercritical about his career choices, despite him being a full-grown adult.
  15. The museum offered an in-depth look at historical photos.
  16. The puppy was extremely huggable.
  17. The hirsute lad was tired of having to trim his beard every single morning.
  18. His hangdog expression proved that the proposal didn’t go as planned.
  19. She is such a humane person who volunteers at the shelter and donates to animal rescue programs.
  20. His hunky boyfriend was extremely attractive.
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Start a Hoard of “H” Words

Hopefully you’re happy with all of these adjectives that start with “H,” but if you’re hungry for more, you can include other parts of speech that start with “H.” From nouns to verbs and beyond, building up your “H” vocabulary is good for your writing and conversations, and it can improve your score in word games.