Adjectives That Start With W

The letter W is a wonderful letter for adjectives. It can be warmhearted, wholesome and wise! Take a look at these positive adjectives that begin with W.

• warm - having moderate heat
• warmhearted - kind and sympathetic
• wealthy - having lots of money or possessions
• welcoming - eager to invite others in
• well - healthy, not sick
• well-balanced - successful and stable in several areas of life
• well-known - popular for good reason
• whimsical - playful, creative
• wholehearted - with sincerity
• wholesome - innocent, healthy
• willful - stubborn; not easily controlled
• winning - pleasing, charming
• winsome - attractive in appearance
• wise - knowledgeable and experienced
• witty - clever; funny
• wonderful - delightful, inspiring wonder
• wondrous - marvelous
  
• world-class - high quality, the best
• worldly - sophisticated
• worthwhile - important, valuable

Sometimes you need a woeful or wicked adjective. Check out these negative adjectives that start with W if you need to describe someone who is worrisome or wretched.

• wanton - blatant, without care for others
• warlike - violent and aggressive
• wasteful - not careful with resources
• wayward - all over the place, unpredictable
• weak - lacking in strength
• wearisome - making someone feel tired
• weary - tired from overexertion
• weepy - cries easily, overemotional
• wheezy - not breathing well
• whiny - constantly complaining
• wicked - evil or terrible
• wimpy - weak, not brave
• withdrawn - quiet and unsociable
• woebegone - woeful; sad
• worthless - having no value
• worrisome - causing worry or concern
• wonky - not working correctly; off-center
• wounded - hurt emotionally or physically
• wretched - deeply distressed or unhappy
• wrong - incorrect

There are many W adjectives that can describe the five senses. Use these descriptive adjectives that start with W when you need to discuss how something looks or feels.

• warped - not straight, distorted
• waxy - having the texture or appearance of wax; fake-looking
• weathered - worn from exposure to sun, rain or wind
• wee - very small
• wet - filled with moisture
• white - having the color of milk or snow
• wide - extending over a large area
• willowy - tall and slender
• windy - characterized by wind or breezes
• windswept - disheveled or blown by the wind
• winding - twisting
• wintry - having the look or feel of winter
• wiry - lean and tough (person); having the appearance of wire (object)
• wispy - fine or feathery
• withering - shriveling; shrinking
• wobbly - unstable
• worn - damaged due to overuse or exposure
• wrinkly - having lots of wrinkles or folds

There are lots of W adjectives that are wild and wacky! The word weird may be one of the most commonly used, all-purpose adjectives in the English language to describe a wide variety of oddities, but there are many less common W adjectives out there. Take a look at these additional adjectives that start with W.

• wacky - crazy, unusual
• wary - overly cautious
• wistful - sad and sentimental
• whopping - very big
• wild - in a natural state; uncontrolled
• widespread - occurring in several areas
• wide-ranging - covering many spaces or regions
• wily - sneaky, clever
• workaday - ordinary, not distinctive
• woozy - dizzy or sick
• wry - dryly funny, sarcastic

Want to see these wide-ranging, whimsical adjectives at work? Read these example sentences that use W adjectives in several different ways.

• It was nice to sit by the warm fireplace after being in the cold weather.
• The weak man was unable to lift even the light weights.
• The wealthy couple was able to buy their own plane.
• Wet dogs do not smell very good.
• My white bedroom is stark and lacking in color or decoration.
• Can you measure how wide the new dresser is?
• Wild animals are not appropriate to keep as pets.
• The willful girl did not take direction or orders very well.
• It was too windy to have a picnic since everything kept blowing away.
• The withering plants desperately needed to be watered.
• Harrison is so witty that he makes his classmates laugh at his jokes.
• She had a woebegone expression after being told she could not go to the dance.
• The baby took her first wobbly steps.
• Her first birthday was a wondrous occasion for the family.
• The worldly girl had traveled all over Europe and the United States.
• Dr. Baker gave us some worrisome news about Dad's test results.

Given W's confusing history, it’s no surprise it continues to cause kerfuffles today. It creates a lot of different sounds, depending on the context.

• Sometimes, it makes a "wuh" sound, like in “wonder,” “walk” or “why.”
• Sometimes, it makes a softer, "voiceless" sound, as in the word “whisper” or “white.”
• Other times, like in the word "two" or "whole," it makes no sound at all.
• It can also be silent, such as in "write" or "wrong."

The letter W has a long history as a confused letter. When the Greeks borrowed the letter from the ancient Egyptians — who used the letter as a hieroglyph that represented a snake — they gave W to two letters in their alphabet.

The Greeks used W as the basis for both an F-type letter, and a U-type letter. When the Romans then borrowed the letter from the Greeks, they made things even more confusing by using W interchangeably with U and V.

Sometime after the middle ages, U and V evolved into their own letters in the English language. Today, W firmly represents just the "w" sound in English but, in many foreign languages, W is still pronounced as "v" and vice versa. German is a good example of this.

Which W adjective will you choose for your next written work? As you can see, there are plenty to choose from! If you thought W adjectives weren’t all that common, wait until we get to our next adjective list: adjectives that start with X! You can also stick with W with these positive words that begin with W.