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adjective

い·adjec·tive/ˈæd͡ʒ.ɪk.tɪv/noun, adjective, verb

adjective is spelled A-D-J-E-C-T-I-V-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables (い·adjec·tive). It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, adjective means “A word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes a noun’s referent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of adjective is adjectives or な-adjectives.

How many letters and syllables are in adjective?

Letters9: A-D-J-E-C-T-I-V-E
Syllables3: い·adjec·tive
In writing2.2 times per million words; the 18,537th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is adjective?

Adjective appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce adjective?

  • /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɪk.tɪv/
  • /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɛk.tɪv/
  • /ˈæd͡ʒ.ək.tɪv/

Adjective has 3 syllables, split い·adjec·tive in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-adjective.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Persent101-な-adjective.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Pvanp7-い-adjective.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of adjective

  • adjectives plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • adjectiving participle, present
  • adjectived participle, past
  • な-adjectives plural
  • na-adjective
  • い-adjectives plural
  • i-adjective

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does adjective mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes a noun’s referent.

    The words “big” and “heavy” are English adjectives.

  2. 2

    obsoleteA dependent; an accessory.

adjective

  1. 1

    Adjectival; pertaining to or functioning as an adjective.

  2. 2

    Applying to methods of enforcement and rules of procedure.

  3. 3

    Needing the use of a mordant to be made fast to that which is being dyed.

  4. 4

    obsoleteIncapable of independent function.

    In fact, God is of not so much importance in Himself, but as the end towards which man tends. That irreverent person who said that Browning uses “God” as a pigment made an accurate criticism of his theology. In Browning, God is adjective to

verb

  1. 1

    To make an adjective of; to form or convert into an adjective.

    Language has as much occasion to adjective the distinct signification of the verb, and to adjective also the mood, as it has to adjective time. It has […] adjectived all three.

  2. 2

    To characterize with an adjective; to describe by using an adjective.

    For quotations using this term, see Citations:adjective.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate adjective?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of adjective: adj..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Adjective in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchnom adjectif, adjectif ((grammar) a word that modifies a noun or…), … de procédure (methods of enforcement and rules of procedure), adjectiver, adjectiviser, adjectivaliser (to make an adjective of – see also adjectivize)
GermanAdjektiv, Eigenschaftswort, Beiwort, Wiewort, Beschreibungswort ((grammar) a word that modifies a noun or…), formal (methods of enforcement and rules of procedure)
Portugueseadjetivo ((grammar) a word that modifies a noun or…), adjetivar (to make an adjective of – see also adjectivize)
Spanishadjetivo ((grammar) a word that modifies a noun or…), adjetivar (to make an adjective of – see also adjectivize)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does adjective come from?

From Middle English adjectif, adjective, from Old French adjectif, from Latin adiectivus, from adiciō + -īvus, from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + iaciō (“throw”). The Latin word adiectivus in turn was a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπιθετικόν (epithetikón, “added”), a derivative of the compound verb ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi), from which also comes epithet.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after adjective