50 Words, Idioms and Phrases to Describe People & Personalities Positively

36,301 views ・ 2022-03-12

Go Natural English


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adjectives and idioms to describe a person's  personality to describe how they think how they  
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act how they show up or are in the world this  is going to be the best lesson on this topic and  
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i'm going to categorize these adjectives in a way  that helps you to remember them we're also going  
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to have a section of adjectives that i highly  suggest you use when you need to describe yourself  
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in an interview or another opportunity in  your professional life now if you enjoy  
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getting english tips like this and you would  like more guidance more help then sign up for  
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around the world have joined it's free and you  too can sign up at gonaturalenglish.com email  
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this week's video we're going to focus on  positive attributes or positive descriptors  
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in another lesson perhaps next week  we'll talk about negative adjectives and  
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idioms but this week let's keep it positive  let's talk about how to describe people in  
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a positive light in the next 10 minutes you will  improve your vocabulary including advanced words  
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phrases and idioms to describe people you'll  improve your listening skills and your speaking  
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skills if you practice repeating the words  along with me you'll improve your pronunciation  
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i suggest you try it out today we'll explore  adjectives in categories as opposed to  
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a long list of random adjectives or an  alphabetically organized list the best way to  
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actually memorize vocabulary in general and for  this topic describing personalities is to group  
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the words by general meaning and in that way you  can associate them together you can think well i  
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can use these words in similar situations when  i want to describe a certain kind of person and  
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that's how our brain works is we want to associate  ideas or vocabulary words together now let's jump  
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in the first descriptive word is one that is super  basic but we're going to explore more advanced  
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vocabulary to describe a nice person probably  the most basic way to describe someone positively  
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is they are nice a quite advanced word to me nice  is affable we don't use this in conversational  
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english but it's more of an advanced word that  you might see in writing she's kind considerate  
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thoughtful amicable means polite friendly  respectful warm-hearted kind generous instead of  
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saying she's nice all the time try using some of  these other adjectives cheerful helpful selfless  
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selfless means that this person is so helpful they  even help someone else before they help themselves  
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courteous courteous is also like considerate  thoughtful respectful diplomatic a diplomatic  
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person is able to deal with difficult people or  difficult situations someone who is tactful and  
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someone who is nice could have a heart of gold  someone who's smart instead of saying smart we  
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could say bright she's so bright she's witty or  quick witted she has a quick witted humor meaning  
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that she is very funny but in a smart way clever  brilliant intelligent alert someone who's alert  
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is smart but it could also mean a bit anxious  always watching for the next thing that could  
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happen instead of smart we could describe someone  as a smart cookie she's a smart cookie why cookie  
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i don't know but it's a great idiom to use or  wiz kid this is not just for children or kids  
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he's a real whiz kid could describe someone  who is smart but keep in mind that whiz kid is  
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casual so you might not describe your boss this  way but maybe a colleague or someone who's kind of  
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on the same level as you like a friend or someone  who is in your class with personality we have this  
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whole idea of type a or type b a type a person  is someone who's a bit high strung or uptight  
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maybe they don't relax very easily they could  be a bit tense which is not really a positive  
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attribute but type a can be positive someone  who's organized put together determined  
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ambitious their eyes are on the prize they keep  their eyes on the prize or they are goal oriented  
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they have it together they're usually meticulous  and detail-oriented they have eagle eyes meaning  
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they see all the details a type a person is the  type of person you want to have as your lawyer  
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or someone who's helping you with a detailed  contract for example a type b person on the  
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other hand is more easy going laid back go with  the flow type b can be more spontaneous creative  
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imaginative but perhaps on the negative side a bit  scatter brained or spacey but the good thing is  
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they tend to be adaptable down to earth and in  general happy campers i would say i'm a little  
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of type a and a little of type b it depends on the  day what about you are you more type a or type b  
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introverted and extroverted a person who is  introverted tends to spend more time on their  
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own someone who is funny has a good sense  of humor they might be a barrel of laughs a  
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live wire someone who is quite energetic always  cracking jokes a live wire means energetic someone  
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who is full of life full of energy exuberant  lively exuberant is such a great word it's fun  
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to say exuberant someone who has a zest for  life or joie de vivre yes we use this phrase  
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in english even though it is french personally i  love when i find phrases from other languages that  
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we use in english can you think of any others now  this lesson wouldn't be complete without talking  
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about how to describe yourself in a positive  light for an interview or professional situation  
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and also how to describe other people who might  be strong leaders or someone you want to recommend  
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she's open-minded no we don't say broad-minded i  think this is more british english someone who is  
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open-minded is open to new ideas this is important  when you're a leader and when you want to  
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learn new things in an industry and  you want to stay on the cutting edge  
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if you are pioneering this means that you're an  early adopter you are staying on the cutting edge  
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always learning about new technology and trying  it out being reliable trustworthy dependable or  
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a solid person are all really important when you  have a leadership role can people count on you can  
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they rely on you then you're dependable you show  up you do what you said you would do you are a man  
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of his word or woman of her word it's important  to be decisive to be able to make decisions  
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to be frank means to be honest straightforward you  don't beat around the bush to beat around the bush  
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means to hem and ha to say ah well i don't  know i'm not sure to beat around the bush  
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means you are not direct you are not honest or  straightforward you don't want to give someone  
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bad news leaders are often sociable they might  be social butterflies maybe a bit extroverted  
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at least for the purpose of networking it could  be described as a people person even gregarious  
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gregarious is someone who talks a lot easily but  sometimes too much so this word could be negative  
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but it basically means someone who's very outgoing  or extroverted you have the gift of gab gab means  
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talking so the gift of gab means it's easy for you  to talk with other people on the other hand a good  
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leader could also be introverted someone who's  more intuitive or who understands something with  
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their gut feeling as opposed to needing a lot of  data modest means that you're not full of yourself  
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you're not boastful you're not egotistical so  even though you have achieved a lot even though  
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you're a good leader you're still modest you're  an action taker you're proactive a go-getter  
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ambitious assertive you don't want to show up as  overly emotional you want to be even keeled calm  
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rational and even have a poker face a poker face  means you don't show your feelings you don't show  
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your hand now this could be slightly negative  depending on how you're describing a person in  
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what situation however even though you don't  want to be overly emotional you do want to be  
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passionate passionate about your work passionate  about your goals and achieving things persistent  
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you are resilient if you fall down you get back  up if at first you don't succeed you try and try  
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again you're persistent and resilient you're goal  oriented you're driven you're ambitious you're  
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confident or self-confident salt of the earth  salt of the earth means someone who is honest  
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straightforward and hard working optimistic  someone who thinks positively also you could  
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be a realist someone who thinks positively but  within reality so not overly optimistic you're  
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resourceful meaning you are creative in finding  resources you're versatile meaning you can do a  
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lot of different things perhaps a jack of all  trades someone who can do a lot of different  
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tasks successfully a linchpin meaning that you  are not replaceable you can do so many things  
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that really only you can do the way that you  do them you are irreplaceable you're a linchpin  
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a mover and a shaker so i would probably only  use this to describe someone else i think it  
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would sound a little strange if i said yeah i'm  a real mover and a shaker it just means that  
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you take action you're always trying new things  you're networking with people you get things done  
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and you're out and about in the world people know  who you are and that you're interesting you're fun  
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you're bubbly you you are never stagnant you don't  stay in one place or doing the same thing for too  
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long and a couple other adjectives to close this  out that i would only use to describe other people  
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would be top dog someone who is really at the top  one percent of their group a top dog or a major  
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player someone who is influential in their space  their profession their field their company so tell  
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me how would someone describe you how would your  colleagues describe you tell me in the comments  
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and practice using some of these adjectives and  idioms to describe personality just a few things  
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before we wrap up class we have new lessons  each week but you have to subscribe to know  
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when they're posted because we post on different  days so if you subscribe you'll probably get a  
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notification about when they go live so thanks so  much for watching i hope you enjoyed this lesson  
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you're an amazing person you're gonna go far  with your english if you just keep going just  
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don't quit don't give up thanks for watching  i'll talk to you again next week bye for now
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