EXTREME ADJECTIVES
GRADABLE & NON-GRADABLE ADJECTIVES
Extreme Adjectives in English
What are Extreme Adjectives (non-gradable adjectives)?
Use "terrifying" instead of "very frightening", "deafening" instead of "very noisy", "soaked" instead of
"very wet", "gorgeous" instead of "very beautiful", "exhaused" instead of "very tired" and "hilarious"
instead of "very funny"
Oversuing the word 'very' when talking can be boring for the person listening. Instead of using 'very'
too much we can use 'extreme adjectives'.
These adjectives mean very + adjective. As extreme adjectives have a strong enough meaning, you
do not need to use 'very'. If you want to make them stronger, you can use 'absolutely' before the
extreme adjective.
Extreme adjectives are different from normal adjectives in that they do not take the intensifier very:
e.g. very good, very brilliant
Extreme adjectives use other intensifiers such as absolutely, completely, totally, utterly. These
intensifiers cannot be used with normal adjectives: e.g. absolutely brilliant, absolutely good
With most other adjectives (e.g., shallow, large, big, small, little) specified amounts are not used.So,
very, rather, pretty, quite – emphasize the adjective;
fairly, moderately, somewhat – de-emphasize (lessen) the adjective. See Adverbs of degree.
“Cold” is a regular adjective, and “freezing” is an extreme adjective.
Adjectives are words that describe the qualities of something. Some adjectives in English
are gradable – that means you can have different degrees or levels of that quality. For example, the
weather can be a little cold, rather cold, very cold, or extremely cold.
Extreme adjectives or non-gradable adjectives are words that mean “extremely + adjective” – for
example, “freezing” means “extremely cold.” The weather can’t be “a little bit freezing” or “very
freezing” – because the word “freezing” itself automatically means “extremely cold.”
Regular & Extreme Adjectives List
Regular Adjective Extreme Adjective
angry
furious
bad
awful, terrible, horrible, dreadful.
big
huge, gigantic, giant, enormous
clean
spotless
cold
freezing
crowded
packed
dirty
filthy
funny
hilarious
good
wonderful, fantastic, excellent
hot
boiling, scorching, roasting
hungry
starving
interesting
fascinating
old
ancient
pretty
gorgeous, stunning
scary
terrifying, frightening, intimidating.
small
tiny, minuscule
surprising
astounding
tired
exhausted
ugly
hideous
Beautiful (pretty) - gorgeous
Awful - dreadful, unpleasant, disagreeable.
Bad - tragic, revolting, pathetic, outrageous. deplorable, dreadful.
Good - sense: excellent: awesome, great, outstanding, impressive, striking, remarkable, hot,
bad, exceptional, top, praiseworthy, extraordinary, superb, superfine, super, sublime, august, firstclass/rate, high, invaluable, skillful, sensational, terrific, marvelous, cool, sharp, all right,
paramount, smashing, finest, grade/quality, world-class, magnificent, matchless, superlative,
capital, unique, majestic ...
* an august performance
Surprising - amazing - astonishing - aweinspiring - extraordinary - incredible - miraculous - remarkable - shocking - spectacular - startling - s
tunning - stupendous - unusual - wondrous (intensifier,/ˈwʌndrəs/): It is wondrous cold.
Ugly - awful (very unpleasant), shocking, appalling
The news of the politician's affair caused a dreadful scandal.
MORE REGULAR & EXTREME ADJECTIVES
Attractive - arresting (strikingly notable), stunning, staggering, unusual, remarkable, noteworthy,
memorable * Awful - Dreadful * Boring - Mind-numbing * Fat - obese * Happy-thrilled * Noisy /
loud - deafening * Scared-terrified/frightened/spooked/petrified * Tasty - Delicious
* When Kate woke up, her arm was completely numb because she had slept on it wrong.
(adormecido, insensible
* City people often become numb to the suffering of the homeless. (insensitive, indifferent, apathetic,
2. deaden, lessen)
* adj. a loud party (noisy); too brightly colored; ostentatious: loud colors; a loud tie. 2. adv: in a loud
manner: loudly: Don't talk so loud. 3. Idiom: out loud, aloud; so as to be heard: He spoke out loud.
* A stunning redhead (of striking beauty, very attractive). Syn: 1 . stupefying, numbing,
dumbfounding, astounding. 2. to astonish; astound; amaze: We were completely stunned by her
hostile reaction. 3. to shock; overwhelm:We were stunned to hear of his sudden death
Special Rules for Extreme Adjectives
1) No comparatives/superlatives.
2) Use different adverbs with extreme adjectives.
With regular adjectives, we can use these adverbs:

a little (bit), a bit, pretty, slightly, fairly, somewhat, rather, quite

so, really, very, extremely, immensely, intensely, hugely
Examples:

I’m rather hungry. / I’m very hungry.

This room is a bit dirty. / This room is extremely dirty.

We’re a little tired. / We’re immensely tired.
With extreme adjectives, we CANNOT use these adverbs:

I’m rather starving. / I’m extremely starving.
However, there are other adverbs we can use to give additional emphasis to the extreme adjective:

absolutely

completely

totally

utterly
Examples:

I’m absolutely furious.

We’re completely exhausted.

The movie was utterly terrifying.
The words pretty and really can be used with both regular and extreme adjectives:

This room is pretty dirty. (regular)

This room is pretty filthy. (extreme)

The party is really crowded. (regular)

The party is really packed. (extreme)
MORE EXAMPLES
1.
When was the last time you ate something absolutely delicious?
2.
What subjects do you find fascinating?
3.
Is your house filthy or spotless?
4.
What films do you think are utterly hilarious?
5.
This room is disgusting! It's absolutely filthy! I've never seen so much dirt.
6.
This has been an utterly dreadful evening, I just want to go home.
7.
The food was good but the portions were absolutely tiny.
8.
The dessert looked totally hideous but luckily it was very tasty.
Absolute Adjectives
Another type of extreme adjective is called an “absolute” adjective.
These are words that are either “yes or no.” For example, dead – you can’t be “a little bit dead” or
“very dead” – either YES, you are dead, or NO, you’re not dead.
Here’s a list of absolute adjectives and their opposites (this list is not complete; it only shows some
examples):
Absolute Adjective
Opposite
complete
incomplete
equal
unequal
essential
non-essential;
extraneous
dead
alive
fatal
not fatal
first
last / final
full
empty
ideal
not ideal
impossible
possible
infinite
finite
married
single / divorced /
separated / widowed
perfect
imperfect
pregnant
not pregnant
unique
not unique
universal
not universal
unknown
known
true
false
Note:
You might hear expressions like these in spoken English:
“That’s very true.”
“It’s the very first time…”
“This shirt is more unique than that one.”
I do agree with you, though, that there is still a very, very great deal left to be done.
They were expelled from their [...] home, and lost a very great deal.
The fact that the system cannot talk to itself is also a very great weakness.
Applying these measures poses a very great risk to the employment of women.
This is an ever-changing situation and the inherent dangers are very great.
These sentences are not technically correct, because we shouldn’t use the words “very” or “more”
with absolute adjectives – but native speakers don’t always follow the rules!
Modifiers to Adjectives (Adjective Phrases): Express how much or to what degree.
With most other adjectives (e.g., shallow, large, big, small, little) specified amounts are not used.So,
very, rather, pretty, quite – emphasize the adjective;
fairly, moderately, somewhat – de-emphasize (lessen) the adjective. See Adverbs of degree.
An adverb can also modify the degree or extent of an adjective. The adverb tells us: How much? To
what degree?
The bridge towers are very / rather/ pretty tall.
The roadway is
so / moderately
high.
The bridge is
rather / quite
long.
The roadway is
fairly / adequately
wide.
The water below is
quite / extremely
deep.
EXTREME ADJECTIVES (MORE ABOUT IT)
AIM: To introduce the concept of extreme adjectives and practise using them.
INTRODUCTION: Many adjectives can be modified using other words to strengthen or weaken their
meaning. These examples come from the back pain case. These are called base adjectives.

It feels pretty bad all the time.

It was a bit hard to get to a swimming pool.

That’s a very good idea.
AWFUL

awful adjective (BAD)
A2 extremely bad or unpleasant: He suffered awful injuries in the crash.We had awful weather. She
has an awful boss. What an awful thing to say! Would life be so awful without a car? The food was
awful.She'd been ill and she looked awful.

More examples
If the party is awful, we can always leave .

The hotel was awful! To begin with, our room was far too small.

The awful spectre of civil war looms over the country.

It's a good job they didn't go camping last weekend - the weather was awful.

They live downwind of a pig-farm and sometimes the smell is awful.
Thesaurus: Not of good quality (third-class, downscale, poor, unattractive ...)
synonyms and related words:

awful adjective (VERY GREAT)
B2 [before noun] very great: I don't know an awful lot (= very much) about art, but
I'm learning.Fortunately it won't make an awful lot of difference if I don't pass the test.It was an
awful risk to take.

More examples
There's an awful lot of smut on television these days.

There's an awful lot of work to be done.

It's an awful bore cooking a meal every night.

It takes an awful long time to travel across the city on public transport.

I'm feeling an awful lot better, thanks.