16 Useful Words & Phrases to Describe People

[Music] hey everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I I want to help you build your vocabulary because I'm gonna teach you some different words and phrases that you can use so that that you can be very specific if you want to talk about another person and describe their personality their behavior so there are different adjectives and nouns that we can use to describe people and I want to start with some adjectives so the first word that I have for you is charismatic and you could say that someone is charismatic which means that this person has a natural influence over other people and they can easily get people's attention just because you say that someone is charismatic that does not mean that it's a good thing it sounds like a good thing and it can be a compliment but it does not always mean that the person you're talking about is a good person it's really just their behavior the way they act they have that influence and they can easily get people's attention well because of the way they talk the way they speak and you could say that yes this person is charismatic but most popular scandal-free athletes of all time he's heroic he's charismatic and he's retiring the charismatic guy promising to make America great again you're the most remarkable person I know and I've met Jaleel White incredibly charismatic then we have the word chatty and if somebody is chatty it just means that well they'd like to talk a lot usually in a very friendly and informal way you could say he or she is chatty now the one thing I would say about this word is that it's often used to make an observation about someone else you you wouldn't often hear people say that oh I'm so chatty it's not really it's not necessarily a good or a bad thing but you would use it more to make an observation and talk about the way somebody else is acting that they are talking a lot and you could use it to describe a person somebody's personality you could say that he or she is a chatty person but you could also use it to describe maybe somebody's temporary behavior because if a person just doesn't usually talk a lot and then suddenly one day they're very talkative you could tell them well you're a bit chatty today so chatty maybe my parents are right maybe I'd be better off with an indian girl boy someone's on a chatty mood but you can start with clearing those empties great I'll get right on not very chatty today are you now if you are a charismatic and chatty learner and you just want to speak and practice your skills then I suggest you check out the lingo to language sprint and lingo des is the sponsor of today's lesson so signing up for the lingo to language sprint is a great opportunity to take full advantage of the summer and try to achieve your fluency goals you will also have the opportunity to get 100 percent cash back so if you don't know about lingo des it is an online language school 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what a monster Lea she gets very surly when you disobey a direct order we're different breathing also you're surly suspicious you don't play well with others then we have the phrase level-headed and if you describe someone as level-headed it means that that this person is calm and they're able to easily deal with difficult situations and I think this is it's definitely a good thing if somebody calls you level-headed I think that all of us probably want to be level-headed and and think that we can solve difficult situations and remain calm hey so nice everyone's so genuine and level-headed ok first of all women don't actually called Dame second women appreciate calm level-headed and responsible mom on that stone I'm completely fighting I'm more clear and level-headed than I've ever been then we have the phrase easygoing and this is used to describe someone who is well they're very relaxed and they don't easily get worried or upset and you could say that well this person they're just they're just easygoing nothing bothers them they don't worry about anything because they're easygoing no boy I thought I was pretty easygoing you know it's not like I have the big issues disappointed with you Marvel but you seem so easygoing let me try on a dress what can I think I'm an easygoing girl next is absent-minded and this phrase is used to describe someone who easily forgets things or they're just not really paying attention to the things that are happening around them and you could say that this person is a little absent-minded I think it happens to all of us I forget things from time to time and yeah I would say that I can be absent-minded waving goodbye with an absent-minded [Music] I thought you'd know about this and so we do of course we do I'm sorry I was being absent-minded she is an old dear but a little absent-minded then I have a couple of phrases that I'm gonna put them together and that is above average and below average and these phrases are used to describe someone that is well higher or lower or better or worse than the usual amount or level so you would use these phrases just to be a little more specific about your opinion as to this person's perhaps their ability and you could say that that somebody is a below average tennis player or maybe I I guess I would like to think that I am an above average English teacher that's what I'd like to think but it's these are great phrases that you can use when you want to describe maybe even your own ability or talk about somebody else's ability above average or below average Wow with above average height comes above average responsibility until then I'll just keep bringing him here below average pancakes and soggy bacon do you think I'm an idiot well I'd say you possess above average intelligence corporal Dawson was given a below average rating committed a crime then we have the adjective grumpy and if you say that someone is grumpy it means that they are easily annoyed and maybe they're usually complaining they're always there complaining about something you could say gosh you're you're always so grumpy and to give you another example let's just bring up another cat here this is a picture of a grumpy cat now let's switch and talk about some nouns that can be used to describe people and the first one because we just talked about someone who may be grumpy is a grump all right we can use this word as a noun as well and a grump is a person who's not a very friendly person and then it's somebody who you is complaining about something you could say that this person is a grump or you could have a little fun with the word and throw the adjective and noun together and say that somebody is a grumpy grump they are really complaining a lot they're a grumpy grump Stanley Hudson is a grump everybody knows that miss Mullins is obviously we have mr. Cooper teaches biology such a grump way more money being nice and being a big grumpy grump to everyone all the time the next noun that I have for you is a jack-of-all-trades and if you say that somebody is a jack-of-all-trades it refers to a person that is capable of doing many different jobs and they would typically do those jobs well and when I say different jobs I'm talking about a variety of of really different things so perhaps somebody is able to fix cars this person is a great programmer this person is an excellent cook and they can do all of these different things and they're very capable at doing them you could say that he or she is a jack-of-all-trades what if a kid is sort of like a floating utility player Konica like a jack-of-all-trades listen I'm so much more I'm kind of a jack-of-all-trades if you will the next phrase I have for you is a dark horse and this just refers to a person who is not expected to succeed or win but then they suddenly do they they suddenly do win and you could say that this person wow they were a dark horse but they won the competition so often it is used in that context when talking about some competition oh and dark horse candidate late entry to the race any contestants worth mentioning maybe there's kind of a dark horse in the running so here it is one more time the dark horse for this year's Christmas number one Christmas is all around Thank You Billy then we have the phrase black sheep which refers to a person who embarrasses a group or a family because they're they're different in some way and perhaps they've done something they've gotten into trouble or they've done something wrong and because of that and they've embarrassed the family you could say that he or she is a black sheep now it does not always have to mean that that they've done something wrong it could just be that that they're just different in some way and maybe everybody else thinks it's a little strange I think within all families there is somebody maybe a brother sister on uncle cousin who is a little different from everyone else and maybe other people think that it's a little strange you could say that that this person is a black sheep third brother in the middle area black sheep a drunk you know what's a black sheep it's like maybe different to everyone else the cons are like family kneel maybe they're about to become the black sheep everybody thinks I'm the black sheep boss know what a black sheep could do then we have the phrase know-it-all and this refers to a person that just they think they know everything and you could describe them and say that he or she is a know-it-all and this is a phrase that it's you wouldn't use it as a compliment so it's not something you would say about yourself but if somebody else they they're not being very humble and they're being a little too proud they think they're so smart you could tell them and say oh you're such a know-it-all which means you're not taking your synthroid like you should you're such a know-it-all - so rigid and demanding your sees a complete no tattle it's me the know-it-all what are you doing here next is the phrase wiseguy and this refers to a person who is trying to be clever in a way that's a little annoying so typically you would say this to a person not really to be very mean to them but really just kind of call them out on the way they are behaving the way they're acting they're trying to be clever but they're really being a little annoying you're such you're such a wise guy stop stop being such a wise guy okay hey these of you huh okay all right wise guy you've just started timeout then we have the phrase stick-in-the-mud and this is this is one of my favorite phrases it's it's a noun that's used to describe somebody who is old fashioned and they just kind of want to avoid having fun if somebody does not like to have fun and they're kind of ruining it for everyone else you could say that they are a stick-in-the-mud typically if somebody is a a surly person and maybe they're just complaining because they're so grumpy you could tell them that that they are a stick-in-the-mud as well you were stick-in-the-mud when we judge that beauty pageant and you're being a stick-in-the-mud now I am NOT a stick-in-the-mud I just want to stop a party from happening then we have the phrase yes man and this is talking about a person who is always trying to please a superior and they are saying things and doing things in order to please that person I uh I think it's often used in the context of work because if somebody is always trying to make their boss happy and whatever their boss ask them to do they just say yes anything yes ma'am not all the time sometimes I'll say I don't like something he says he doesn't like it either it's very presidential of me don't you think absolutely you're not turning into a yes-man are you I'm becoming a corporate yes and like yes mr. George Bush whatever he's saying mr. George Bush then we have the word sitter this noun refers to someone who who takes care of someone else now I think the word is shortened typically it's used to refer to a babysitter a babysitter someone who takes care and looks after a baby but it could be shortened to just a sitter you can also use this with other nouns as well for example you could say that somebody is a house sitter and they are taking care in looking after another person's house or perhaps they are a dog sitter or a cat sitter and they are taking care of somebody else's pets a babysitter a house sitter a cat sitter a dog sitter a pet sitter I think that's about it for for first sitters three cities in six days my head is just pounding I'm not ready for a dinner party I can't cancel her so what you're saying is if I can get an acceptable babysitter here before you leave I can go patrol and thank you for reminding me I can't find a freaking cat sitter I'm not going to a regular dog sitter is ill and if he'd know enough to go to my brother's place in Paris maybe they have a house sitter so I hope you learned some new words and phrases and I'm sure that you will remember them because you are not absent-minded you you are a very level-headed person you will remember these words and phrases and I hope that you can use them if you're having a conversation maybe you're feeling a little chatty and you're talking to other people and you can practice using these words and phrases and just tell them how much you know but maybe they will think that you are enou at all all right if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time

Channel: Interactive English

Views: 82,130

Keywords: interactive english, learn english, learn english vocabulary, english vocabulary, useful vocabulary, learn english words, english words and phrases, useful words and phrases, words to describe people, vocabulary to describe people, describe people in english, how to describe people in english, describe people's personality, describe people, describe a person, meaning level-headed, meaning absent-minded, meaning dark horse, meaning black sheep, meaning jack of all trades

Id: -rro1ekRUNo

Length: 17min 59sec (1079 seconds)

Published: Tue May 19 2020