Whatever IELTS guide you refer to. You will notice there are certain common thematic areas. Such as travel, education, environment, and personality. This article will focus on describing appearance and personality. This points out expressions that it is considered useful to know. So that you can make descriptions in this area in finer detail. Thus increase your chances of getting a higher grade for lexical range.
Describing Appearance And Personality
Describing Apperance
Below are some words for describing appearance. Use your dictionary to check the meaning.
Hair
| bald | curly | receding (hairline) | straight | wavy |
| black-haired | blonde | fair -haired | grey-haired | red-haired |
Face
| chubby | freckled | round-faced | thin-faced | smooth |
Build & General appearance
| overweight
plump or stout
fat (impolite)
obese (very fat) | well-built
muscular
stocky | thin
slim (positive -usually for women)
lanky
anorexic | smart/tidy
elegant
untidy-looking
scruffy
scrawny
| beautiful
handsome (for men)
pretty (for women
|
Structures
Describing Personality
Positive
| assertive | confident and not afraid to say what you think
|
| conscientious | putting a lot of effort into your work
|
| down-to-earth | practical and able to talk to people in a direct but friendly way
|
| even-tempered | can stay calm and doesn’t get too excited or angry about anything
|
| gregarious | likes the company of other people
|
| impulsive | act spontaneously
|
| self-assured | having confidence in your self
|
| sensible | have common and act in a reasonable way
|
| shrewd | having good judgment
|
| tactful | careful not to say or do anything that would upset other people |
Negative
| abrupt | acting or reacting in a sudden, unexpected and unpleasant way
|
| aloof | unfriendly and having a rather superior attitude to others
|
| diffident | lacks confidence
|
| discourteous | impolite (formal)
|
| garrulous | talks too much
|
| gullible | easily fooled
|
| impetuous | act without thinking (same meaning as ‘impulsive but suggesting it would have been better to think before acting)
|
| obstinate | not prepared to change even though that would be the best thing to do
|
| taciturn | says very little
|
| unscrupulous | willing to act badly and hurt other people to get what you want
|
Exercises
Exercise 1
Complete the sentences with appropriate expressions from the box below
- a) You see a man lying on the ground.
- b) You see a driver shouting to himself in a traffic jam.
- c) You see someone with their head in their hands.
| He looks as if he needs to calm down.
| He looks as if he’s had a heart attack.
| smells as if something’s burning.
|
| It tastes as if something has been added to it.
| sounds as if they are having a party.
| He looks as if he’s had some bad news.
|
Exercise 2
Identify the odd-man-out (the one different in some way from the other two)
| determined obstinate stubborn |
| diligent conscientious shrewd |
| aloof haughty shy |
| tight-fisted malicious mean |
Exercise 3
Match the words in column A with their opposites in column B.
A B
| gregarious
| slim |
| courteous
| sceptical |
| corpulent
| garrulous |
| gullible
| anti-social |
| assertive
| blunt |
| taciturn
| quarrelsome |
| easy-going | rude
|
| tactful | timid
|
Answers to Exercises
Exercise 1
a) You see a man lying on the ground.
He looks as if he’s had a heart attack.
b) You see a driver shouting to himself in a traffic jam.
He looks as if he needs to calm down.
c) You see someone with their head in their hands.
He looks as if he’s had some bad news
Exercise 2
- a) determined – all three have the same meaning but the other two have a negative connotation.
- b) shy – the other two convey a feeling of superiority over others.
- c) shrewd – the other two both have the sense of ‘hard-working’.
- d) malicious – the other two refer specifically to not wanting to spend money.
Exercise 3
A B
| gregarious
| anti-social |
| courteous
| rude
|
| corpulent
| slim |
| gullible
| sceptical |
| assertive
| timid |
| taciturn
| garrulous |
| easy-going
| quarrelsome |
| tactful | blunt
|
