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100 Must-Know Korean Adjectives with Meanings (For Beginners & Self-Learners)

If you're learning Korean and not using adjectives yet… wyd?! 😭

How else are you gonna tell your bias they’re cute, complain about the weather, or say you’re lowkey tired but highkey happy?

This list? She’s got 100 essential Korean adjectives—aka your new BFFs for daily convos, journaling, captioning your life, or smashing the EPS-TOPIK/TOPIK I.

Bookmark this post for study time, and let’s level up your Korean vocab together. Fighting! 💜


✨ Describing People – Personality & Appearance

  1. 괜찮다 – to be alright, okay

  2. 좋다 – to be good, fine

  3. 다르다 – to be different

  4. 같다 – to be the same

  5. 뚱뚱하다 – to be fat, overweight

  6. 통통하다 – to be chubby

  7. 날씬하다 – to be slim, slender

  8. 깡마르다 – to be skinny, scrawny

  9. 튼튼하다 – to be strong, sturdy

  10. 씩씩하다 – to be brave

  11. 똑똑하다 – to be smart, clever

  12. 멍청하다 – to be stupid, foolish

  13. 약하다 – to be weak, feeble

  14. 건강하다 – to be healthy

  15. 착하다 – to be good-natured, nice

  16. 비열하다 – to be mean, nasty

  17. 이상하다 – to be weird, strange

  18. 조용하다 – to be quiet

  19. 시끄럽다 – to be loud, noisy

💖 Describing Emotions & Feelings

  1. 행복하다 – to be happy

  2. 기쁘다 – to be glad, happy

  3. 화나다 – to be angry

  4. 슬프다 – to be sad

  5. 아프다 – to be sick, painful

  6. 피곤하다 – to be tired, exhausted

  7. 배가 고프다 – to be hungry

  8. 목이 마르다 – to be thirsty

  9. 졸리다 – to be sleepy

  10. 걱정하다 – to be worried

  11. 무섭다 – to be scared

  12. 짜증나다 – to be annoyed

  13. 놀라다 – to be surprised

  14. 수줍다 – to be shy

  15. 심심하다 – to be bored

  16. 지루하다 – to be boring, dull

🌦️ Weather & Temperature

  1. 뜨겁다 – to be hot (to touch)

  2. 덥다 – to be hot (weather)

  3. 따뜻하다 – to be warm

  4. 차갑다 – to be cold (to touch)

  5. 춥다 – to be cold (weather)

  6. 시원하다 – to be cool, refreshing

  7. 싸늘하다 – to be chilly

  8. 습하다 – to be humid, moist

  9. 건조하다 – to be dry

  10. 흐리다 – to be cloudy

🍽️ Taste & Texture

  1. 맛있다 – to be delicious, tasty

  2. 맛없다 – to be not tasty

  3. 달콤하다 – to be sweet

  4. 쓰다 – to be bitter

  5. 짜다 – to be salty

  6. 시큼하다 – to be sour

  7. 맵다 – to be spicy

  8. 기름지다 – to be greasy, oily

  9. 딱딱하다 – to be hard

  10. 부드럽다 – to be soft

  11. 말랑하다 – to be tender, ripe

  12. 촉촉하다 – to be moist

  13. 축축하다 – to be damp

  14. 젖다 – to be wet

📏 Size, Quantity & Shape

  1. 크다 – to be big

  2. 작다 – to be small

  3. 많다 – to be many

  4. 적다 – to be few

  5. 좁다 – to be narrow

  6. 넓다 – to be wide, broad

  7. 가득하다 – to be full

  8. 비어 있다 – to be empty

  9. 뾰족하다 – to be sharp

  10. 미끄럽다 – to be slippery

⏰ Time & Speed

  1. 빠르다 – to be fast

  2. 느리다 – to be slow

  3. 천천하다 – to be slow (formal)

  4. 급하다 – to be urgent

  5. 늦다 – to be late

  6. 이르다 – to be early

🏠 Cleanliness, Price & Age

  1. 깨끗하다 – to be clean

  2. 더럽다 – to be dirty

  3. 싸다 – to be cheap

  4. 비싸다 – to be expensive

  5. 새롭다 – to be new

  6. 오래되다 – to be old (object)

  7. 편리하다 – to be convenient

  8. 불편하다 – to be uncomfortable

  9. 편하다 – to be comfortable

  10. 복잡하다 – to be crowded

🎨 Aesthetics & Appeal

  1. 아름답다 – to be beautiful

  2. 예쁘다 – to be pretty

  3. 귀엽다 – to be cute

  4. 잘생기다 – to be good-looking

  5. 못생기다 – to be ugly

📦 Extras You Should Know

  1. 나쁘다 – to be bad

  2. 이상하다 – to be strange

  3. 좋다 – to be good

  4. 쓰다 – to be bitter / to write (context!)

  5. 기름지다 – to be fatty

  6. 건강하다 – to be healthy

  7. 지루하다 – to be dull

  8. 비열하다 – to be mean

  9. 심심하다 – to be bored

  10. 놀라다 – to be surprised

🧠 Grammar Tip:

In Korean, adjectives are descriptive verbs (형용사), and they’re conjugated just like action verbs.
Here’s an example:

  • 그 영화는 재미있어요. (That movie is interesting.)

  • 오늘은 날씨가 춥네요. (It’s cold today.)


💡 Study Tip:

Pick 5 adjectives each day, and write short Korean sentences using them. Say them aloud and try using them in everyday life. Repetition + usage = solid memory!

🎥 Watch the video version here if you prefer learning with visuals and pronunciation.
(Perfect for K-drama fans, TOPIK preppers, or casual learners!)

Part 1 & Part 2 HERE:






There you go! A complete list of 100 essential Korean adjectives to supercharge your vocabulary!

Which adjectives are your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

Save or pin this post if it helped you, and check back for more Korean learning goodies. Annyeong! :)

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✨ From your Korean-learning friend,
Kayi (a.k.a. TheAsianBelle on YouTube)

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