Italian Adjectives & Expressions to Describe Someone’s Personality
Basic Italian adjectives to describe someone’s personality
buono – good | cattivo – bad, mean
simpatico – nice, friendly | antipatico – unfriendly
empatico – empathetic
gentile, educato – polite | maleducato – rude
generoso – generous | taccagno – cheap
felice – happy | triste – sad
paziente – patient | impaziente – impatient
responsabile – responsible | irresponsabile – irresponsible
espansivo – effusive, warm | riservato – secretive, reserved
affettuoso – affectionate
altruista – altruistic | egoista – selfish
ottimista – optimistic | pessimista – pessimistic
impulsivo – impulsive | riflessivo – pensive
sicuro di sé – confident | timido – shy
estroverso – extrovert | introverso – introvert
silenzioso – quiet | chiacchierone – chatty
coraggioso – brave | codardo – cowardly
attivo – dynamic | pigro – lazy
affidabile – trustworthy, reliable | inaffidabile – untrustworthy, unreliable
ipocrita – hypocrite | sincero – honest
allegro – cheerful, bubbly
arrogante – arrogant
socievole – sociable | asociale – not sociable
stravagante – extravagant
sensibile – sensitive | insensibile – insensitive, callous
Advanced Italian adjectives to describe someone’s personality
spensierato – cheerful, a person who doesn’t worry
negligente – sloppy, carless
pensieroso – thoughtful
logorroico – long-winded (in an annoying way)
loquace – chatty, talkative
polemico – quarrelsome, someone who has always an argument
scorbutico – crabby, obnoxious person
affascinante – charming
superficiale – shallow
tenace, determinato – determined
lunatico – moody
ipocondriaco – hypochondriac
vanesio – vain
venale – venal
permaloso – prickly
saccente – a know-all, a smart-ass
ambizioso – ambitious
parsimonioso – thrifty
curioso – inquisitive
invadente – nosy
insistente – pushy
sbadato – absent-minded
Italian expressions to describe someone’s personality
avere un caratteraccio – to be bad tempered
avere un carattere solare – to have a radiant personality
avere una personalità affascinante – to have a charming personality
essere una vipera – to be bitchy
avere la mente aperta – to open-minded
avere la mente chiusa – to be close-minded
essere alla mano – to be easygoing
avere un carattere deciso – someone who knows what he or she wants
essere un rompiscatole (vulgar) – to be a pain in the neck
essere un attaccabrighe – to be troublemaker
essere una persona di buon cuore – to be good-hearted
essere una persona di sani principi – to be someone with good values
essere in (gran) forma – to be in a great shape
essere fuori forma – to be in poor shape
vivere in un modo tutto suo – to live in one’s own world
essere pieni di sé – to be full of one’s self
essere fuori dagli schemi – an unconventional person
avere una personalità forte – to have a strong personality
avere i piedi per terra – to be down-to-earth
Italian adjectives to describe someone intellectual ability
geniale – brilliant
brillante – brilliant
sveglio – brainy (colloquial), smart
intelligente – intelligent
acuto – sharp
furbo – cunning (negative)
essere in gamba – to be very capable