Adjectives and opposites in German
Learning Adjectives and opposites in German allows you to expand your vocabulary and express yourself more precisely. It provides you with a wider range of descriptive words to accurately convey your thoughts, opinions, and observations in German.
Learning German adjectives as pairs of opposites is an effective way to anchor vocabulary in your memory. If you memorise each word together with its antonym, you’re doubling the amount of new German adjectives you acquire and strengthen your recall thanks to the mnemonic device of pairing.
The following list of German adjectives is based on frequency of use in conversation and how useful the words are to language learners of all levels.
| GERMAN | ENGLISH | OPPOSITE | ENGLISH |
| ähnlich | similar | unähnlich, verschieden | different |
| alt | old | jung, neu, modern | young, new, modern |
| angenehm | enjoyable | unangenehm | unpleasant |
| anwesend | present | abwesend | absent |
| bekannt | known, famous | unbekannt | unknown |
| besser | better | schlechter | worse |
| bestimmt | specific, definite, certain | unbestimmt | indefinite |
| bunt | colorful | einfarbig | plain, monochrome |
| dankbar | grateful | undankbar | ungrateful |
| deutlich | clear, distinct, obvious | undeutlich | indistinct |
| dick | thick, fat | dünn | thin |
| direkt | direct, straight | indirekt | indirect |
| ehrlich | honest | unehrlich | dishonest |
| eigen | own, proper | uneigen, fremd | strange, external |
| einzeln | single, individual, lone, odd | viel, zusammen | a lot, together |
| elegant | elegant | unelegant | inelegant |
| empfindlich | sensitive | unempfindlich | insensitive |
| eng | tight, narrow, close, snug | weit | loose, far |
| erfahren | experienced | unerfahren | inexperienced |
| fest | firm | locker, weich | loose, soft |
| flach | flat, shallow | steil, tief | steep, deep |
| fleißig | diligent | faul | lazy |
| frei | free | unfrei | unfree |
| freundlich | friendly | unfreundlich | unfriendly |
| froh | glad | traurig | sad |
| geduldig | patient | ungeduldig | impatient |
| geizig | stingy | großzügig | generous |
| gemeinsam | together | allein | alone |
| gemütlich | Comfortable, cozy | ungemütlich | uncomfortable |
| genau | exact, accurate, precise | ungenau | inaccurate |
| gerade | straight, right, even, direct | ungerade, krumm | odd, crooked |
| geschickt | clever, skillful, adept | ungeschickt | clumsy |
| gesund | healthy | ungesund, krank | unhealthy, sick |
| gewiss | certain, sure | ungewiss | uncertain |
| glatt | smooth | rau | rough |
| gleich | equal, similar | ungleich, verschieden | unequal, different |
| glücklich | happy | unglücklich | unhappy |
| groß | large, big | klein | small, tiny |
| gut | good | schlecht, böse | bad, evil |
| halb | half | ganz | whole |
| hart | hard | weich | soft |
| häufig | frequent, common | selten | rare |
| heiß | hot | kalt | cold |
| hell | bright | dunkel | dark |
