Today I’d like to have a look at some interesting adjectives. What they all have in common is that they contain the names of body parts. There are idiomatic adjectives with nearly each of the main parts of the body, and there are lots of them. Let’s have a look at some of the most popular ones.
If you prefer to watch a video first, here it is:
And now you can read about all the adjectives. There’s an example for each of them so that you can see how it can be used in a sentence.
All sorts of Body Parts Are Used to Make Adjectives
So, here they are:
Some adjectives with body parts are written as one word
openhanded
= generous
She’s one of the most openhanded contributors to the Save Our Planet project.
stouthearted
= brave and determined
After the battle the king invited the most stouthearted knights to join his royal guards.
tightfisted
= stingy, not generous
My tightfisted boss, for whom I’ve worked for over twenty years, refused to give me a raise again.
hardheaded
= very stubborn
He’s a hardheaded old man. It will be very hard to persuade him to sell his house and leave his hometown.
heavyhearted
= sad, depressed
Maria was heavyhearted at having lost her patient. But there had been no way she could have saved his life.
Some are hyphenated
weak-kneed
= characterless, lacking willpower
He’ll tell you what you want to hear. Your opinion will be his opinion as well. He’s such a weak-kneed person!
tight-lipped
= silent, not willing to speak
I had to remain tight-lipped about the party in her presence because she was the only person who hadn’t been invited.
two-faced
= hypocritical
Oh, really? The two-faced liar told you I did it? Well, he told me you did it. So, who did it actually?
big-headed
= conceited, self-important
My first interviewee, when I was just starting off as a journalist after graduation, was this big-headed star, what’s his name?
starry-eyed
= idealistic, utopian, visionary
I think you’re a bit too starry-eyed about your future. Are you sure just the elementary education you have is all you need?
thick-skinned
= not sensitive
If you really want to succeed in politics, you need to be much more thick-skinned than you are.
Naturally, there are more, tons of them actually. But you always have to choose a suitable moment to knock it off, don’t you?