Character Traits

An image showing several words which can be used as affirmations, but also as character traits in writing.

Every person on the face of this earth has positive and negative character traits, and so should the characters in your story. A character can’t be all good, or all negative.

The lists below show positive and negative character traits which you can use to build your character.
As always, make sure you consult a dictionary when you don’t know whether a word means what you think it does!

Tip: Use positive character traits to find negative ones and vice versa.

Positive

accessible	educated	lovable	responsible
adaptable	efficient	loving	responsive
adventurous	eloquent	loyal	romantic
affable	empathetic	magnanimous	scrupulous
affectionate	encouraging	mature	secure
agreeable	energetic	meticulous	self-confident
ambitious	enthusiastic	moderate	self-disciplined
amicable	exuberant	modest	selfless
amusing	fair	neat	sensible
articulate	faithful	non-authoritarian	sensitive
balanced	fearless	obedient	shy
benevolent	firm	objective	sincere
brave	flexible	open	skillful
bright	focused	optimistic	sociable
brilliant	forgiving	orderly	solid
broad-minded	frank	organized	spontaneous
capable	friendly	original	sporting
captivating	funny	passionate	stable
careful	generous	patient	steadfast
caring	gentle	peaceful	stoic
charming	genuine	perceptive	straightforward
clear-headed	gracious	persistent	strong
clever	gregarious	personable	suave
compassionate	hard-working	persuasive	subtle
confident	helpful	pioneering	sympathetic
conscientious	heroic	placid	tasteful
considerate	honest	plucky	thorough
courageous	humble	polished	thoughtful
courteous	humorous	polite	tidy
creative	idealistic	powerful	tolerant
curious	imaginative	practical	tough
daring	impartial	precise	unassuming
decent	incisive	principled	uncomplaining
decisive	independent	profound	understanding
educated	innovative	protective	upright
dependable	insightful	prudent	versatile
determined	intelligent	punctual	vivacious
dignified	intuitive	quick-witted	warm
diligent	inventive	quiet	well-read
diplomatic	invulnerable	rational	well-rounded
disciplined	keen	relaxed	willing
discreet	kind	reliable	wise
dynamic	liberal	reserved	witty
easy-going	logical	resourceful

Negative

abrasive	enervated	mechanical	rude
aggressive	envious	melodramatic	ruthless
aimless	erratic	miserable	sadistic
aloof	extravagant	moody	sanctimonious
angry	extreme	nagging	scornful
anxious	facetious	narcissistic	secretive
arrogant	fanatical	narrow-minded	self-indulgent
artificial	finicky	nasty	selfish
base	fixed	naughty	shameless
belligerent	flippant	neglectful	slovenly
bitchy	foolish	nervous	sly
blunt	forgetful	neurotic	sneaky
boastful	fussy	nosy	sordid
boorish	gloomy	obnoxious	stingy
boring	greedy	obsessive	stubborn
callous	grim	obstinate	stupid
calculating	grumpy	offhand	superficial
careless	gullible	opinionated	surly
caustic	harsh	outrageous	tactless
changeable	hateful	over-critical	tasteless
charmless	hesitant	over-emotional	temperamental
cold	hostile	paranoid	tense
coarse	ignorant	passive	thoughtless
compulsive	impatient	pathetic	touchy
conceited	impractical	patronizing	truculent
condemnatory	impulsive	perverse	uncaring
cowardly	inconsiderate	petty	uncharitable
crafty	indecisive	pessimistic	unfriendly
crazy	indiscreet	petulant	unkind
cruel	inflexible	picky	unrealistic
cunning	inhibited	plodding	unreliable
deceitful	insecure	pompous	unruly
demanding	insensitive	predatory	unstable
dependent	insulting	prejudiced	untidy
desperate	intolerant	pretentious	untrustworthy
destructive	irrational	prim	vague
detached	irresponsible	procrastinating	vain
difficult	jealous	puritanical	vengeful
dishonest	judgemental	quick-tempered	vindictive
disloyal	killjoy	quixotic	weak
disobedient	lay	rash	weak-willed
disruptive	malicious	resentful	wilful
dogmatic	materialistic	ridiculous	withdrawn
dull	mean	rigid