113 Ways to Characterize Your Protagonist

There are a lot of words that describe you and I at different times during the day. Our job as writers is to notice what those moods and attitudes are and put a word to them so readers will feel them. ‘Sad’ doesn’t have enough depth, but ‘bitter’, ‘stricken’, ‘grieved’, and heartsick’ all tell us more about the way the character is handling ‘sad’. They are much more compelling to the reader, likely to draw us in and make us like the character (which keeps us reading).

Here are more words with color you might like:

absent-minded

active

affable

ambitious

amiable

animated

annoyed

argumentative

arrogant

attentive

bossy

candid

capable

care-free

careful

caustic

cautious

charismatic

charming

clever

cold-hearted

compassionate

complacent

conceited

concerned confused

confident

considerate

cooperative

crafty

cruel

cultured

curious

finicky

frank

fussy

generous

intelligent

determined

eager

easygoing

effervescent

efficient

embarrassed

excited

exuberant

facetious

fair

fanciful

fidgety

fighter

grumpy loquacious

gentle intrepid

hard-working

harried

hardy

harsh

humorous

ill-bred

immature

impartial

impolite

impudent

impulsive

independent

industrious

inimitable

inventive

insipid

insistent

lackadaisical

leader

lovable

loyal reckless

relaxed

resourceful

restless

insolent

decisive

babyish

dependable

bewildered

determined

giddy

jealous

blasé

diligent

giving

jovial

boorish

discouraged

naive

hospitable

negligent

lucky

daring

demanding

doubtful

dutiful

malicious

mature

bossy

dishonest

glum

languid

disparaging

greedy

lively

busy

disrespectful

gregarious

logical

dissatisfied

grouchy