Adjectives That Start With R: 200+ R Adjectives

If you want to add more description to your writing, you can use adjectives to modify nouns and provide more detail to your readers.

When considering which adjectives to add, remember there are weak and strong adjectives. Weak adjectives are vague and don’t really add more detail to the noun, whereas strong adjectives are specific and help create vivid descriptions in your writing.

In this article, we’ll give you several lists of adjectives that start with R, which you can use to add more detail to your descriptions.

R Words to Describe Someone

When you need to describe someone, such as a character in a novel, you can use adjectives that start with R to create a more detailed image in your reader’s mind.

For example, if you have a spontaneous character who doesn’t care much about himself or the rules, you could call them “rebellious,” “reckless,” or “ruthless.”

Here’s a list of adjectives that start with R you can use to describe someone:

• Racial

• Racist

• Radiant

• Radical

• Raging

• Rambling

• Rambunctious

• Random

• Rare

• Rascally

• Rash

• Raspy

• Rational

• Ratty

• Ravenous

• Raving

• Ravishing

• Ready

• Real

• Reasonable

• Reassured

• Reassuring

• Rebel

• Rebellious

• Reckless

• Reclusive

• Recognizable

• Recognized

• Red-blooded

• Redeemable

• Redundant

• Reflective

• Refreshed

• Regal

• Regional

• Regretful

• Reigning

• Rejected

• Relatable

• Relative

• Relaxed

• Relaxing

• Relentless

• Relevant

• Reliable

• Relieved

• Religious

• Reluctant

• Remarkable

• Reminiscent

• Remorseful

• Remorseless

• Repetitious

• Replaceable

• Representative

• Repressive

• Reproachful

• Reproductive

• Republican

• Repugnant

• Repulsive

• Reputable

• Reputed

• Rescued

• Resentful

• Reserved

• Resilient

• Resolute

• Resonant

• Resourceful

• Respectable

• Respected

• Respectful

• Responsible

• Responsive

• Rested

• Restful

• Restless

• Results-driven

• Results-oriented

• Retired

• Revengeful

• Reverent

• Revolting

• Revolutionary

• Rich

• Richer

• Richest

• Right

• Right-handed

• Righteous

• Rightful

• Rigid

• Riotous

• Risky

• Ritualistic

• Riveting

• Robotic

• Roguish

• Romantic

• Rotund

• Rowdy

• Royal

• Rude

• Rueful

• Rugged

• Ruthless

R Words to Describe Someone You Love

There are several adjectives starting with the letter R you can use to describe the person you love.

If you love someone, it can be a good idea to use uncommon adjectives to convey a sense of how much you adore them. For example, instead of using the common adjective “impressive,” you could say they’re “remarkable.”

Here’s a list of R adjectives you can use to describe someone you love:

• Radiant

• Rare

• Ravenous

• Ravishing

• Regal

• Remarkable

• Romantic

• Royal

Compliments That Start With R

Everyone loves to be complimented for their work and the way they look, so you can add positive adjectives that start with R to your compliment. A detailed compliment sounds more thoughtful and sincere.

Here’s a list of positive adjectives beginning with the letter R you can use to make detailed compliments:

• Radiant

• Rainbow-colored

• Rare

• Rational

• Reactive

• Ready

• Real

• Realistic

• Reasonable

• Reassured

• Reassuring

• Recent

• Receptive

• Reflective

• Relatable

• Relative

• Relaxed

• Relentless

• Relevant

• Reliable

• Remarkable

• Reputable

• Resilient

• Resolute

• Resounding

• Resourceful

• Respectable

• Responsive

• Results-driven

• Reviewable

• Revolutionary

• Rewarding

• Right

• Riveting

• Robust

• Rousing

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Mean Words That Start With R

Mean adjectives that start with R are negative adjectives used to describe something bad. If you need to create a negative or dark tone in your writing, you could use some mean or negative descriptive words to do it.

There are several negative adjectives that start with R you can use for something that’s decomposing or disgusting. For example, you could use “rank,” “rancid,” and “rotting.”

Here’s a list of adjectives that start with R that can describe something as mean:

• Rabid

• Racist

• Ragged

• Rakish

• Rancid

• Rancorous

• Rank

• Rash

• Ratty

• Regrettable

• Rejected

• Repugnant

• Repulsive

• Resentful

• Revengeful

• Reviled

• Revolting

• Ridiculous

• Rotten

• Rotting

• Rough

• Rowdy

• Ruinous

Funny Words That Start With R

Writers often use funny adjectives in descriptions of humorous things or in children’s books, where the sound of the word is funny.

Sometimes an adjective that sounds funny might have a more serious meaning. For example, the word “rambunctious” sounds funny to say, but it means unruly and undisciplined. If you were using the word in a children’s book, you could describe a group of rambunctious rabbits. 

There are many ways you can use funny adjectives that start with R to create a light tone and funny sentences.

Here’s a list of funny adjectives that start with R:

• Ragged

• Rakish

• Rambunctious

• Rampageous

• Rancorous

• Random

• Rapturous

• Rarefied

• Rascally

• Ratty

• Raving

• Rebellious

• Reddish

• Revamped

• Ridiculous

• Risky

• Ritzy

• Robotic

• Rocketing

• Roguish

• Rotund

• Rowdy

• Rubbery

• Ruddy

• Rugged

• Rumbling

• Rumpled

• Runny

• Rusty

Beautiful Words That Start With R

When you want to write about something that looks good, it’s best to pick a strong adjective to convey just how good it is. It shows you aren’t relying on common adjectives such as “beautiful.”

For example, you could use the word “riveting” to describe something that’s beautiful as it puts more emphasis on the beauty.

There are many words in the English language that start with R you can use instead of “beautiful.”

Here’s a list of words that start with R to use when describing something beautiful:

• Radiant

• Rapturous

• Ravishing

• Real

• Refreshing

• Regal

• Remarkable

• Reverent

• Revolutionary

• Riveting

• Royal

There you go, over 200 adjectives you can use to add more detail to descriptions in your writing.

If you’re not sure whether you’ve included adjectives in your writing, you can check using ProWritingAid during your editing process. If you want to focus on your descriptions, you can use the Thesaurus, Sensory, and Cliché reports.

The Thesaurus report will highlight all instances of adjectives in your writing. If you’re aiming for a lot of detail in your descriptions but you don’t see many adjectives highlighted, you can try adding some adjectives that start with R to increase your scores.

The Sensory report reviews your writing to see if you have included concrete details related to the five senses. Vivid descriptions use sensory detail to create more specific images in your reader’s mind. Use the report to see how much concrete detail your writing has.

The Cliché report is great for identifying weak adjectives because it highlights any vague or abstract words you’ve used in your writing. There are many strong adjectives that start with R in the lists above, so you can use those to replace your vague descriptions.

We hope our lists help you create remarkable descriptions in your writing.