Attributive Adjective Examples

These attributive adjective examples show you how this type of adjective is formed.

Attributive adjectives are those that are placed directly adjacent to the noun or pronoun it modifies. They are not separated from a noun by a linking verb (these are predicative adjectives).

Attributive adjectives usually come directly before the noun or pronoun they modify though they can also come after it.

It was a cold room (before the noun)
Opening the windows made the room cold (after the noun)

In the attributive adjective examples below, the adjective is in red and the noun/pronoun in blue.

Attributive Adjective Examples

Before the noun:

John enjoys spicy food.
The silly, spoiled boy shouted at his mother.
They live in a beautiful cottage.
Mike is wearing a sleeveless jumper.
She is planning to buy a colourful dress.
He has meaningless conversations.
Adorable pop stars tend to sell more records.
She decided to buy a black cat.
It's a gloomy outlook for the weather this week.
A slow journey puts me off travelling.
Small suitcases are best for short trips.
The scented candles were quite expensive.

After the noun:

I'm surprised to see you as I was expecting someone else.
We moved into the best apartment available.
He took the quickest route possible.
She told the story in the scariest way imaginable.
Susan aims to try something new.
He doesn't want to travel somewhere dangerous.
He'll arrive sometime soon I think.

In the ones after nouns, you'll see they are commonly used to give added emphasis to a preceding superlative adjective (e.g. best, quickest) or after indefinite pronouns (e.g.something, somewhere, sometime).