Meaning & use

commonly used adjectives

phrase·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ˌkɒmənli juːzd ˈædʒɪktɪvz/
US/ˌkɑːmənli juːzd ˈædʒɪktɪvz/

Meaning

  1. phraseplural

    adjectives that are used very often in English and are familiar to most speakers

    Grammar: Always plural; you can say 'a commonly used adjective' for one.

    Patterns

    • commonly used adjectives include
    • list of commonly used adjectives
    • learn commonly used adjectives

    The teacher gave us a list of commonly used adjectives to study.

    Words like 'good', 'bad', and 'happy' are commonly used adjectives.

    In this lesson, we will practice commonly used adjectives for describing people.

Common combinations

a list of commonly used adjectives
She made a list of commonly used adjectives for her students.
commonly used adjectives include
Commonly used adjectives include 'big', 'small', and 'new'.
learn commonly used adjectives
Beginners should learn commonly used adjectives first.

Synonyms and how they differ

frequent adjectives
Less common; 'commonly used' is the natural phrase.
everyday adjectives
This emphasizes that the adjectives are part of daily language, not just frequent.

Commonly confused: commonly used adjectives or common adjectives?

commonly used adjectives vs common adjectives

This is similar but can also mean adjectives that are shared or ordinary, while 'commonly used' focuses on frequency of use.

Practice

Which of these is a commonly used adjective?

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