Adjectives can enhance your writing with extra detail and are perfect for creating unique, vivid descriptions.

When writing descriptions, writers should avoid clichés and overused common adjectives. Try using some uncommon H adjectives to modify nouns if you want to create some unique imagery.

In this article, we’ll give you 140+ adjectives that start with H. We’ve also sorted them into types of words so you can find the perfect adjective for your writing.

Positive Adjectives Starting With H

When you’re trying to create an uplifting, positive tone in your writing, it’s important to include positive adjectives. If you’re describing a story that centers on a funny knight who goes on an adventure, you could use positive adjectives starting with H, such as “heroic,” “hilarious,” and “historical.”

You can use positive words when you want to highlight how good something is, which is great for advertising and selling products. For example, if you’re selling an expensive house, you can appeal to the buyer’s feelings by describing it as “high-end but homely.” 

Here’s a list of 27 positive adjectives that start with H:

• Hardworking

• Hardy

• Harmless

• Harmonic

• Harmonious

• Healthy

• Heart-shaped

• Heartfelt

• Hearty

• Heavenly

• Helpful

• Heroic

• High-end

• High-functioning

• Hilarious

• Historical

• Homely

• Homey

• Honest

• Honorable

• Honored

• Hopeful

• Hospitable

• Huggable

• Humanitarian

• Humble

• Humorous

Negative Words That Start With H

Negative words can describe unfavorable attributes or unpleasant characters, which you can use in creative writing or copywriting. Using a lot of negative words in your writing will give it an overall negative tone and make your reader feel like they’re reading about something bad.

There are some great negative adjectives beginning with H you can use to describe antagonists in a horror or crime story. You could use “heartless,” “heinous,” or “hollow” to give the reader an insight into the personality of the villain.

Here’s a list of 41 negative adjectives starting with H:

• Haggard

• Half-hearted

• Hallowed

• Haphazard

• Hapless

• Harebrained

• Harmful

• Harsh

• Hasty

• Hated

• Hateful

• Hazardous

• Heartbreaking

• Heartbroken

• Heartless

• Hectic

• Heinous

• Helpless

• Hideous

• High-risk

• Highfalutin

• Hollow

• Hopeless

• Horrendous

• Horrible

• Horrid

• Horrific

• Horrified

• Horrifying

• Hostile

• Hot-tempered

• Hotheaded

• Howling

• Huffy

• Humiliated

• Humiliating

• Humorless

• Hurt

• Hurtful

• Hypercritical

• Hyperirritable

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H Words to Describe Someone

If you’re describing a character or giving a description of someone in a report, use adjectives to help your reader imagine what that person is like. Adjectives can help you specify physical appearances, such as “hairy” or “haggard.”

For creative writers, adjectives for describing characters are great for cutting down word count and improving your use of imagery in your writing. For example, if you want to say a character gets angry quickly or gets irritated easily, you could describe them as “hot-tempered.”

Here’s a list of 84 words beginning with H to describe someone:

• Habitual

• Haggard

• Hairless

• Hairy

• Half-hearted

• Hallowed

• Handsome

• Handy

• Happy

• Happy-go-lucky

• Hard worker

• Hardworking

• Hardy

• Harebrained

• Harmless

• Harsh

• Hasty

• Hated

• Hateful

• Haughty

• Hawkish

• Healthy

• Heartbroken

• Heartless

• Hearty

• Heavenly

• Heinous

• Helpful

• Helpless

• Heroic

• Hesitant

• Hideous

• High-functioning

• High-maintenance

• Highfalutin

• Hilarious

• Hindu

• Hispanic

• Hoarse

• Hollow

• Homegrown

• Homeless

• Honest

• Honorable

• Honored

• Hopeful

• Hopeless

• Hormonal

• Horrendous

• Horrible

• Horrid

• Horrified

• Horrifying

• Hostile

• Hot

• Hot-blooded

• Hotshot

• Hot-tempered

• Hotheaded

• Huffy

• Huge

• Huggable

• Hulking

• Human

• Humanitarian

• Humanlike

• Humble

• Humiliated

• Humiliating

• Humorless

• Humorous

• Hungry

• Hurried

• Hurt

• Hurtful

• Husky

• Hyperactive

• Hyperbolic

• Hypercritical

• Hyperirritable

• Hypersensitive

• Hypertensive

• Hypnotic

• Hysterical

Character Traits That Start With H

You can use character traits that start with H to develop your characters in creative writing. Character traits are useful for creating engaging writing, as your reader will be more likely to root for your main character if they have relatable traits.

Character traits can also create conflict within the story if you put two characters with opposing traits together in scenes. For example, your main character might be a habitual, hardworking person who has to work closely with a happy-go-lucky, harebrained person.  

Here’s a list of 16 character trait adjectives that start with H:

• Habitual

• Handsome

• Hapless

• Happy-go-lucky

• Hardworking

• Harebrained

• Hateful

• Heartless

• Heroic

• High-functioning

• High-maintenance

• Honest

• Honorable

• Hopeful

• Hopeless

• Humble

Compliments That Start With H

Adjectives give your compliments more depth and are likely to be received well because you’ve put more effort into commenting on a person positively.

If someone has helped you achieve a goal at work and you need to compliment them on their input, you could use some adjectives that start with H. For example, you might describe them as “helpful” or “hardworking,” and you could say you are “hopeful” to have them working with you again in the future.

Here’s a list of 14 adjectives that start with H, which you can use for compliments:

• Handsome

• Hardworking

• Healthy

• Heartfelt

• Heavenly

• Helpful

• Heroic

• Hilarious

• Honest

• Honorable

• Honored

• Hopeful

• Humble

• Humorous

Funny Words That Start With H

Whether you’re writing creative fiction in the comedy genre or you are writing some copy and need funny words, don’t forget to use funny adjectives.

Some brands like to remind their customers that they don’t take themselves too seriously, and they can do that by using funny words in their branding. If you’re working on a branding project like that, you’ll need some funny adjectives.

Here’s a list of 22 funny adjectives that start with H:

• Hairy

• Handy

• Happy

• Happy-go-lucky

• Harebrained

• Haughty

• Hazy

• Hefty

• Highfalutin

• Hilarious

• Hoarse

• Hoggish

• Hot pink

• Hotshot

• Howling

• Huffy

• Huggable

• Humdrum

• Humongous

• Humorous

• Husky

• Hypnotizable

Descriptive Words That Start With H

If you’re looking for an adjective starting with H but the other categories we’ve listed don’t include a suitable word for your project, we’ve compiled a list of as many H adjectives as we can find.

Here’s our full list of 148 descriptive adjectives that start with H:

• Habitable

• Habitual

• Haggard

• Hairless

• Hairy

• Half

• Half-hearted

• Hallowed

• Halting

• Handmade

• Handsome

• Handy

• Hanging

• Haphazard

• Hapless

• Happy

• Happy-go-lucky

• Hard

• Hard-core

• Hard-hitting

• Hardworking

• Hardy

• Harebrained

• Harmful

• Harmless

• Harmonic

• Harmonious

• Harried

• Harsh

• Hasty

• Hated

• Hateful

• Haughty

• Haunting

• Hawkish

• Hazardous

• Hazy

• Heady

• Healthy

• Heart-shaped

• Heartbreaking

• Heartbroken

• Heartfelt

• Heartless

• Heartrending

• Hearty

• Heated

• Heavenly

• Heavy

• Hectic

• Hefty

• Heinous

• Helpful

• Helpless

• Herbal

• Heritage

• Heroic

• Hesitant

• Hidden

• Hideous

• High

• High-end

• High-level

• High-maintenance

• High-octane

• High-pitched

• High-risk

• Highest

• Highfalutin

• Hilarious

• Hindu

• Hispanic

• Historic

• Historical

• Hoarse

• Hoggish

• Holistic

• Hollow

• Home

• Homegrown

• Homeless

• Homely

• Homeopathic

• Homey

• Homogeneous

• Honest

• Honorable

• Honored

• Honor

• Hooked

• Hopeful

• Hopeless

• Horizontal

• Hormonal

• Horned

• Horrendous

• Horrible

• Horrid

• Horrific

• Horrified

• Horrifying

• Hospitable

• Hostile

• Hot

• Hot pink

• Hot-blooded

• Hotshot

• Hot-tempered

• Hotheaded

• Hour-long

• House

• Howling

• Huffy

• Huge

• Huggable

• Hulking

• Human

• Humanitarian

• Humanlike

• Humble

• Humdrum

• Humid

• Humiliated

• Humiliating

• Humongous

• Humorless

• Humorous

• Hundred

• Hungry

• Hurried

• Hurt

• Hurtful

• Hushed

• Husky

• Hydraulic

• Hydrothermal

• Hygienic

• Hyperactive

• Hyperbolic

• Hypercritical

• Hyperfunctional

• Hyperirritable

• Hypersensitive

• Hypertensive

• Hypnotic

• Hypnotizable

• Hypothetical

• Hysterical

As you can see, there are so many adjectives that start with H that you can use to improve your writing.

If you want to check your writing for how many adjectives you’ve included, or you want to make sure you’ve added enough sensory details in your writing, try using ProWritingAid. You can use the Thesaurus report to see all instances of adjectives highlighted in your document.

The Sensory report will pick up all examples where you’ve used descriptions that relate to the senses in your writing. These are perfect places to make sure you’re including adjectives to enhance your descriptions.

If you need adjectives that start with H for your writing, remember to use the lists in this article.