List of irregular English adjectives

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''Main text: Adjectives of relation.

For the purposes of this article, a "non-standard adjective" is an adjective of relation that is not derived from the same root as the corresponding noun, or is based on the same root, but in a way that is non-intuitive even to a native English speaker.

An incomplete list of nouns and their non-standard adjectives follows. You can use this to look up a non-standard adjective from the noun – a facility which many dictionaries do not offer. Some of the adjectives have a similar noun form, which acts as an alternative noun (for example, the adjective for "business" is given as "commercial", which has the corresponding noun "commerce"). Equivalent standard adjectives, where they exist, are not listed. For example, "abdominal" is not shown against "abdomen".

abdomen (belly) – ventral, alvine
abdominal cavity – c(o)eliac, visceral
actor, acting – histrionic (more commonly means overly theatrical, applied not just to actors), thespian (often facetious)
adjective – epithetic
aesthetic pleasure – sensuous
aging, the aged – geriatric, gerontic
agriculture – geoponic, georgic(al)
air – pneumatic, aerial
alphabet – abecedarian
amber – succinic
animal – zoic, zoological
ankle bone – astragalar
ant – formic, myrmecological
antimony – stibial
ape (or monkey) – simian
Aphrodite – cytherean
apple – malic, pomaceous
aristocracy – genteel
arm – brachial
armpit – axillary
arrangement – tactic
arrow – sagittal
ash (cinders) – cinerary
ass (animal) – asinine
author – auctorial
baby – infantile (often derogatory); see also child
back (anatomy) – dorsal, lumbar (lower part of back)
back of the head (also called the occiput) – occipital
badger – meline
barber – tonsorial
bat (animal) – chiropteran, vespertilian
bathroom – lavatorial, lavatory
baths, bathing – balneal
bear – ursine
bee – apian
beeswax – cerotic
beginning – initial
bell – tintinnabulary
bile – cholic
bird – avian, ornithic, volucrine
bird of prey – raptorial
birth – natal, parturient
birthday – genethliac
bishop – episcopal
Black Sea – euxine
bladder – cystic, vesical
blood – h(a)emal, h(a)ematic, h(a)emic, h(a)ematal, sanguineous
blood vessels – vascular
boat – see ship
bodily motion – gestic
body – corporal, corporeal, physical, somatic, carnal
bone – osseous, osteal, osteoid
boxing – pugilistic, fistic
brain – cerebral, cerebric, encephalic
branch – ramal
branching patterns – cladistic
bread – panary
breast – mammary, mammilary
breastbone – sternal
breeding season – nuptial
bridge – pontine
brother – fraternal
bud – blastous
building – edificial
bull – taurine
business – commercial
butter – butyric
butterfly – papilionaceous, lepidopterous (also applies to moths)
buttock – gluteal
car – automotive
cat – feline
chalk – cretaceous
cheese – caseous
chest (anatomy) – thoracic, pectoral
child – juvenile, puerile (usually derogatory); see also baby
chin – mental
China – Sinitic
china – ceramic
city – urban, civic
clock – horological
coin (or medal) – numismatic
comb – ctenoid
cooking – culinary
copper – cupric
countryside – rural, rustic, bucolic
cow – bovine
cross – cruciate
dance – terpsichorean
daughter (or son) – filial
dawn – see twilight
day – diurnal
dean – decanal
devil – diabolic(al), satanic
dog – canine
dream – oneiric
dusk – see twilight
eagle – aquiline
ear – aural, otic
east – oriental
Easter – paschal
elbow – anconoid
end – final, terminal
evening – vespertine
eye – optic, ocular, ophthalmic
eyelid – palpebral
father – paternal
finch – fringilline (also applies to other small birds)
finger (or toe) – digital
fire – igneous (now mostly refers to rock formed by solidification of magma)
fish – piscatorial, piscine
flesh – carnal
flood – diluvial, diluvian, clysmian
fog – brumous
foot (anatomy) – pedal
forestry – arboricultural
four – quaternary
fox – vulpine
France – Gallic
frog – ranine, batrachian (also applies to toads)
garden – horticultural
gemstone – lapidary
ghost – spectral
Glasgow – Glaswegian
glass – vitreous
goat – caprine
god – divine
gold – auric
goose – anserine
governor – gubernatorial
grass – gramineous
Greece – Hellenic
guardian – tutelary
hair – pilar
hand – manual
hare – leporine, lagomorphic (also applies to rabbits and pikas)
hearing – auditory, aural
heart – cardiac
heat – thermal
heather – ericaceous
hip (anatomy) – sciatic
horse – equine
ice – glacial
Ireland – Hibernian
iron – ferrous
island – insular
jaw (anatomy) – maxillary
kidney – renal, nephritic, nephric
mirror – specular
king (or queen) – regal
law – legal
lead (metal) – plumbeous
left (direction) – sinistral
leg – crural
letter (missive) – epistolary
life – vital
light (physics) – optic(al)
lion – leonine
lip (anatomy) – labial
liver (anatomy) – hepatic
lizard – saurian
love (sexual) – amatory, amorous
lung – pulmonary
machine – mechanical
man – masculine, virile (particularly emphasising strength and vigour)
marble – marmoreal
marriage – nuptial, conjugal, connubial, hymeneal
meal – prandial
meaning – semantic
milk – lactic
mind – mental
mirror – specular
mist – brumous
Monaco – Monégasque
money – pecuniary
monkey (or ape) – simian
moon – lunar
morning – matinal
moth (or butterfly) – lepidopterous
mother – maternal
mouse – murine
mouth – oral
name – nominal
neck – cervical
nephew – nepotal
nerve (anatomy) – neural
night – nocturnal
north – boreal
nose – nasal, rhinal
ocean – see sea
oil – oleic
owl – strigine
parish – parochial (now usually means narrow-minded)
pearl – margaric
penis – phallic
(the) people – popular, demotic
pig – porcine
plant – botanic(al)
pottery – ceramic
queen (or king) – regal
rabbit – lagomorphic (also applies to hares and pikas)
rain – pluvial
religion – theological
rib (anatomy) – costal
right (direction) – dextral
river – fluvial
river bank – riparian
sailor – nautical
Scotland – Caledonian
sea – maritime, marine, pelagic
seal (animal) – otarine
sheep – ovine
shepherd – pastoral
ship – nautical, marine, naval (usually applies to warships)
shore – littoral
shrew – soricine
sight – visual
sign – semiotic
sister – sororal
skin – dermal
skull – cranial
sky – celestial
sleep – hypnoid
slug (mollusc) – limacine
smell (sense) – olfactory
snake – serpentine
snow – niveous
son (or daughter) – filial
sound – sonic, acoustic
south – austral
Spain – Hispanic
sparrow – passerine (also applies to other perching birds)
speech – verbal
spider – arachnoid
spring (season) – vernal
squirrel – sciurine
star – stellar, sidereal
starch – farinaceous, amyloid
stomach – gastric (see also abdomen)
sulphur – thionic
summer – (a)estival
sun – solar
Switzerland – Helvetian, Helvetic
symbol – semiotic
table – mensal (especially dining table)
tail (anatomy) – caudal
tailor – sartorial
taste (sense) – gustatory
teacher – pedagogic(al) (now often derogatory)
ten – decimal
three – ternary
threshold – liminal
thunder – fulmineous
time – temporal
tin – stannic
toad (or frog) – batrachian
toe (or finger) – digital
tongue – lingual
tooth – dental
touch (sense) – tactile
town – urban
tree – arboreal, dendroid
truth – veracious
twilight – crepuscular
two – dual
uncle – avuncular
underworld – chthonic
wasp – vespine
water – aqueous
wax – cerotic (specifically, beeswax)
weather – meteorological
wedding – see marriage
west – occidental
whale – cetaceous
wife – uxorial
wind – aeolian (British), eolian (US)
window – fenestral
wine – vinic
wing – alar
winter – hibernal, hiemal
wolf – lupine
woman – feminine
word – lexical, verbal (usually refers to the spoken word)
wrist – carpal
year – annual

External links

[Adjectives of relation]

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