Physical Appearance
Learn Physical Appearance in English to describe people’s looks clearly with common vocabulary for height, hair, face, and build.
Physical appearance is how a person looks. You can describe a person by height, build, hair, eyes, face, and age-related appearance. These words help you talk about people in a clear way.
Height words describe how tall or short a person is. Common words are tall, short, and medium-height. You can also say that two people are about the same height.
| Word or Phrase | Definition |
|---|---|
| tall | A tall person has more height than many other people. |
| short | A short person has less height than many other people. |
| medium-height | A medium-height person is not very tall and not very short. |
| about the same height | This phrase means two people have a similar height. |
Build words describe the shape and size of the body. Common adjectives are slim, thin, heavy, and muscular. These words give a simple picture of the body.
| Word or Phrase | Definition |
|---|---|
| slim | A slim person has a narrow body shape. |
| thin | A thin person has little body fat. |
| heavy | A heavy person has a large body size. |
| muscular | A muscular person has strong, large muscles. |
Hair description can talk about color, length, and style. You can describe hair as black, brown, blonde, long, short, curly, or straight. These words are very common in physical descriptions.
| Word or Phrase | Definition |
|---|---|
| black hair | This means the hair is black. |
| brown hair | This means the hair is brown. |
| blonde hair | This means the hair is light yellow. |
| long hair | This means the hair has a lot of length. |
| short hair | This means the hair does not have much length. |
| curly hair | This means the hair has curls. |
| straight hair | This means the hair is smooth and not curly. |
Eye descriptions usually talk about color. Common colors are brown, blue, green, and gray. You can use these words to add more detail to a description.
| Word or Phrase | Definition |
|---|---|
| brown eyes | This means the eyes are brown. |
| blue eyes | This means the eyes are blue. |
| green eyes | This means the eyes are green. |
| gray eyes | This means the eyes are gray. |
Some words describe facial features. A beard is hair on a man's chin and cheeks. A moustache is hair above the upper lip, and glasses are worn over the eyes.
| Word or Phrase | Definition |
|---|---|
| beard | A beard is hair on the chin and cheeks. |
| moustache | A moustache is hair above the upper lip. |
| glasses | Glasses are worn over the eyes to help a person see or as a style item. |
Some words describe how old a person looks. Young describes a person with a low age. Middle-aged describes a person who is not young and not old, and old describes a person with a high age.
| Word or Phrase | Definition |
|---|---|
| young | A young person has a low age. |
| middle-aged | A middle-aged person is between young and old. |
| old | An old person has a high age. |
You can compare people with simple phrases. You can say one person is taller, shorter, or slimmer than another person. You can also say two people look similar or look different.
| Word or Phrase | Definition |
|---|---|
| taller than | This phrase compares height and shows that one person has more height than another. |
| shorter than | This phrase compares height and shows that one person has less height than another. |
| slimmer than | This phrase compares build and shows that one person has a narrower body shape than another. |
| look similar | This phrase means two people have a similar appearance. |
| look different | This phrase means two people do not have the same appearance. |
You can now describe what people look like in English. You can talk about height, build, hair, eyes, facial features, and age-related appearance. You can also compare how two people look with common words and phrases.