Absolute Adjective Examples, List & Worksheet

What is absolute adjective?

The adjective is a part of speech that has grammatical properties. However, some adjectives such as dead do not lend themselves to degrees. These are known as absolute adjectives and cannot be formed into comparatives or superlative adjectives.

Absolute adjectives do not have degrees, so they cannot be modified by intensifying adverbs such as “very”, “extremely” and “rather”.

Absolute adjectives, also known as intensive adjectives, are words added to nouns to describe a characteristic of the person or thing to which they refer. They always come before the nouns whose characteristics they describe.

Absolute Adjective Examples

Examples of absolute adjectives are ancient, enormous, infinite, and limitless. It would not be reasonable to say more ancient, just as it would not be reasonable to say more very old.

Let’s see some example sentences;

1. One can get rid of dead wood by chopping, splitting or burning it.
2. If you are using dead pixels in your campaign, you will need to find a replacement.
3. The consultant has made some excellent suggestions for correcting the problem
4. You have been a brilliant partner in this project.
5. You carried out correct and complete research.
6. A correct assessment will build trust.
7. The ultimate victory ripped from his fingertips just as he thought it was in sight.
8. Furiously fast against his opponent, but did not quite land the required blow.
9. Equal opportunities for all.
10. It’s a unique opportunity to gain invaluable experience in the creative field.

Absolute Adjective List

Here is the list of commonly used absolute adjectives:

1. absolute
2. awful
3. brilliant
4. complete
5. dead
6. digital
7. enormous
8. entire
9. equal
10. essential
11. excellent
12. fatal
13. favorite
14. final
15. full
16. furious
17. gigantic
18. gorgeous
19. hilarious
20. horrible
21. huge
22. incredible
23. inferior
24. infinite
25. perfect
26. possible
27. ridiculous
28. superior
29. terrible
30. tiny
31. true
32. ultimate
33. unique
34. universal
35. unknown

Exceptions are always there

Technically, absolute adjectives cannot be modified by adverbs of intensity. Some absolute adjectives, however, can be modified by adverbs of completeness, such as almost.

Almost full.

You can notice that “almost” modified the intensity of a word. It doesn’t work with a lot of the words we normally use to intensify our adjectives, including really and terribly.

Absolute Adjective Worksheet

Identify the absolute adjectives in the given sentences.

1. Excellent leaders provide a vision.
2. Dead wood is suitable for the purpose of fuel.
3. The perfect report is well organized.
4. A brilliant manager will build confidence through small victories.
5. We are looking for individuals with an equal interest in business, marketing and design.
6. The opposition was dead on their feet at the end of the debate; they hadn’t got any energy left.
7. Here you will work directly with our team of dedicated professionals and get ultimate exposure to brands across the globe.
8. Due to its unknown nature, it is impossible to differentiate this pair of pants from the rest of the clothes in your closet.
9. It is ridiculous to believe you can forecast stock prices from Google searches.
10. A complete description is agreeable to a variety of audiences.

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Answers

1. excellent
2. dead
3. perfect
4. brilliant
5. equal
6. dead
7. ultimate
8. unknown
9. ridiculous
10. complete

Further Reading

• Adjective Examples (50 Sentences)
• Adjectives Exercises with Answers
• Possessive Adjective
• Demonstrative Adjective
• Parts of Speech with Examples
• Parts of Speech Chart
• Parts of Speech Examples