Feelings Words From A to Z: The ABC's of Emotions

Parents often ask their kids to express themselves with words—"Use your words!" is a common playground refrain—but it's not easy for children. They are still exploring feelings and they are sorely in need of an emotional vocabulary to hang these feelings on. There are many different activities you can use with your children on a daily basis to help increase their bank of "feelings words," including keeping a feelings journal.

The key component in increasing emotional vocabulary, though, is having a large pool of words to choose from.

Learning to identify a variety of different emotions is a big part of cultivating your child's emotional intelligence and social competence. To help you and your child dig a little deeper, here’s a list of feelings words from A to Z.

A

angry, annoyed, agreeable, afraid, awkward, affectionate, anxious, alarmed, awful, abandoned, absent-minded, accepted, aggravated

B

brave, bored, bothered, bewildered, brilliant, bitter, bashful, bad, blue, baffled, bummed out

C

confused, cheery, cooperative, caring, confident, calm, clumsy, curious, content, competent, compassionate, considerate, cautious, cranky, clever

D

disorganized, defiant, depressed, discouraged, delighted, disgusted, determined, disappointed, dumb, detached, destructive, daring, disillusioned, devious

E

energetic, encouraged, enthusiastic, embarrassed, edgy, excited, empathetic, envious, exhausted, eager, exuberant, expectant, enraged

F

friendly, funny, frightened, fearful, furious, foolish, fed up, frustrated, forgiving, flustered, fortunate

G

grouchy, guilty, great, groovy, grief-stricken, generous, greedy, grateful, gullible, grumpy, green with envy

H

happy, humiliated, hurt, helpless, hopeless, honest, horrified, hesitant, hilarious, humble, honored, heartbroken

I

irritated, interested, insecure, impatient, ignored, inspired, inadequate, irrational, ignorant, indifferent, irked, irresponsible, invisible

J

jealous, joyful, judgemental, jumpy, jaded, jocular, jinxed

K

kind, keen, knocked down, kooky

laid back, loving, lonely, labile, lackluster, light-hearted, likable, lost, lousy, lucky, lazy, loopy, leery

M

mad, mixed-up, meek, mean, miserable, malevolent, marvelous, magical, manipulated, manipulative, maternal, modest, misunderstood, mischievous, mopey, mistrustful, mellow, melodramatic, moody

N

nice, naughty, nasty, nauseated, nervous, nerdy, nutty, noble, noisy, neglected, neglectful, needy, needed, nifty, naive, nonchalant, nonplussed

O

okay, overpowered, overjoyed, over-the-top, obedient, obsessive, off, odd, offended, out-of-control, outraged, overloaded, overstimulated, obstinate, obligated

P

panicked, peaceful, playful, pensive, proud, peeved, patronized, peachy, perfect, peppy, pensive, puzzled, powerful, powerless, picky, pleased, psyched, petty, petulant, preoccupied

Q

quiet, questioned, questionable, quirky, quarrelsome, quivery, qualified, querulous

R

respected, relieved, relaxed, resentful, rattled, refreshed, repulsed, rageful, rational, reasonable, reactive, ready, rebellious, reluctant, reassured, restive, restful, remorseful, reserved

S

sad, surprised, silly, smiley, scared, sorry, serious, stupid, shy, satisfied, sensitive, safe, stressed out, stubborn, sarcastic, sassy, spiteful, scornful, secure, serene, smug, snarky, snarly, sociable

T

thankful, tearful, thoughtful, terrific, talkative, tolerant, trusted, temperamental, terrified, timid, tired, tantrumy, troubled, tickled, torn, trustworthy, touched, threatened

U

understood, understanding, uneasy, uncertain, ugly, uncomfortable, unruffled, unafraid, useless, unimpressed, unappreciated, undecided, unique, unruly, up

V

vivacious, vain, vibrant, violent, valued, vital, vexed, volatile, vulnerable, victorious, vacant

W

worried, wacky, wary, weak, weary, weird, wistful, woeful, weepy, well, whiny, worn out, wound up, whimsical, warm, witty, withdrawn, worthless, wronged, willful, wishful