English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate » Unit 7: Describing people: appearance

Word List
  • anorexic
  • auburn
  • bald
  • beard
  • beautiful
  • black
  • blonde
  • brownish
  • chubby
  • complexion
  • crew-cut
  • curly
  • good-looking
  • grey
  • handsome
  • in (his/her/your) thirties
  • messy-looking
  • moustache
  • muscular
  • nice figure
  • overweight
  • personality
  • plump
  • receding
  • round-faced
  • scruffy
  • skin
  • skinny
  • slim
  • smart
  • stocky
  • stout
  • straight
  • sunburnt
  • tallish
  • tan
  • thin-faced
  • thirtyish
  • unattractive
  • untidy-looking
  • used to have
  • wavy
  • well-built
  • white
  • wrinkles
  • dark
  • elegant
  • face n, v
  • fair
  • fat
  • feature
  • hair
  • long
  • obese
  • red-haired
  • stunning
  • well-dressed
Exercises

7.1 ‣ Choose a word from the opposite page to complete these sentences.

  1. I wish I could get a like yours but my skin just goes red in the sun.
  2. My cousin used to have a lovely _____ but she's put on weight in all the wrong places since she stopped taking much exercise.
  3. Thomas's eyes are his best _____- they're so large and sparkly and such a deep brown.
  4. Tessa's in her thirties but she still has the same lovely fresh _____ as her young daughter has.
  5. Staff at the bank were told to dress smartly for work so they would always create a good _____ on customers.
  6. I'd call her _____ rather than ginger-haired - her hair's dark brown with just a tinge of red in it.
  7. George says that the _____ round his eyes just show that he has smiled a lot in his life.
  8. Even in jeans Alina manages to look _____.
  9. Carla looks beautiful in old clothes and without any make-up but when she's dressed up for an evening out she's absolutely _____.

7.2 ‣ Answer these remarks with the opposite description.

  1. A: I thought you said he was the short, chubby one.
    B:
  2. A: Was that his brother, the dark-skinned, wavy-haired one?
    B:
  3. A: She's always quite well-dressed, so I've heard.
    B:
  4. A: So Charlene's that rather plump, fair-haired woman, is she?
    B:
  5. A: So, tell us about the new boss; good-looking?
    B:
  6. A: I don't know why, but I expected the tour guide to be fiftyish or rather plump.
    B:

7.3 ‣ Correct the mistakes in the sentences.


  1. _____-faced, _____ hair, _____ skin

  2. _____ hair, _____ build, _____-faced

  3. thin-_____, _____ hair

  4. _____, with _____ and _____; _____ build.

7.4 ‣

Over to you

Write a description of each of these people, giving information about their hair and face, their height and build and general appearance:

  1. you your self
    _____
  2. your best friend
    _____
  3. a neighbour
    _____
  4. your ideal of a handsome man / a beautiful woman
    _____
Answer Key
A ‣ Hair, face, skin and complexion /kəmˈplekʃən/


  1. She's got straight hair and she's thin-faced / she's got a thin face.

  2. She's got long, wavy hair and she's round-faced / she's got a round face.

  3. She's got curly hair and is black.

  4. He's got a crew-cut. He’s white.

  5. He's bald /bɔːld/ and has freckles.

  6. He's got a beard and moustache /mʊsˈtɑːʃ/ and has a chubby face.

  7. He's got receding hair and a few wrinkles /ˈrɪŋkəlz/.

  8. He used to have black hair but now it's gone grey, almost white.

What sort of person would you find attractive? Blonde, fair, dark or ginger-haired / red-haired?

She has such beautiful auburn hair. /ˈɔːbən/ [red-brown]

Fair and dark can be used for hair, complexion or skin. Some people like getting a tan in summer. [exposing their skin to the sun so that it goes darker], although the risks of getting sunburnt are well known.

B ‣ Height and build

Fat may sound impolite. Instead we can say that someone is rather plump or stout, or a bit overweight. If someone is broad and solid, we can say they are stocky. A person with good muscles can be well-built or muscular. [generally said about men] Someone who is very fat can be described as obese /əʊˈbiːs/, especially when talking in a medical context.

Someone who is thin can be described as slim [positive] or skinny [negative]. If someone has a nice figure, they have an attractive shape. [generally said about women]

C ‣ General appearance

She's a very smart and elegant woman, always well-dressed; her husband is quite the opposite, very scruffy and untidy-looking / messy-looking.

Chloe looked stunning in her red dress. [very attractive]

He's very good-looking, but his friend's rather unattractive. [opp attractive]

Her eyes are her best feature. [the most attractive part of her face]

Do you think beautiful women are always attracted to handsome men? I don't. I think personality matters most.

First impressions are always important. [your first reaction to someone]

Language help

The suffix -ish is useful for describing people (see Unit 70).
She’s tallish.
He has brownish hair.
He must be thirtyish / in his thirties.

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