How to Describe Someone’s Physical

Appearance in English
DESCRIBE THE BODY
The first thing to talk about is the body of the person. That
means you describe two things — the person’s height and
their body shape/size.

In English, we have to be careful about how we talk about

someone’s body. If we use language that is too direct it can
be considered offensive or impolite to some people. It is
always a good idea to take care when describing someone’s
body shape or size.
 

DESCRIBE HEIGHT
When describing someone’s height there are only three
ways we can do it.
We can either say a person is tall, medium-height or short.
There are exceptions when someone is very tall so we
would say exactly that: very tall. The same if someone is
very short — although we have to be careful of saying that
to someone’s face. No one wants to be described as very
short.
Here we might say one of the following:
He is not very tall
He is a little on the short side
She is not that tall
She is kind of petite
Petite is a French word that means ‘small’. We use this
word in English to describe a woman, especially a young
woman if she is short and of a small build.
If someone is very tall we might say the following:
He is a giant
He towers over other people
Again be careful when using these terms. We might
describe a man as a giant but only in a very
friendly, humorous way.
And we should not use these expressions to describe a very
tall woman. Often a very tall woman is conscious of being
too tall and may not like people to make direct expressions
about her height.
So essentially you can say three things to describe
someone’s height:
He is tall
She is medium-height/He is average height
He is short
And the exceptions might be:
He is very tall
She is very short
 

DESCRIBE BUILD
This is where we have to be careful. In some cultures,
people are very direct when describing other people’s
bodies. Maybe it acceptable to say that someone is fat in
some countries but in an English-speaking country, it is
not.
Use sensitive and polite terms and you should have no
problems.
Big/Small
The first thing we can say is whether a person is big or
small. We might say “He is a big guy”. This could mean a
man who is tall and very strong. But it could also mean a
man that is overweight.
Using the word ‘big’ is a replacement word for ‘fat’ these
days. You might describe someone as fat when you are
describing him to someone else but you should never say it
to their face.

If we describe a woman as big, it usually means she is

overweight.
We might describe a man as small. This could mean that
he is short but maybe also quite thin.
A small woman may just be short in height.
Fat/Thin
This is where you have to be very careful when describing
someone.
Both the words fat and thin can be seen as being a little
insensitive if used in the wrong context. So you need to use
these words with great care.
Rather than say he is fat, we can say:
He is a big guy
He is overweight
He is kind of big
If the person is a close friend or family member, we might
say:
He is overweight
He needs to lose weight
He is obese
But generally speaking, we should avoid using this word to
describe someone.
The same goes for thin. This word can also have a negative
meaning. People rarely use it to describe others as it may
imply that they are unhealthy.
Instead, we might say:
She is slim
If you do describe someone as thin, it means they are very
thin and possibly unhealthy.
Muscular
You can use the word muscular to describe someone who
regularly goes to the gym and has big muscles.

A woman rarely wishes to be referred to as muscular.

Unless she also regularly goes to the gym and works out
with weights.
John goes to the gym almost every day, so he is
very muscular. He looks like an iron man!
Athletic
A person you describe as athletic is someone who is slim
and has very little fat on their body. You could describe
someone who goes running as athletic.
Do not use the word strong to describe this kind of person.
Fit is more appropriate.

He goes running every day, so he has a very

athletic figure. He looks great!
After we talk about someone’s body — and their height and
body shape we can then talk about their head and face.
DESCRIBE HEAD & FACE
In English, we rarely comment on the size of a person’s
head. Unless they have a huge or tiny head! Even then we
have to be careful as it can be seen to be a negative
comment to make.
But if you do say anything about a person’s head it could
be the following:
He has a really big head
He has a large head
He has a big head
Her head is kind of small
She has a very small head
Her head is small for her size
 

DESCRIBE HAIR
Hair can come in many different colours:
 

Brown
Blonde
Red
Grey or White
Many people from Asia or Africa have black hair. It is very
simple to describe.
He has black hair.
But in many other places, people have different coloured
hair.
 
Brown Hair
Brown hair is very common.

But we can say the different shades of it:

She has light-brown hair
He has dark-brown hair
Mousy-brown hair is a kind of boring light-brown colour
found in Europe or America. Women might describe their
own hair colour as being mousy-brown. It is a negative
comment but one that is seen as a little joke.
 

Blonde Hair
Students often describe this colour as ‘golden’. But we
should say blonde.

She has blonde hair.

 

Red Hair
This is a very rare hair colour, but it does exist.
He has red hair.
Sometimes people might describe someone as a ‘redhead’
— this means someone with red hair.
Do not use the word ‘ginger’ as this is seen as negative.
 

Grey/White Hair
If someone is old or they are just losing their hair colour,
then we can say this:
She has grey hair
His hair is almost white
 

DESCRIBE FACE
 

General Details
After we describe someone’s general appearance in terms
of their body, we then begin to describe their face.
 

Positive/Negative
We usually refer to whether or not someone is attractive.
We can describe a man as handsome or good-looking. A
woman we describe as beautiful or good-looking.
Sometimes people use the word beautiful to describe a
man if he has more feminine features.

He is a really handsome guy. Many girls look at

him in the street.

She is so beautiful. People always comment to

each other how attractive she is.
They are both very good-looking. They look good
together.
Sometimes people are ugly but it is rude to say this to
someone’s face.
People might use the following terms instead:
He is not very good-looking
He is not so handsome
He is not blessed with good looks
For someone that is neither good-looking or ugly, we
might say ordinary looking.
 

DESCRIBE EYES
After you talk generally about someone’s face and
comment whether they are beautiful, handsome or pretty
we can look at more details about their face. The first thing
we usually notice about someone is their eyes. So that
might be the next thing you describe.

We can use the following phrases to describe someone’s

eyes:
She has beautiful eyes
He has deep-set eyes (this is to describe a person who
has eyes that seem to be deeper in their face)
She has big eyes
He has clear eyes
She is doe-eyed (we use this term to describe someone
who has big, child-like eyes. Someone who is doe-eyes
often has an innocent look about them)
He has heavy eyes
She has lidded eyes (This is for someone who has heavy
eyelids, maybe they often look tired)
He has piggy eyes (Be careful when using this term — it
means someone had small eyes. It is largely considered an
unattractive look)
From top to bottom: She has very clear eyes, she has deep-set
eyes, she has big eyes, he is doe-eyed.
We can also say beady eyes, boss-eyed, pop-eyed.
Beady-eyed — we use this to talk about someone who has
eyes that make someone look untrustworthy!
Boss-eyed — if someone has eyes that look like they are
looking at two different things we use this expression. It is
a negative term.
Pop-eyed — to describe someone with prominent eyes
that appear to be popping out of their head! Nor a positive
term.
The colour of the eyes can be blue, green, grey, black,
brown or hazel.
 

DESCRIBE NOSE
After describing someone’s eyes we then might talk about
their nose.
Noses can be big, long or small.
She has a long nose
He has a big nose
She has a small nose
Sometimes people have a bump in the middle of their
nose. In which case we say: He has a bump in his nose.
 

DESCRIBE MOUTH
Then we can talk about someone’s mouth.
Mouths can be big, sexy, beautiful, small or wide.
We often use the word smile to describe someone’s mouth
because we use our mouth to smile.
She has a big beautiful smile

She has a very sexy smile

He has a wide mouth
He has quite a small mouth
 

DESCRIBE TEETH
We often just describe someone’s teeth as being very white
and beautiful.
She has really beautiful white teeth, she must
brush them five times a day.
Or if someone has very bad, unattractive teeth.
He has terrible teeth, all discoloured and they look
unhealthy. He should go to the dentist.
 

DESCRIBE EARS
Ears can be big or small.
He has big ears
He has very small ears
Or the person’s ears might stick out from their head.
He has sticky-out ears
His ears stick out
 

DESCRIBE COMPLEXION
When talking about the colour of someone’s skin be
careful.
People can be the following colours:
White
Black
Brown
The only people we describe as black are people from
Africa or African origin — African-American.
He is a black man
She is black
People from Asia, the Middle-East or from Central
America we may describe as being brown.
If someone has light-coloured skin, we do not say:
He is very white
We say
He has pale skin
She is very pale-skinned
She has a light complexion
This is more polite.
If someone’s skin has a darker skin colour, we do not say
He is very black
We say
He has dark skin
He is very tanned
He is has a dark complexion
Sometimes a person might have a red-coloured skin. We
can say:
He has a ruddy complexion
He is red-faced
 

DESCRIBE NECK
We can describe someone’s neck in the following ways:
She has a long neck
He has a short neck
It seems he has no neck at all
He has a very strong, thick neck
The most polite term is to say someone has a long neck.
The other terms are considered impolite.
 
DESCRIBE FACIAL HAIR
You should never say a woman has facial hair! This is very
impolite.
But we can say for a man:

He has a beard
He has a moustache
He has a goatee
He has some stubble
 

DESCRIBE HANDS
If we describe someone’s hands we might say they are
either big or small.
He has big hands
She has small hands
But some people’s hands are very gentle and they might
have long fingers.
We can say:
She has long elegant fingers
He has an artist’s hands — very soft and gentle
We can describe the skin of someone’s hands
She has soft hands
He has coarse hands like a worker
After you describe someone’s body, their face and maybe
their hands then you can talk about their body language
and their gestures. Body language is the way a person uses
their body when communicating with others.
 
DESCRIBE BODY LANGUAGE &
GESTURES
We can say the kind of body language that the person often
uses. Their body language is an extension of their
personality.
She always crosses her arms when she is angry
with me.
She always greets me with a big smile. She is such
a happy person.
He often bites his nails because he is a very
nervous person.
James often tilts his head to one side when he is
thinking about something or lost in thought.
When she is lost in thought, she always puts her
hand to her face.
John is very impatient. He always taps his fingers
on the desk if someone is only one minute late.
Mike always seems confused about something,
always rubbing his head like he has forgotten
something.
Jerry walks around with slouched shoulders — he
never stands upright.
On the other hand, Cole walks around like a
soldier, back straight and shoulders back. I guess
he is a very confident person.
Lucy has quick movements, always moving her
hands or head very quickly. She is very nervous,
excitable person.
Bill has a very slow way of moving. He never
seems worried about anything.
 
Other Ways to Describe Someone
Their Job
You can talk about the job they do. This paints a very clear
picture of the kind of person they are in the world. For
example:
My father is an engineer — we might think your father
is a very serious person good at solving problems.

My sister is a teacher — we might regard your sister as

a caring person who likes to help others.
 

Their Hobbies
If you talk about the interests, the person has in their free
time this also gives us a very clear picture of the person.
My brother likes to write stories in his free time —
he has a very creative mind.
My friend likes to fix cars at the weekend — he is
good with his hands.
You can also describe the clothes the person wears.
 

Special Markings
But you can describe a person’s unique points. The person
might have a birthmark or a tattoo. Or maybe a scar. These
can identify the person and are often very special. 
Conclusion
This covers most of the things you need to say when
talking about someone’s physical appearance.
You should practice these things you can say by describing
your parents, your brother or sister, and your friends.
Keep describing different people and it will become
natural to you.
A good way to start is to write sentences in your notebook.
This will help you remember the words and phrases you
can use.
And always remember the system when describing
someone:
Body and Height
Head
Hair
Face
Eyes Nose Mouth
Body Language and Gestures