List of Feeling Words From A to Z

Parents will often ask their kids to express themselves with words. "Use your words!" is a common playground refrain, but it's not always easy for children. They are still exploring feelings and sorely need the emotional vocabulary to hang these feelings on. 

Expanding kids' emotional vocabulary helps them do better at school. It also helps them better understand the subtlety of emotions and how words like "happy" and "elated" or "indifferent" and "disinterested" differ.

Teaching children the feeling words appropriate to their age—and encouraging them to use them—supports their emotional growth now into their teen and adult years.

Read on for a feelings word list to teach your kids.

Benefits of Feeling Words for Parents and Caregivers

An emotional vocabulary is one in which language accurately describes how you are feeling. Parents often actively encourage kids to express their feelings with words but feel themselves falling short.

This is often because adults are expected to be better adjusted and stable. Over time, feelings that may have once been part of your emotional vocabulary may suddenly be considered weaknesses by others. As a result, some people instinctively restrict their vocabulary to anything but the broadest terms—such as "angry" or "happy." Or they might adopt lingo—like "cool" or "awesome"—to abstract and generalize their feelings.

People forget how to express their emotions verbally and instead use emojis or internet slang like "LOL" or "ROFL" to clarify their feelings. These behaviors are not only adopted by kids but encouraged culturally as the speed of communication shortcuts vocabulary and expression to only the essentials.

Feeling Words to Use and Teach

Ideally, before or around age 2, you can begin helping them build sophisticated emotional vocabularies. To help kids begin using feeling words, make sure to talk about your child's feelings and thoughts and help them make sense of it with words. For example, if they are expressing discomfort towards a certain clothing choice, you can say "I see that you feel uncomfortable wearing those shoes." Additionally, you can point out your own feelings, and the feelings of characters in books or shows in a similar way. In turn, this helps them recognize feeling words, understand how to apply them, and feel comfortable using them.

To begin the journey, here is a list of feelings words from A to Z.

A

• Angry
• Annoyed
• Afraid
• Awkward
• Affectionate
• Anxious
• Alarmed
• Awed
• Aggravated
• Amazed
• Astonished
• Amused
• Apprehensive
• Absorbed
• Ambivalent
• Ashamed
• Able
• Addled
• Admired
• Admirable
• Affable
• Agreeable
• Aggressive
• Abandoned

B

• Brave
• Bothered
• Bewildered
• Bitter
• Bashful
• Blue
• Baffled
• Blissful
• Buoyant
• Bereaved
• Bold

C

• Cheerful
• Cooperative
• Confident
• Calm
• Cold
• Curious
• Content
• Considerate
• Cautious
• Cranky
• Crestfallen
• Contrite
• Chagrined
• Carefree
• Composed
• Capable
• Caring
• Careful
• Contemptuous
• Cross
• Concerned
• Complacent
• Charitable
• Crushed
• Cantankerous
• Compulsive

D

• Defiant
• Depressed
• Discouraged
• Delighted
• Disgusted
• Determined
• Disappointed
• Detached
• Daring
• Disillusioned
• Devious
• Dismayed
• Disenchanted
• Doleful
• Disinterested
• Disdainful
• Dismissive
• Dejected
• Disengaged
• Distant

E

• Elated
• Enthusiastic
• Embarrassed
• Edgy
• Excited
• Envious
• Exhausted
• Eager
• Exuberant
• Enraged
• Euphoric
• Extravagant
• Ecstatic
• Eager
• Emboldened

F

• Funny
• Frightened
• Fearful
• Furious
• Fair
• Foolish
• Frustrated
• Forgiving
• Flustered
• Fulfilled
• Fatigued

G

• Grouchy
• Guilty
• Grief-stricken
• Generous
• Greedy
• Grateful
• Grumpy
• Guarded
• Gleeful
• Glad
• Gloomy
• Glum
• Gracious
• Grateful 

H

• Happy
• Humiliated
• Hurt
• Helpless
• Hopeless
• Horrified
• Hesitant
• Humbled
• Heartbroken
• Hysterical
• Hyperactive

I

• Irritated
• Irritable
• Interested
• Insecure
• Impatient
• Inspired
• Inspiring
• Inadequate
• Irrational
• Ignorant
• Indifferent
• Irked
• Impertinent
• Inquisitive
• Isolated

J

• Jealous
• Joyful
• Joyous
• Judgmental
• Judged
• Jaded
• Jocular
• Jittery

K

• Kind
• Keen

L

• Loving
• Lonely
• Lackluster
• Leery
• Lethargic
• Listless
• Lazy

M

• Mad
• Meek
• Mean
• Miserable
• Malevolent
• Marvelous
• Manipulated
• Manipulative
• Misunderstood
• Mischievous
• Mopey
• Melodramatic
• Moody
• Melancholy
• Mirthful
• Moved
• Morose
• Manic

N

• Nice
• Naughty
• Nasty
• Nervous
• Neglected
• Neglectful
• Needy
• Needed
• Naive
• Nonchalant
• Nonplussed
• Numb

O

• Overpowered
• Overjoyed
• Obedient
• Obsessive
• Obsessed
• Offended
• Outraged
• Overloaded
• Overstimulated
• Obstinate
• Obligated
• Optimistic
• Open
• Openminded

P

• Panicked
• Panicky
• Peaceful
• Placid
• Playful
• Pensive
• Puzzled
• Powerful
• Powerless
• Pleased
• Petty
• Petulant
• Preoccupied
• Proud
• Prideful
• Prickly
• Petrified
• Pressured
• Perturbed
• Peeved
• Passive

Q

• Quirky
• Quarrelsome
• Qualified
• Quivery
• Querulous
• Quiet

R

• Relieved
• Relaxed
• Resentful
• Rattled
• Refreshed
• Repulsed
• Rational
• Reasonable
• Reasoned
• Rebellious
• Reluctant
• Reassured
• Remorseful
• Reserved
• Rejuvenated
• Restless
• Rattled

S

• Sad
• Surprised
• Silly
• Scared
• Sorrowful
• Serious
• Shy
• Satisfied
• Sensitive
• Safe
• Stressed
• Stubborn
• Sarcastic
• Spiteful
• Scornful
• Secure
• Serene
• Smug
• Sociable
• Sympathetic
• Startled
• Satisfied
• Sanguine
• Skeptical
• Sincere

T

• Thankful
• Tearful
• Teary
• Thoughtful
• Tolerant
• Tolerated
• Trusted
• Trusting
• Trustworthy
• Temperamental
• Terrified
• Timid
• Tired
• Tiresome
• Troubled
• Tickled
• Torn
• Touched
• Threatened
• Tender
• Tranquil

U

• Uneasy
• Uncertain
• Uncomfortable
• Unruffled
• Unafraid
• Useless
• Useful
• Unimpressed
• Unappreciated
• Undecided
• Unruly
• Uptight
• Unnerved
• Unhappy
• Unsteady
• Uplifted
• Unsure

V

• Vivacious
• Vain
• Vibrant
• Violent
• Valued
• Valuable
• Vital
• Vexed
• Volatile
• Vulnerable
• Victorious
• Victimized
• Vacant

W

• Worried
• Wary
• Weak
• Weary
• Wistful
• Wishful
• Willful
• Willing
• Woeful
• Weepy
• Whiny
• Worn
• Whimsical
• Warm
• Witty
• Withdrawn
• Worthless
• Wronged
• Wasted
• Worldly

Y

• Youthful
• Yielding
• Yearning

Z

• Zany
• Zealous
• Zestful