610 Adjectives That Start with R (Definitions and Examples Included)

Are you looking to attract and engage your readers?

Incorporating adjectives that start with R is a rapid way to establish a tone of inquisitiveness.

They also help to build up a large vocabulary bank and improve your English level.

Let dive right in:

• Full List Chart (610 Words)
• Positive Adjectives That Start with R
• Negative Adjectives That Start with R
• Descriptive Adjectives Starting with R
• R Adjectives to Describe a Person
• Check All Definitions and Examples
• Infographic [Downloadable]
• Adjectives Starting with Other Letters

Full List of Adjectives That Start with R

Let’s begin with a full list of adjectives that start with R. As you know “R” is a common letter, you can expect this will be a long list.

Rabbinic	Refurbished	Rhapsodic
Rabelaisian	Refutable	Rhenish
Rabid	Regal	Rheologic
Racemose	Regardant	Rheological
Rachitic	Regardful	Rhetorical
Racial	Regardless	Rheumatoid
Racist	Regenerate	Rheumy
Rackety	Regenerating	Rhinal
Racy	Regent	Rhizoidal
Raddled	Regimental	Rhizomatous
Radial	Regimented	Rhodesian
Radiant	Regional	Rhombic
Radiate	Registered	Rhombohedral
Radiating	Regnant	Rhomboid
Radical	Regressive	Rhomboidal
Radio	Regretful	Rhymeless
Radioactive	Regrettable	Rhythmic
Radiographic	Regular	Rhythmical
Radiological	Regulation	Riant
Radiolucent	Regulative	Ribald
Radiopaque	Regulatory	Ribbonlike
Radiophonic	Rehabilitative	Ribbony
Raffish	Reigning	Ribless
Raftered	Reincarnate	Riblike
Ragged	Reinvigorated	Rich
Raggedly	Reiterative	Rickettsial
Raging	Rejective	Rickety
Raimentless	Rejoicing	Ridged
Rainbow-Colored	Relatable	Ridiculing
Rainless	Related	Ridiculous
Rainproof	Relational	Riemannian
Rainy	Relative	Rife
Raisable	Relativistic	Right
Raiseable	Relaxant	Righteous
Raised	Relaxed	Rightful
Raising	Relaxing	Rightish
Rakish	Relentless	Rightist
Rallentando	Relevant	Rightmost
Ramate	Reliable	Rigid
Rambling	Reliant	Rigorous
Rambunctious	Relieved	Rimed
Ramose	Religious	Rimeless
Ramous	Reluctant	Riming
Rampageous	Remaining	Rimless
Rampant	Remarkable	Rimmed
Ramshackle	Rembrandtesque	Rimose
Rancid	Remediable	Rimy
Rancorous	Remedial	Ringing
Random	Remindful	Ringleted
Randomised	Reminiscent	Ringlike
Randy	Remiss	Riotous
Rangy	Remittent	Riparian
Rank	Remorseful	Ripe
Ranked	Remorseless	Rippling
Ranking	Remote	Risen
Rapacious	Removable	Risible
Rapid	Remunerative	Rising
Rapt	Renal	Risk-Free
Raptorial	Renascent	Riskless
Rapturous	Renegade	Risky
Rare	Renegotiable	Risque
Rarefied	Renewable	Ritardando
Rarified	Reniform	Ritenuto
Raring	Renowned	Ritual
Rascally	Rentable	Ritualistic
Rash	Rental	Ritzy
Rasping	Rented	Rivalrous
Raspy	Renunciant	Riveting
Rastafarian	Renunciative	Roadless
Ratable	Reorganised	Roan
Rateable	Repairable	Roaring
Ratiocinative	Repaired	Roast
Rational	Repand	Roasted
Ratlike	Reparable	Robed
Rattlepated	Repayable	Robotic
Ratty	Repeatable	Robotlike
Raucous	Repeated	Robust
Raunchy	Repellant	Robustious
Ravening	Repellent	Rockbound
Ravenous	Repelling	Rocketing
Raving	Repentant	Rocklike
Ravishing	Repetitious	Rocky
Raw	Repetitive	Rococo
Rawboned	Replaceable	Rodlike
Rayless	Replete	Roguish
Razorback	Replicable	Roily
Reachable	Reportable	Rollicking
Reactionary	Reported	Rolling
Reactionist	Reprehensible	Romaic
Reactive	Representable	Roman
Readable	Representational	Romance
Ready	Representative	Romani
Real	Repressive	Romanian
Realised	Reproachful	Romanic
Realistic	Reprobate	Romanist
Realizable	Reproducible	Romansh
Realized	Reproductive	Romantic
Real-Time	Reptilian	Romanticist
Reanimated	Republican	Romanticistic
Rear	Repudiative	Romany
Rearing	Repugnant	Romish
Rearmost	Repulsive	Roofed
Rearward	Reputable	Roofless
Reasonable	Reputed	Roomy
Reasoned	Required	Rooseveltian
Reasoning	Requisite	Rootbound
Reasonless	Rescindable	Rooted
Reassured	Rescued	Rootless
Reassuring	Resealable	Ropey
Rebarbative	Resentful	Ropy
Rebel	Reserved	Rosaceous
Rebellious	Resettled	Rose
Reborn	Resident	Roseate
Recalcitrant	Residential	Rosicrucian
Receding	Residual	Rostrate
Receivable	Residuary	Rosy
Recent	Resilient	Rotary
Receptive	Resinated	Rotatable
Recessional	Resinlike	Rotating
Recessionary	Resinous	Rotational
Recessive	Resiny	Rotatory
Rechargeable	Resistant	Rotten
Recherche	Resistible	Rotting
Reciprocal	Resistive	Rotund
Reciprocative	Resistless	Rouged
Reciprocatory	Resolute	Rough
Reckless	Resolvable	Roughdried
Reclaimable	Resolved	Roughhewn
Recluse	Resonant	Roughish
Reclusive	Resounding	Roughshod
Recognisable	Resourceful	Roumanian
Recognised	Resourceless	Round
Recognizable	Respectable	Roundabout
Recognized	Respected	Rounded
Recoilless	Respectful	Roundheaded
Recollective	Respective	Roundish
Recombinant	Respiratory	Rousing
Reconcilable	Resplendent	Rousseauan
Recondite	Respondent	Routine
Reconstructive	Responsible	Roving
Recoverable	Responsive	Rowdy
Recreant	Rested	Royal
Recreational	Restful	Ruandan
Recriminative	Restive	Rubber
Recriminatory	Restless	Rubberlike
Recrudescent	Restorative	Rubbery
Rectal	Restored	Rubbishy
Rectangular	Restrained	Rubicund
Rectifiable	Restricted	Ruby
Rectilineal	Restrictive	Rudderless
Rectilinear	Resultant	Ruddy
Rectosigmoid	Resupine	Rude
Recumbent	Resurgent	Rudimentary
Recuperative	Resuscitated	Rueful
Recurrent	Retaliatory	Ruffianly
Recurring	Retarded	Rugged
Recursive	Retentive	Rugose
Recurvate	Reticent	Ruined
Recurved	Reticular	Ruinous
Recusant	Reticulate	Ruling
Recyclable	Retinal	Ruly
Red	Retired	Rum
Redbrick	Retiring	Rumanian
Reddened	Retractable	Rumansh
Reddish	Retractile	Rumbling
Redeemable	Retral	Rumbustious
Redemptional	Retributive	Ruminant
Redemptive	Retrievable	Ruminative
Redemptory	Retro	Rummy
Redheaded	Retroactive	Rumpled
Redolent	Retroflex	Runaway
Redoubtable	Retroflexed	Runcinate
Reduced	Retrograde	Runic
Reducible	Retrorse	Running
Reductionist	Retrousse	Runny
Reductive	Returnable	Runproof
Redundant	Reusable	Runty
Redux	Revamped	Rupestral
Reechoing	Revealing	Rupicolous
Reedlike	Revelatory	Ruptured
Reedy	Revenant	Rural
Reefy	Revengeful	Ruritanian
Reentrant	Reverberant	Rush
Referable	Reverberative	Rushed
Referent	Reverend	Rushlike
Referential	Reverent	Rushy
Refillable	Reverential	Russet
Refined	Reverse	Russian
Reflective	Reversed	Rust
Reflex	Reversible	Rusted
Reflexed	Reversionary	Rustic
Reflexive	Reversive	Rusting
Reformable	Revertible	Rustless
Reformative	Reviled	Rustling
Reformatory	Revised	Rustproof
Reformist	Revitalised	Rusty
Refractile	Revitalising	Ruthful
Refractive	Revivalistic	Ruthless
Refractory	Revocable	Rutted
Refreshful	Revokable	Ruttish
Refreshing	Revolting	Rutty
Refrigerant	Revolutionary	Rwandan
Refulgent	Rewardful	Rewarding
Refundable

Positive Adjectives That Start with R

Let’s explore a list of positive adjectives that start with R. They will help the reader to get an overall positive impression about the person, place, or thing that we are describing.

Radiant	Reigning	Responsible
Rakish	Relatable	Responsive
Rapid	Relaxed	Rested
Rapturous	Relaxing	Restored
Rare	Relevant	Revamped
Raucous	Reliable	Rewarding
Ravishing	Relieved	Rhetorical
Ready	Remarkable	Rich
Real	Renewable	Right
Realistic	Repairable	Rightful
Reasonable	Reputable	Ripe
Reassured	Reputed	Ritzy
Reassuring	Rescued	Riveting
Receptive	Resilient	Robust
Recognizable	Resolute	Romantic
Recognized	Resounding	Roomy
Redolent	Resourceful	Rosy
Refreshing	Respectable	Royal
Refundable	Respectful	Respective
Regal

Negative Adjectives That Start with R

In this section, we have a list of negative adjectives starting with R. They are especially useful to characterize negative attitudes, qualities and situations.

Rabble	Regretful	Revolting
Rabid	Regrettable	Ridiculing
Racist	Relentless	Riotous
Radical	Reluctant	Risky
Radioactive	Remedial	Rotten
Ragged	Remorseful	Rotting
Rampant	Remorseless	Rough
Rancid	Remote	Rudimentary
Rasping	Repellent	Rueful
Raspy	Reprehensible	Ruined
Raw	Repressive	Ruinous
Reactive	Repugnant	Rumpled
Reasonless	Repulsive	Rusted
Rebellious	Resentful	Rusty
Recalcitrant	Restless	Ruthless
Reckless	Restrictive	Rutted
Reclusive	Reviled

Descriptive Adjectives That Start with R

Descriptive words that start with R are abundant and frequently used in everyday speech. With them, you can make your writing more professional.

Rabid	Redeemable	Restored
Racial	Referential	Restrained
Radiant	Refillable	Restrictive
Radioactive	Reflective	Retired
Raging	Refundable	Retroactive
Rainy	Refurbished	Reusable
Rambling	Regional	Revealing
Rampant	Regretful	Reverse
Random	Regrettable	Reversible
Rank	Relative	Revolting
Rapid	Relaxed	Revolutionary
Rare	Relevant	Rewarding
Rash	Reliable	Rhetorical
Rasping	Relieved	Rhythmic
Raspy	Religious	Ribbed
Rational	Remaining	Rickety
Ravenous	Remarkable	Right
Raving	Remedial	Rightful
Raw	Remote	Rigid
Reactive	Removable	Ripe
Ready	Renewable	Risky
Real	Rented	Ritualistic
Realistic	Repairable	Robotic
Reasonable	Repaired	Rocketing
Rebel	Repeated	Rocky
Rebellious	Repellent	Rolling
Receding	Repetitious	Romantic
Recent	Repetitive	Roomy
Receptive	Replaceable	Rose
Reciprocal	Repressive	Rounded
Reckless	Rescued	Ruby
Recognizable	Reserved	Rugged
Recognized	Resident	Ruling
Rectangular	Residual	Ruptured
Recyclable	Resonant	Rushed
Red	Respective	Rustling
Reddish	Rested

Adjectives That Start with R to Describe a Person

In this section, you’ll find adjectives that start with R to describe a person. They will help you to describe individuals nicely and professionally.

Rabid	Real	Religious
Racist	Rebel	Remarkable
Radiant	Recent	Repelling
Radical	Reciprocal	Republican
Radioactive	Reckless	Repulsive
Rambling	Reclusive	Reputable
Rampant	Red	Respected
Rancid	Red-blooded	Resplendent
Random	Reddened	Retired
Rank	Refined	Rich
Rare	Regal	Ridiculous
Rattling	Regular	Rigid
Ratty	Reigning	Roman
Ravenous	Relevant	Romanian
Raving	Reliable	Rotund
Ravished	Real	Rough
Ravishing	Rebel	Round
Raw	Recent	Rounded
Ready	Reciprocal	Rowdy

Adjectives That Start with R – Definitions and Examples

Below you’ll find definitions and examples of those adjectives starting with R for further learning.

Rabbinic: relating to rabbis or to Jewish law or teachings; ecclesiastical; ministerial.

– When his father died, he automatically inherited the position of rabbinic leadership.

Rabelaisian: of or relating to or characteristic of Francois Rabelais or his works; ribald; racy.

– The conversation was often highly Rabelaisian.

Rabid: having or proceeding from an extreme or fanatical support of or belief in something; extreme; fanatical.

– The show’s small but rabid fan base.

Racemose: having stalked flowers along an elongated stem that continue to open in succession from below as the stem continues to grow; indeterminate.

Rachitic: affected with, suffering from, or characteristic of rickets; rickety; sick.

– Various types are met with; they are known according to their cause, as static, congenital, traumatic, paralytic, rachitic, rheumatic, arthritic, gonorrhœal, and tabetic.

Racial: of or characteristic of race or races or arising from differences among groups; biracial; racist.

– Nothing about the culture of the laboratory or her new office rattled her—not even the persistent racial segregation.

Racist: based on racial intolerance; antiblack; prejudiced

– There were swastikas and lots of racist stuff.

Rackety: uncontrollably noisy; rip-roaring; noisy.

– The strangest thing is that Capitol isn’t some rackety outfit.

Racy: marked by richness and fullness of flavor; rich; tasty.

– I washed up a little, then moved a discreet distance away and listened to her sing several rather racy songs.

Raddled: showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering; drawn; worn.

– He has it moved to a locked room, where the image turns uglier and more raddled by the month.

Radial: relating to or near the radius; radial-tire; radial-ply-tire.

–  She left the radial lines alone, as they were needed for support.

Radiant: radiating or as if radiating light; beaming; beam.

– The lady smiled at what he said and the opals shone in her black hair, radiant.

Radiate: having rays or ray-like parts as in the flower heads of daisies; compound.

– His demeanor had radiated an inner calm and resolution, as if he had finally made a decision he would never be able to go back on.

Radiating: diverging from a common point; divergent; diverging.

– For a moment, none of us did anything but stare at the hole and the spreading spiderweb of cracks radiating out from it.

Radical: (used of opinions and actions) far beyond the norm; ultra; immoderate.

– The government has control now. People are more aware, and they are rejecting these radical elements.

Radio: indicating radiation or radioactivity.

– On the days that the radio played Ammu’s songs, everyone was a little wary of her.

Radioactive: exhibiting or caused by radioactivity; hot.

– Scientists also knew that some atoms are radioactive.

Radiographic: relating to or produced by radiography;

– The gallery features an X-ray chamber where the 56-year-old creates his work using radiographic imaging equipment, allowing visitors to see the creative process.

Radiological: of or relating to radiology.

– The Army post’s statement said Hillman was a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist who joined the Army in February 2015.

Radiolucent: almost complete transparent to X-rays or other forms of radiation.

– The creature must be largely transparent to visible light, as human flesh is radiolucent to hard X-rays.

Radiopaque: not transparent to X-rays or other forms of radiation; radio-opaque.

Radiophonic: relating to or by means of radiotelephony; radioteliphonic.

– I actually wrote to the BBC radiophonic workshop asking for a job when I was a teenager.

Raffish: marked by a carefree unconventionality or disreputableness; rakish; unconventional.

– Growing up, I was always tickled by this raffish personal connection to history: part of the Puritans, but not actually puritanical.

Raftered: having the rafters especially having them visible; ceilinged.

– Half a mile up to the raftered ceiling hung with red, dusty drapes or banners all ragged with the years.

Ragged: being or dressed in clothes that are worn or torn; raggedy; worn.

– He assembled the men in two long ragged lines and called them to attention, but they ignored him.

Raging: very severe; hot; violent.

– The river became a raging torrent.

Raimentless: possessing no clothing; unclothed.

– A Greek statue of a raimentless Apollo is pre-eminently chaste.

Rainless: lacking rain; dry.

– Her eyes had the plain blue look of a rainless sky.

Rainproof: not permitting the passage of water; waterproof; tight.

– Maybe her finely cut outerwear — two beautiful navy coats with full sleeves — were treated to be rainproof.

Rainy: (of weather) wet by periods of rain; showery; wet.

– On rainy days I would play shadow tennis: hitting at an imaginary tennis ball.

Raisable: capable of being raised; raiseable; mobile.

Raised: located or moved above the surround or above the normal position; up; lifted.

Raising: increasing in quantity or value; increasing.

Rakish: marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners; dapper; dashing.

– The altar wobbled and threatened to overturn and the collection table sat at a rakish angle.

Rallentando: gradually decreasing in tempo; rot; decreasing.

– Now the fate of the novel and the novelist’s own creative rallentando fuse into the Gatsby myth.

Ramate: having branches; branched; ramose.

Rambling: spreading out in different directions; untidy; straggly.

– Hallways took odd turns, dead-ended unexpectedly, or took long, rambling, roundabout paths.

Rambunctious: noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline; boisterous; robustnes.

– A big rambunctious ball of energy. I always make Lloyd leave whenever I see him here.

Ramose: having branches; branched; ramate.

– A small plant with stem red, straight, quadrate, ramose.

Ramous: having branches; branched; branchy.

– The vegetation almost entirely consists of low stunted, very ramous shrubs, and these are generally thorny.

Rampageous: displaying raging violence; often destructive; violent.

– Oh, do hark to those children’s voices; what rampageous, excitable creatures they are.

Rampant: occurring or increasing in an unrestrained way; epidemic; uncontrolled.

– Rumors of my death have been running rampant, so they send in the team to film me in my hospital bed.

Ramshackle: in deplorable condition; broken-down; derelict.

– Finally, Father stopped the wagon before two large, ramshackle buildings.

Rancid: (used of decomposing oils or fats) having a rank smell or taste usually due to a chemical change or decomposition; sour; malodorous.

– Even closed, the Dumpster reeked of rotting fruit and rancid dairy products.

Rancorous: showing deep-seated resentment; resentful.

– You buried the elf,” he said, sounding unexpectedly rancorous.

Random: lacking any definite plan or order or purpose; governed by or depending on chance; ergodic; stochastic.

– She grabbed one at random and turned around.

Randomised: set up or distributed in a deliberately random way; randomized; irregular.

– It looked at 29 randomised control trials involving 17,922 patients treated for chronic pain.

Randy: feeling great sexual desire; steamy; turned on.

– Being randy is the next best thing to being drunk, he decided.

Rangy: tall and thin and having long slender limbs; gangling; lackey.

– Captain Prince spoke to Mr. Collins, his first mate—a tall, rangy man with a lean face and cool gray eyes.

Rank: very fertile; producing profuse growth; fertile.

– There at the corner, in the front rank of pedestrians, was a surgeon who had been operating all day.

Ranked: arranged in a sequence of grades or ranks; graded; stratified.

– In fact, I’ll be the only wild card in this year’s draft who isn’t internationally ranked.

Ranking: having a higher rank; superior; senior.

– If he has a losing record, his ranking falls.

Rapacious: living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey; ravening; vulturine.

– Those who commit themselves and are not rapacious should be honoured and loved.

Rapid: characterized by speed; moving with or capable of moving with high speed; speedy; fast.

– A jumble of broken logs were wedged between the rocks of the rapids, and a moment later Thorn was on top of them.

Rapt: feeling great rapture or delight; ecstatic; enraptured.

– Every day I listened raptly to customers who felt like talking, and it all added to my education.

Raptorial: relating to or characteristic of birds of prey; ravening; aggressive.

– In either case, we clearly have underestimated the abilities of those big, beady, raptorial eyes.

Rapturous: feeling great rapture or delight; joyous; rapt.

– The two plain ones were smiling, but the beautiful one was rapturous.

Rare: marked by an uncommon quality; especially superlative or extreme of its kind; uncommon; extraordinary.

– Spacecraft that could travel at light speed were rare, and they required fuel to operate.

Rarefied: of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style; elevated; exalted.

– There was always sunshine, always a tiny sticking in the throat from the rarefied air.

Rarified: of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style; elevated; lofty.

– They bring a rarified chaos to their live performances that should not be missed.

Raring: (usually followed by `to’) full of eagerness; impatient; keen.

– I’m up with the sun every morning, raring to go.

Rascally: playful in an appealingly bold way; playful; roguish.

– Harlequinade” tracks the efforts of the rascally Harlequin to marry Columbine, whose father, wishing her to wed a rich old fop, keeps her locked up.

Rash: imprudently incurring risk; imprudent.

– He moved to a jurta where people had similar symptoms—fever, rash, some delirium.

Rasping: unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound; grating; raspy.

– The dressing came away in one, with a gluey rasping sound.

Raspy: unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound; grating; gravelly.

– I stood quietly and listened to her sing along with “You Can’t Hurry Love” in her raspy but beautiful voice.

Rastafarian: of or pertaining to or characteristic of Rastafarianism or Rastafarians.

– Everyone looks to Kalinda, to see if she has heard Anise’s story about this Rastafarian, and what she will do about it if she has.

Ratable: liable to payment of locally assessed property taxes; rateable; taxable.

– The Press of Atlantic City reports that It’s part of an effort to get city-owned properties back on the tax rolls and replenish a depleted ratable base.

Rateable: liable to payment of locally assessed property taxes; rateable; taxable.

– The packages, which are also available to nightclubs, are linked to firms’ rateable value.

Rational: consistent with or based on or using reason; logical; coherent.

– There has to be a rational explanation, I tell myself again.

Ratlike: resembling or characteristic of a rat.

– Arm felt a kind of energy flow from him to the ratlike bartender.

Rattlepated: lacking sense or discretion; foolish; scatty.

– Hold your tongue, you disrespectful old bird!” cried Polly, tumbling off the chair with a bounce, and running to peck the ‘rattlepated’ boy, who was shaking with laughter at the last speech.

Ratty: dirty and infested with rats; dirty; soiled.

– I mean, I was lying there in ratty sweatpants, amid a vast sea of soggy tissues.

Raucous: unpleasantly loud and harsh; strident; cacophony.

– Enormous buildings stretched to the sky in the distance while raucous traffic whizzed through Greenwich Village streets.

Raunchy: earthy and sexually explicit; sexy.

– Sixty-Niners was a smut pavilion, but up in the Garden the atmosphere was exotic rather than raunchy.

Ravening: excessively greedy and grasping; rapacious; voracious.

– He thrust me back into the ravening stream.

Ravishing: stunningly beautiful; beautiful.

Raw: not treated with heat to prepare it for eating; rare; underdone.

– Some inventions arose straightforwardly from a handling of natural raw materials.

Rawboned: having a lean and bony physique; lean; thin.

– He turned and stood as a door opened and a guard led in Dillard Early Sr. Dill’s father was tall and gaunt, rawboned.

Rayless: having no parts resembling rays; not having ray flowers.

– I pressed my lips to his once brilliant and now rayless eyes—I swept his hair from his brow, and kissed that too.

Razorback: having a sharp narrow back; razorbacked; backed.

– They were making their way steadily eastward through the razorbacks that formed South Georgia’s spine.

Reachable: easily approached; approachable; accessible.

– One of the closets reachable from the secret passage belonged to Felicia.

Reactionary: extremely conservative; right; reactionist.

– There is no doubt that your grandfather’s reactionary class standing had a bad influence on your father’s thoughts, and he naturally passed them on to you.

Reactionist: extremely conservative; far-right; right.

– Your reactionist principles against Cavaignac and his colleagues, can be of no disservice to you at present.

Reactive: participating readily in reactions; activated; excited.

– The mesarthium, he thought, must be reactive with skin the way some other metals were, such as copper.

Readable: easily deciphered; clear; legible.

– Tally remembered the scrawl of Shay’s directions to the Smoke, clumsy but readable.

Ready: completely prepared or in condition for immediate action or use or progress; prepared; fit.

– I’m not ready doesn’t work on my mom and dad anymore.

Real: being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory; concrete; actual.

– However, the radiation causes what he called intracellular ionization, and that is the real damage.

Realistic: aware or expressing awareness of things as they really are; possible; practical.

– This scenario is not entirely realistic, however, because of the following problem.

Realizable: capable of being realized; tangibly.

– The earthly paradise had been discredited at exactly the moment when it became realizable.

Realized: successfully completed or brought to an end; complete; realised.

– This is how I realized that it had finally happened.

Reanimated: given fresh life or vigor or spirit; revived; animated.

– But Camille is not the only member of the newly reanimated to make her way out of the wilderness.

Rear: located in or toward the back or rear; reward; back.

– But the net was strong, and although the horse whinnied and reared back in fear, Iorek couldn’t fight free of the coils.

Rearing: rearing on left hind leg with forelegs elevated and head usually in profile; rampant; upright.

– Until a few days ago he had never lived near me, had never had any say in my rearing or lack of rearing.

Rearmost: located farthest to the rear; backmost; hindmost.

– Three sets of eyes glinted from the dark corners of the rearmost stalls, where the sun did not reach.

Rearward: located in or toward the back or rear; rear; back.

– The center of balance is so narrow that if jockeys shift only slightly rearward, they will flip right off the back.

Reasonable: showing reason or sound judgment; fair; just.

– She sighed before she spoke again, in a tone she hoped sounded reasonable.

Reasoned: logically valid; sound; valid.

– Mama had reasoned that the red liquid passing through my intestines had to be blood.

Reasoning: endowed with the capacity to reason; intelligent; thinking.

– This type of inquiry is what your usual reasoning takes care of.

Reasonless: not marked by the use of reason; mindless; senseless.

– Then suddenly like a reasonless wind out of heaven the thing came near.

Reassured: having confidence restored; freed from anxiety; confident.

– He reassured me, and sat back with a look of contentment.

Reassuring: restoring confidence and relieving anxiety; assuasive; soothing.

– Annabeth pressed next to him at the rail, her warmth reassuring.

Rebarbative: serving or tending to repel; repellant; repellent.

– Nobody as rebarbative as Cicero, in a state as turbulent as Rome during the first century BC, could expect not to run into trouble sooner or later.

Rebellious: resisting control or authority; insubordinate.

– The groove Sciron had shot across the left side of his scalp was interesting too—almost like a rebellious streak.

Reborn: spiritually reborn or converted; converted; regenerate.

– The violence and bombings ceased, and it was as if we were a nation reborn.

Recalcitrant: stubbornly resistant to authority or control; fractious; disobedient.

– Like a recalcitrant child, however, color in art refuses to be governed by any rules.

Receding: (of a hairline e.g.) moving slowly back; backward.

– Her mouth is open, her chin receding as though she were snoring.

Receivable: awaiting payment; due.

– I knew from looking at our accounts receivable that the coming winter months would not improve our situation.

Receptive: having power or capacity or tendency to absorb or soak up something (liquids or energy etc.); absorptive; receptive.

– My palms are sweating like crazy, but the jeweled dress isn’t absorbent and they skid right off if I try to dry them.

Recessional: of or relating to receding.

– During the recessional, Rob’s mother stopped for a moment at the third row.

Recessionary: of or pertaining to a recession; recessive.

– While the act of constantly relocating the gallery is an opportunistic response to the empty retail space typical of a recessionary economy, it is also a form of performance art.

Recessive: of or pertaining to a recession; recessionary.

– “Must be a recessive gene,” Rafe replied, then pulled the ketchup bottle closer to his plate.

Rechargeable: capable of being recharged; reversible.

– Home Depot accepts used batteries in its stores, and Lowe’s accepts rechargeable batteries.

Recherche: lavishly elegant and refined; exquisite; elegant.

–  In a strange quirk of artistic depiction, this has already become a recherche exercise, for people no longer view movie stars in quite the same way.

Reciprocal: concerning each of two or more persons or things; especially given or done in return; mutual; bilateral.

– He was frank, and expected a reciprocal frankness that I might not be able to supply.

Reciprocative: given or done or owed to each other; reciprocatory.

– Meanwhile, if Regan’s rancor against Noodles had reached a stage that was acute, Noodles had reached a stage of reciprocative hatred that was positively deadly.

Reciprocatory: given or done or owed to each other; mutual; reciprocative.

– It would be no good if ye did,” responded Mr. Wendover, with a reciprocatory grin which displayed two yellow fangs like the teeth of a walrus.

Reckless: marked by defiant disregard for danger or consequences; heady; rash.

– He was a formidable player; few dared play with him because his stakes were so high and reckless.

Reclaimable: capable of being used again; reusable; useful.

– About half of this is reclaimable via a nationwide Medicare insurance scheme.

Recluse: withdrawn from society; seeking solitude; reclusive; unsocial.

– His failures had made him a recluse, but people remembered the vulnerable boy he had once been.

Reclusive: withdrawn from society; seeking solitude; recluse; withdrawn.

– When the man carried Bobby’s luggage to his room, he suddenly recognized the reclusive champion and challenged him to a game.

Recognisable: capable of being recognized; peaceable; identifiable.

– The Welsh Green has an easily recognisable and surprisingly melodious roar.

Recognised: provided with a secure reputation; recognized; established.

Recognizable: easily perceived; easy to become aware of.

– I see a child version of Zoe, recognizable by her freckles, and a few people I don’t recognize.

Recognized: generally approved or compelling recognition; accepted; recognized.

– Among all those gathered and gathering, only Lazlo recognized the white stags of the Unseen City, and only he knew the warriors for who they were.

Recoilless: of or being a weapon that is designed to minimize recoil.

– The barrel of a recoilless rifle is open at both ends.

Recollective: good at remembering; long; mindful.

– Even if the memory is not your own, you taste its recollective pull.

Recombinant: of or relating to recombinant DNA; being; cell.

– It’s a matrix light, a recombinant light that disintegrates hard lines and planes, rearranging objects to their essences.

Reconcilable: capable of being reconciled; resolvable; harmonizable.

– Interpretation is a swan-dive into an ocean of possibilities, all of them entrancingly plausible, and none quite reconcilable.

Recondite: difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge; deep; esoteric.

– A pair of actors trapped in a recondite play with no hint of plot or narrative.

Reconstructive: helping to restore to good condition; rehabilitative.

– This “reconstructive” view of memory also raises questions about the genre of life writing.

Recoverable: capable of being recovered or regained; redeemable; retrievable.

– The landmass of Texas is rich in recoverable spoils.

Recreant: having deserted a cause or principle; disloyal.

– Islam is the only religion which has no recreants—It is very difficult, if not impossible, to form an exact idea of the spiritual state of a Moslem evangelized by a Christian.

Recreational: of or relating to recreation; amateur; unpaid.

– A recreational area with a pool and ball fields.

Recriminative: countering one charge with another; recriminatory; inculpatory.

– But he did not pass away without holding a speech with his cousin, on both sides bitterly recriminative.

Recriminatory: countering one charge with another; recriminative; inculpatory.

– Eight years later he’s in Alcoholics Anonymous, sober but not necessarily completely clean, at least in his own recriminatory imagination.

Recrudescent: the revival of an unfortunate situation after a period of abatement; revived.

– Thereby the conjugal peace, which had been disturbed by long-continued altercation, was utterly destroyed by recrudescent hatred.

Rectal: of or involving the rectum.

– I don’t think the gods ever gave rectal probes,” said Shadow.

Rectangular: having four right angles; angular; angulate.

– I watched Daisy attack her school-provided rectangular pizza and green beans with a fork.

Rectifiable: capable of being repaired or rectified; reparable; maintainable.

– All rectifiable on Weds, but a picture of chaos at a time of crisis.

Rectilineal: characterized by a straight line or lines; linear; rectilinear.

– From a given circle to cut off a segment containing an angle equal to a given rectilineal angle.

Rectilinear: characterized by a straight line or lines; rectilineal; linear.

– The guest house repeated the clean, rectilinear lines of the main house.

Rectosigmoid: of or related to or near the sigmoid colon and the upper part of the rectum.

Recumbent: lying down; in a position of comfort or rest; accumbent; undercut.

– After a long day of shooting, Phil and Gay went to a meeting while Josh and I rented recumbent bikes on the beach.

Recuperative: promoting recuperation; restorative; healthful.

– Enjoying yourself is a necessary ingredient in making sure your vacation is recuperative.

Recurrent: recurring again and again; perennial; repeated.

– By then, heredity, illness, normalcy, family, and identity had become recurrent themes of conversation in my family.

Recurring: coming back; revenant; continual.

– Each untimely end came draped in its own shroud of dread, like a recurring nightmare that never lost its potency.

Recursive: of or relating to a recursion; algorithm.

– The peculiar charm of this idea—called preformation—was that it was infinitely recursive.

Recurvate: curved backward or inward; recurved; curved.

– Bottle Palm, Beaucarnea recurvata: This large palm provides shelter and nesting sites for birds.

Recurved: curved backward or inward; recurvate; curved.

– Their teeth look like knives, often compressed from side to side, recurved, and serrated along the cutting edges.

Recusant: (of Catholics) refusing to attend services of the Church of England; dissentient; unorthodox.

– Unlike one fellow resident, who doesn’t step outside once in three months, Francis will not be a recusant.

Recyclable: capable of being used again; reclaimable; utility.

– As if the past was recyclable and all he had to do was collect enough cans to make a fortune and make another start.

Redbrick: of or relating to British universities founded in the late 19th century or the 20th century; red-brick; modern.

– The redbrick buildings are covered in vines, which will bloom green ivy in the spring.

Reddened: (especially of the face) reddened or suffused with or as if with blood from emotion or exertion; crimson; red.

– They cried as they staggered down the road; their wrappers were ripped and their eyes reddened.

Reddish: of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies; ruby; ruddy.

– He takes his glasses off and rubs the little reddish indentations along the sides of his nose.

Redeemable: able to be converted into ready money or the equivalent; cashable; convertible.

– The pizzas will be redeemable at participating retail locations that offer DiGiorno products.

Redemptional: of or relating to or resulting in redemption; redemptive; redemptory.

Redemptive: of or relating to or resulting in redemption; redemptional.

– The innocent blood of these little girls may well serve as a redemptive force that will bring new light to this dark city.

Redemptory: of or relating to or resulting in redemption; redemptional; redemptive.

Redheaded: having red hair and usually fair skin; blond; blonde.

– She glanced at the redheaded guard, who smirked.

Redolent: having a strong pleasant odor; aromatic; fragrant.

– The room is redolent with burning rosemary and crushed herbs.

Redoubtable: inspiring fear; formidable; unnerving.

– He never was to them the mean whining deity of the Iliad, but magnificent in shining armor, redoubtable, invincible.

Reduced: made less in size or amount or degree; decreased; abated.

– Soon our camp population will be reduced to forty girls, ranging in age from ten to thirteen.

Reducible: capable of being reduced; irreducible; irresolvable.

– It is not something that is reducible to a slogan that is fit for the back of a car.

Reductionist: of or relating to the theory of reductionism.

– Management may think that the purpose is to sell things, but this is an overly reductionist, narrowly capitalist view.

Reductive: characterized by or causing diminution or curtailment; subtractive.

– Mr. Amis’s musings about this era tend to be overly familiar, or dubious and reductive.

Redundant: more than is needed, desired, or required; excess; extra.

– Indeed the dismal downpour made my intended visit to Niagara Falls seem redundant.

Redux: brought back; revived.

– The problem is that some redux is unavoidable.

Reechoing: (of sounds) repeating by reflection; echoing; reverberant.

– The tone was made metallic by echoing and re echoing in the bends of the Tube, but it was Smithers.

Reedlike: resembling a reed in being upright and slender; reedy; thin.

– Loquacious and stout, he makes a charming pair with his wife, who’s reedlike and a bit shy.

Reedy: resembling a reed in being upright and slender; reedlike; thin.

– Lyra wandered away on her own, and went to the reedy bank to sit and throw mud into the water.

Reefy: full of submerged reefs or sandbanks or shoals; shelfy; sholay.

– Trawlers in Southeast Asia devastated reefy habitat—giant sponges and soft coral that structured the habitat.

Reentrant: (of angles) pointing inward; re-entrant.

– The median portion, or that in the reentrant angle of the W, is a four-sided figure in which the triangle predominates with notched edges.

Referable: capable of being assigned or credited to; due; immutable.

– Cheney and the committee knew they didn’t have anything referable in regards to President Trump today.

Referent: having reference; denotative; denotative.

– Erastis had warned him about the dangers of losing your referent.

Referential: referring or pointing to something; denotative.

– Also, it’s worth considering that not all referential humor is created equal.

Refillable: worthy of reliance or trust; dependable; sure.

– Meng is a responsible, reliable type who was the valedictorian of his class.

Refined: (used of persons and their behavior) cultivated and genteel; civilized; elegant.

– She was delicate and refined and unused to hardship

Reflective: capable of physically reflecting light or sound; mirrorlike; specular.

– We were standing before a giant, jubilant mass of Americans who were also palpably reflective.

Reflex: without volition or conscious control; automatic; reflexive.

– Lucy is sleeping soundly; the reflection of the dawn is high and far over the sea.

Reflexed: (of leaves) bent downward and outward more than 90 degrees; crooked.

– They have nodding flowers, two or more to a stem, and petals that are reflexed slightly.

Reflexive: referring back to itself; self-referent; backward.

– Pong reflexively clamped his left arm down at his side.

Reformable: susceptible to improvement or reform; redeemable; corrigible.

– The corporate state, like the communist regimes I covered in Eastern Europe, is not reformable from within.

Reformative: tending to reform; reformatory; helpful.

– She loved it, too, and compared it to her use of “reformative justice” at the Golden Globes two months ago.

Reformatory: tending to reform; reformative; helpful.

– He was in a reformatory for six months.

Reformist: favoring or promoting reform (often by government action); progressive; liberal.

– Yet an ugliness often lurked beneath the reformist zeal of Progressivism.

Refractile: of or relating to or capable of refraction; refractive.

– As they exist in the cells of Spongilla the corpuscles are minute oval bodies of a bright green color and each containing a highly refractile colorless granule.

Refractive: of or relating to or capable of refraction; refractile.

– His story has hitherto been known only in parts, and mostly through the refractive prism of his own tellings.

Refractory: stubbornly resistant to authority or control; fractious; recalcitrant.

– After climax, or resolution, the man enters a “refractory period,” where he has to recover.

Refreshful: imparting vitality and energy; bracing; tonic.

– Farewell to all my friends, whose company has been refreshful to me in my pilgrimage.

Refreshing: imparting vitality and energy; brisk; tonic.

– No doubt, it is refreshing to leave the house at times.

Refrigerant: causing cooling or freezing; refrigerating; cold.

– Leaking refrigerant is the primary thing that goes wrong, he said.

Refulgent: radiating or as if radiating light; bright; radiant.

– He entered a world of clamor, smoke, and steam, replete with the scents of murdered cattle and pigs.

Refundable: radiating or as if radiating light; beaming; beamy.

– He entered a world of clamor, smoke, and steam, replete with the scents of murdered cattle and pigs.

Refutable: able to be refuted; deniable; questionable.

– My logic is completely refutable but she doesn’t refute me.

Regal: belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler; imperial; purple.

– They look like regal queens but also like my next-door neighbors.

Regardant: looking backward.

– He moved towards the little door out of the department into the house, moving, as heralds say, regardant passant.

Regardful: showing deference; deferent; respectful.

– I did not agree in this room a year ago to be regardful of the opinion of others,” he defended.

Regardless: (usually followed by `of’) without due thought or consideration; careless; heedless.

– The twins quite like it, regardless of its dubious origins.

Regenerate: reformed spiritually or morally; saved; reborn.

– I wipe it away quickly, but it regenerates.

Regenerating: that are generating anew.

– The presence of telomerase meant cells could keep regenerating their telomeres indefinitely.

Regent: acting or functioning as a regent or ruler; powerful.

– During the trip, the regent advised me on my behavior and my future.

Regimental: belonging to or concerning a regiment.

– The regimental chaplain’s assistant had been killed in action.

Regimented: strictly controlled; controlled.

– Each hour of the day was regimented, and students were lined up and marched from point to point.

Regional: characteristic of a region.

– He’d called me downstairs to fill out an entry form for an upcoming regional meet.

Registered: listed or recorded officially; certified; qualified.

– When he registered that they were together in a giant’s bed with a skeleton cat, he looked more confused than ever.

Regnant: exercising power or authority; powerful; rolling.

– The regnant solo piano improviser of the last 50 years, Mr. Jarrett recently released “A Multitude of Angels,” a set of four unaccompanied concert recordings.

Regressive: opposing progress; returning to a former less advanced state; backward; atavistic.

– There were other signs of Hollywood of yesteryear, though a few seemed less retro than regressive.

Regretful: feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone; bad; sorry.

– Badly has now become an adjective in its own right, meaning “sorrowful” or “regretful.

Regrettable: deserving regret; too bad; unfortunate.

–  It was regrettable, but the admirers had to die with her.

Regular: conforming to a standard or pattern; standard.

– They would quote the Bible like regular people toss out song lyrics.

Regulation: prescribed by or according to regulation.

– With the toe of my regulation black sneaker I nudged a single box from the tower’s foundation.

Regulative: restricting according to rules or principles; regulatory; restrictive.

– The regulative ideal of being correct and truthful, those ideals don’t hold with him. The thing that holds is power.

Regulatory: restricting according to rules or principles; regulative; restrictive.

– Proteins act as regulatory sensors, or master switches, in this process—turning on and turning off genes, or even combinations of genes, in a coordinate manner.

Rehabilitative: helping to restore to good condition; reconstructive; constructive.

– These feminists were enacting a profound form of rehabilitative practice.

Reigning: exercising power or authority; hegemonnic; ruling.

–  The verdict of history, or at least the reigning judgment of most historians, is that the story is essentially true.

Reincarnate: having a new body; corporeal; material.

– At six years old, I know I am bad and deserve whatever low life-form I will be reincarnated as in the next life.

Reinvigorated: with restored energy; fresh; rested.

– Usually water reinvigorated him, but not this water.

Reiterative: marked by iteration; iterative; repetitive.

– A sense of fear inspired by no facts but by the reiterative rhetoric of the press swept the city.

Rejective: rejecting or tending to reject; dismissive; repudiative.

– Northeastern, which has transformed itself from a commuter school into a highly rejective one in just a few decades, is not alone.

Rejoicing: joyful and proud especially because of triumph or success; exultant.

– The messengers rejoicing started back to carry the news to the gods.

Relatable: able to be related or causally connected.

– Now, in his post-presidency, she views him as a more relatable leader whose past efforts inform present ones.

Related: being connected either logically or causally or by shared characteristics; affiliated; bound up.

Relational: having a relation or being related; comparative; relative.

–  I just laugh, all vestiges of relational conflict shoved aside for the moment.

Relative: estimated by comparison; not absolute or complete; comparative; rational.

– The others we have planted at the request of relatives who have no tools or who live too far.

Relativistic: of or relating to the philosophical doctrine of relativism.

– Such ships could not travel close enough to the speed of light for special relativistic time dilation to become important.

Relaxant: tending to relax or relieve muscular or nervous tension; depressant.

– He died on Christmas Day 2009, having taken an overdose of muscle relaxants.

Relaxed: without strain or anxiety; easy; degage.

– Once they’d rolled down a couple of blocks, she relaxed and realized she wasn’t going to fall off.

Relaxing: affording physical or mental rest; restful; slumpbros.

– Lyra could see the intensity in his body, saw his jaw working, and then saw an authority descend over it, calming and relaxing and clarifying.

Relentless: never-ceasing; persistent; continual.

– On top of the wall the mouse archers kept up their relentless hail of arrows into the ditch.

Relevant: having a bearing on or connection with the subject at issue; applicable; germane.

– Not super relevant, considering I get no action.

Reliable: worthy of reliance or trust; dependable; certain.

–  To demonstrate what a good, reliable, always-there sort of friend I was, I reluctantly agreed to track down Fang.

Reliant: relying on another for support; dependent.

– He was elected, the rest were county employees whose job status was not reliant on elections.

Relieved: (of pain or sorrow) made easier to bear; eased; mitigated.

– I was relieved we wouldn’t have to move and helped Mami peel the sweet potatoes.

Religious: having or showing belief in and reverence for a deity; pious; chruchgoing.

– He was a religious mutt, which made him even more open to the students he taught over the years.

Reluctant: not eager.

– That done, we started our slow, reluctant shuffle back to the others.

Remaining: not used up; left; left over.

– The far end of the walkway had crumbled away, but still people crowded into the remaining area.

Remarkable: unusual or striking; singular; extraordinary.

– Compared with most other places in the developed world, America is still to a remarkable extent a land of forests.

Rembrandtesque: in the manner of Rembrandt.

– It looked most weird and Rembrandtesque in the rich pea-soupy atmosphere, but alas! to-morrow will reveal it in its true colors, dirty and opaque.

Remediable: capable of being cured; treatable; curable; treatable.

– A remediable condition that may have serious consequences if not recognized.

Remedial: tending to cure or restore to health; alterative; healing.

– He stared at the worksheet, supposedly remedial, and tried to wrap his mind around the shapes and angles.

Remindful: serving to bring to mind; aware; mindful.

– She crawled in my bunk and held me, talking soft and remindful to me of all the things I had to live and be patient for.

Reminiscent: serving to bring to mind; evocative; redolen.

– The sauce for the leg was almost joltingly rich and earthy, powerfully reminiscent of the forest.

Remiss: failing in what duty requires; negligent; derelict.

– I feel like I would be remiss in my parenting if I didn’t bring it up,” she said.

Remittent: (of a disease) characterized by periods of diminished severity; decreased; reduced.

– The typhoid state may supervene in either, and in both the febrile movement is remittent in character.

Remorseful: feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses; contrite; repentant.

– My mind had not only snapped during the first killing, it had also stopped making remorseful records, or so it seemed.

Remorseless: without mercy or pity; ruthless; pitiless.

– Think of the tests, such repeated, remorseless, scandal- breathing tests, which day after day would be applied to you—until the last and certain day, when you would fail.

Remote: located far away spatially; distant; far.

– He spent weeks out on the vast and remote plains, working in the intense heat and rains.

Removable: capable of being removed or taken away or dismissed; dismissble; extractible

– It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap.

Remunerative: for which money is paid.

– The runaways were a different sort of beast but more remunerative.

Renal: of or relating to the kidneys; nephritis.

– This increases through life, as renal function declines naturally with age.

Renascent: rising again as to new life and vigor; resurgent; revived.

– Giddy Mets fans will watch their renascent team play wherever the announcers are.

Renegade: having deserted a cause or principle; recreant; disloyal.

– The dockyard was vast and isolated—the ideal place for, say, a renegade god and his horde of demons to settle in.

Renewable: capable of being renewed; replaceable; inexhaustible.

– That means it should be, as much as possible, a closed loop, recycling fertility and using renewable energy.

Reniform: (of a leaf or bean shape) resembling the shape of kidney; kidney-shaped; simple.

– Native arsenic is usually found as granular or curvilaminar masses, with a reniform or botryoidal surface.

Renowned: widely known and esteemed; celebrated; famous.

– I also become renowned in school for imitating famous singers, using an imaginary microphone, flinging my hair around and dancing and singing and pursing my lips.

Rentable: that is able or fit be rented.

– The grandson cares most about the old woman once she is gone, making her apartment rentable.

Rental: available to rent or lease.

– After a bit of inquiry, the landlord placed the home on the rental market with a severe discount to account for the sensational circumstances of the prior tenant’s eviction.

Renunciant: used especially of behavior; self-denying; strict.

– Consular officers must verify that the renunciant is a U.S. citizen and they must conduct a minimum of two intensive interviews with the potential renunciant.

Renunciative: used especially of behavior; strict; renunciant.

Reorganised: organized again; reorganised; organized.

– Firms folded or reorganised: Samsung moved into digital TV and mobile phones.

Repairable: organized again; reorganised; organized.

– The restructure will see BBC Worldwide’s five global divisions reorganised into seven geographical regions.

Repand: having a slightly undulating margin; smooth.

– The pileus is convex, the disk expanded, and the margin incurved and more or less wavy or repand on the extreme edge.

Reparable: capable of being repaired or rectified; rectifiable; maintainable.

– This is not reparable,” said Joel Benenson, a Democratic pollster who was a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump’s opponent in 2016.

Repayable: subject to repayment; due.

– Business loans are usually repayable in regular installments.

Repeatable: able or fit to be repeated or quoted; quotable.

– The reply was immediate and unambiguous: a string of upper-case invective of which the most complimentary, and indeed repeatable, word was “twisted”.

Repellant: serving or tending to repel; repellent; unpleasant unpleasant.

– He brought the Candle closer but the Letters were repellant & I believe were merely our Letters backward.

Repellent: serving or tending to repel; rebarbative; repellant.

– highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust.

Repelling: highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust; disgustful; distasteful.

– The scene which met mv eyes was at once compelling and repelling.

Repentant: feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds; penitent; ashamed.

– He watched in amazement as the statue of the queen raised her arms and welcomed back her repentant husband and grownup daughter.

Repetitious: characterized by repetition; repetitive; iterative.

– She could face that unending file of repetitious robots no more.

Repetitive: repetitive and persistent; insistent; continual.

– Now he made roses and mums and lilies, the repetitive, familiar motion soothing.

Replaceable: capable of being replaced; expendable; exchangeable.

– Phones, shoes, jewelry, all of it mattered, in that he always needed them, but none of it mattered because everything was replaceable for Javi.

Replete: filled to satisfaction with food or drink; full; nourished.

– The throng of reporters, mostly Japanese, wanted a neatly scripted version of the calamity, replete with villains and heroes.

Reportable: meriting report; reported.

– There was that weird incident at the Idle Hour when Brian saw me with Phil, but I don’t think being a jerk qualifies as a reportable offense.

Reported: made known or told about; especially presented in a formal account; according; notifiable.

– Many were reported leaving the country every day.

Reprehensible: bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure; criminal; wrong.

– The problematic patriotism of the Quaker petitioners was, Smith agreed, reprehensible.

Representable: expressible in symbolic form; expressible.

– Usually it has become representable in terms of the flat file model used by SQL.

Representational: (used especially of art) depicting objects, figures, or scenes as seen; depictive; eidetic.

– But that other one, of the man holding his ears and yelling—that wasn’t representational.

Representative: serving to represent or typify; typical.

– They were now representatives of something much larger than themselves—a way of life, a shared set of values.

Repressive: restrictive of action; inhibitory; restrictive.

– But the hard facts were that fifty years of nonviolence had brought the African people nothing but more repressive legislation, and fewer and fewer rights.

Reproachful: expressing reproof or reproach especially as a corrective; admonitory; repproving.

– His expression was grim and reproachful, as if to say: Now, hold still, or I can’t kill you properly.

Reprobate: deviating from what is considered moral or right or proper or good; depraved; corrupt.

– He was just an old reprobate who lived poor and died broke,” Grandma said.

Reproducible: capable of being reproduced; consistent; duplicable.

– Obviously, only so much of this two-week special is reproducible year-round.

Reproductive: producing new life or offspring; fruitful; procreative.

– Geographic isolation leads to genetic isolation, and to eventual reproductive isolation.

Reptilian: of or relating to the class Reptilia; reptile.

– It depends on things not going wrong, on mistakes not being made, on the reptilian passions not being seriously aroused.

Repudiative: rejecting emphatically; e.g. refusing to pay or disowning; rejective.

– Nevertheless it would be repudiative to say that I have sophisticated my previous opinion.

Repugnant: offensive to the mind; abhorrent; obscene.

– I suppose you’d find it less repugnant to go hungry every morning!

Repulsive: offensive to the mind; detestable; offensive.

– Where the repulsive scar had been there was now a smooth, pale patch of skin.

Reputable: having a good reputation; honorable; eminent.

– They had reputable names they could borrow against in a pinch.

Required: required by rule; obligatory; mandatory.

– It required, however, no more than the blurt of the doorbell to alert me to listen to sounds all over again.

Requisite: necessary for relief or supply; needed; required.

– Her nervousness was melting away; they had raced past the requisite moments of awkwardness.

Rescindable: capable of being rescinded or voided; voidable; revocable.

– They are rescindable,” McIntosh said of executive orders.

Rescued: delivered from danger; reclamed; saved.

– Still, without soon being rescued they were sure to die, because their wounds were so infected their flesh had begun to stink and rot.

Resealable: capable of being used again; useful; utile.

– Her mom invented this recyclable paper coffee cup that holds in heat but keeps the outside from burning your hand.

Resentful: full of or marked by resentment or indignant ill will; bitter; rancorus.

– He felt like a beast with two heads, one ashamed, the other resentful.

Reserved: set aside for the use of a particular person or party; booked; set-aside.

– One-third of the building was reserved for the Headmaster and his family.

Resettled: settled in a new location; relocated; settled.

– People were to be resettled there in seven different “ethnic groups.

Resident: used of animals that do not migrate; no migrator.

– He said he put it in his father’s name because the older man had become a legal resident after the 1986 amnesty.

Residential: of or relating to or connected with residence.

– The Group Areas Act was the foundation of residential apartheid.

Residual: relating to or indicating a remainder; residuary.

– This was followed two years later by extensive application of residual sprays for the control of malaria mosquitoes.

Residuary: relating to or indicating a remainder; residual.

– But one thing is certain, there is no residuary estate for the witch’s own relations.

Resilient: elastic; rebounding readily; bouncy; live.

– As resilient as seasoned hickory.

Resinated: impregnated or flavored with resin.

–  There was also sound red wine, and plenty of it, varying according to the makers, but mostly good, and only in one case slightly resinated.

Resinlike: resembling resin in properties or texture.

– Instead, they harvest their own, store it and then prepare it by hand, a painstaking process that includes washing away the resinlike saponin coating that protects the seeds.

Resinous: having the characteristics of pitch or tar; tarry; resiny.

– Combustible natural products inevitably make themselves noticed, as when a resinous log explodes in a campfire.

Resiny: having the characteristics of pitch or tar; pitchy; adhesive.

– After one sip, you’re slugged with an intense bitterness and a dark, resiny feeling on your tongue.

Resistant: disposed to or engaged in defiance of established authority; resistive; rogue.

– The next year, nevertheless, flies were resistant to DDT and chlordane.

Resistant: disposed to or engaged in defiance of established authority; defiant; non-compliant.

–  Many workers have noticed the tendency of resistant flies to rest more on untreated horizontal surfaces than on treated walls.

Resistible: capable of being resisted or withstood or frustrated; irristible; resistless.

– Some of the motifs — for example, a stride while shaking the head from side to side — are eminently resistible.

Resistive: disposed to or engaged in defiance of established authority; defiant; non-compliant.

– When the circuit is purely resistive, everything in this chapter applies to both DC and AC.

Resistless: impossible to resist; overpowering; overpowering.

– You cannot comprehend its resistless fascination for me.

Resolute: firm in purpose or belief; characterized by firmness and determination; brave; courageous.

– I close my laptop and shut off my light, and lie there in the darkness, feeling every heartbeat in my chest, loud and resolute.

Resolvable: capable of being settled or resolved; reconcilable.

– Their experiences and concerns will seem familiar, comfortable and perhaps resolvable.

Resolved: explained or answered; solved.

– He resolved to make Chuck tell him later, whether the guy wanted to or not.

Resonant: characterized by resonance; resonating; resounding.

– Lawrence and Livingston finally achieved resonant acceleration with this device.

Resounding: characterized by resonance; resonating; reverbiative.

– Slowly and climactically, Powell and Donovan finished a graphic and resounding story.

Resourceful: having inner resources; adroit or imaginative; capable.

– She was her resourceful self, but she was also an instinctive counterweight to Ralph’s activity — a fixed center.

Resourceless: lacking or deficient in natural resources; poor.

– The school holidays had been going on for two and a half weeks already, and we were drained and resourceless from endless days of full-contact parenting.

Respectable: deserving of esteem and respect; good; reputable.

– All respectable companies give guarantees.

Respected: receiving deferential regard; well-thought of; reputable.

–  Every one of us, from the smallest hoodlum to the biggest, loved and respected him.

Respectful: full of or exhibiting respect; courteous; humble.

– Her father and Mr. Spencer soon joined in—low, quiet, respectful.

Respective: considered individually; several; various.

– In doling out our respective gifts God had given me all the important ones.

Respiratory: pertaining to respiration.

– After barely nibbling it, she thought her respiratory system was going to implode.

Resplendent: having great beauty and splendor; glorious; splendid.

– Still, to enter this resplendent place, the new ones must learn the primary Latin.

Respondent: replying; answering; responsive.

– The same group of respondents also perceived the typical drug trafficker as black.

Responsible: worthy of or requiring responsibility or trust; or held accountable; obligated; prudent.

– By contrast, funding for agencies responsible for drug treatment, prevention, and education was dramatically reduced.

Responsive: reacting to a stimulus; reactive; sensitive.

– The story contrasted those demands with the science showing that when someone was being responsive, it wasn’t the same thing as being effective.

Rested: not tired; refreshed as by sleeping or relaxing; lively; refreshed.

– I stood back a bit while he sang, knocking his rattle against the air and rocking on his heels where he rested.

Restful: affording physical or mental rest; asleep; somnolence.

– The sun is low, the air all gold, Warm lies the slumbrous land and still.

Restive: being in a tense state; edgy; tense.

–  While their doing so was all to the good in itself, some of them were growing restive and hard to manage.

Restless: lacking or not affording physical or mental rest; uneasy.

– The dead here were following their loved ones around, restless and unhappy, just as they were everywhere.

Restorative: tending to impart new life and vigor to; renewing; invigorating.

– Jasmine wasn’t interested at first—she’d never heard of restorative justice, and she was already feeling overwhelmed.

Restrained: under restraint; controlled; reserved.

– Usually Uncle Katsuhisa was boisterous, but today when he came over, he was restrained.

Restricted: subject to restriction or subjected to restriction; classified; confined.

–  In the very look of the man’s eyes Bigger saw his own personality reflected in narrow, restricted terms.

Restrictive: serving to restrict; confining; limiting.

– Here, too, attitudes have become more restrictive with each passing year.

Resultant: following or accompanying as a consequence.

– She slung a stone hard, nodded in satisfaction at the resultant scream, and joined the two friends.

Resupine: lying face upward; supine; undercut.

– As he lay on the bed half-resupine, propped up with pillows, and also slept in that posture, his lower jaw dropped by its own weight, when the voluntary power of the muscles was suspended.

Resurgent: rising again as to new life and vigor; renascent; revived.

– Their campaign to “redeem” the South was reinforced by a resurgent Ku Klux Klan, which fought a terrorist campaign against Reconstruction governments and local leaders, complete with bombings, lynchings, and mob violence.

Resuscitated: restored to life or consciousness; revived.

– Her heart stopped beating for a few minutes before she was resuscitated.

Retaliatory: of or relating to or having the nature of retribution; relativative; punditry.

–  Despite conflicting reports, he decided to order immediate retaliatory air strikes.

Retarded: relatively slow in mental or emotional or physical development; stupid; backward.

– Northern California erupted with an indignation that Mr. Chang called, in a subsequent interview, “just retardedly stupid.

Retentive: good at remembering; aware; mindful.

– The eldest also intimated that the mother had a mild anal retentive personality.

Reticent: reluctant to draw attention to yourself; retiring; self-effacing.

– The reluctant bride was reticent when asked to say “I do.”

Reticular: resembling or forming a network; reticulate; cancellation.

– Reticular cells produce the reticular fibers that form the network onto which other cells attach.

Reticulate: resembling or forming a network; reticular; clothless.

– He had no idea why he’d become a reticulated python, but it did explain his dream about slowly swallowing a cow.

Retinal: in or relating to the retina of the eye; reticence.

–  I signed the name Bryce Lynch, then verified my signature with a retinal scan.

Retired: no longer active in your work or profession; inactive.

– Her maids carried them upstairs and demure Penelope retired with great contentment in her heart.

Retiring: of a person who has held and relinquished a position or office; past; preceding.

– Curly guessed it was her very first Hollywood role after retiring from beauty pageants.

Retractable: capable of being retracted; retractile.

– It was a yellow two-seater with a 450-horsepower radial engine, a low wing, and retractable landing gear.

Retractile: capable of retraction; capable of being drawn back; retractable.

– The bridge is formally known as a “retractile” bridge.

Retral: moving or directed or tending in a backward direction or contrary to a previous direction; retrograde; backward.

Retributive: of or relating to or having the nature of retribution; relativative; punitive.

– Momma and her son laughed and laughed over the white man’s evilness and her retributive sin.

Retrievable: capable of being regained especially with effort; recoverable.

– The cool fruit is cut into easily retrievable chunks; the tongue detects sweetness trailed by crunch, salt and tang.

Retro: affecting things past; retroactive; retrospective.

– He looked sort of cool, sort of retro.

Retroactive: affecting things past; retro; ex post facto.

– Prosecutors in many places resisted retroactive application of the Court’s decision in Miller v.

Retroflex: bent or curved backward; retroflexed; backward.

– In order to start the motor, one should ensure that the retroflex cam connecting rod is disengaged.

Retroflexed: bent or curved backward; retroflexed; backward.

– In order to start the motor, one should ensure that the retroflex cam connecting rod is disengaged.

Retrograde: moving or directed or tending in a backward direction or contrary to a previous direction; retral; backward.

– As the scudding day passed overhead the dingy windows glowed and faded in ghostly retrograde.

Retrorse: bent or curved backward or downward; decurved.

– Forms occur with the barbs of the awns spreading or retrorse, hybrids with Bidens frondosa or other species.

Retrousse: (used of noses) turned up at the end; tip-tilted.

– She wasn’t handsome, but she certainly was pretty, even though her nose was retrousse; which is French for pug.

Returnable: that may be returned; revertible.

– They were interchangeable from base to base, like returnable bottles.

Reusable: capable of being used again; utile; useful.

– I go into our new apartment’s tiny kitchen to fill my reusable water bottle.

Revealing: showing or making known; indicative; indicators.

– I cut away the material over her chest, revealing the four deep puncture wounds.

Revelatory: (usually followed by `of’) pointing out or revealing clearly; revealing; indicative.

– It was as revelatory, exciting, intense, and surreal as Mayor Schmoke promised.

Revenant: coming back; recurring; continual.

– Our revenant rowed to the side of a dock and held it with one hand.

Revengeful: disposed to seek revenge or intended for revenge; vengeful; vindictive.

– He also began to disbelieve the Old Testament idea of a wrathful God, a revengeful tyrant.

Reverberant: having a tendency to reverberate or be repeatedly reflected; bright; brilliant.

– The peculiar young man hesitated, then commenced to hum once more, his voice as deep and reverberant as before.

Reverberative: characterized by resonance; resonant; reverberant.

– But the music of the singer of the Poema does not depend upon reverberative effect alone.

Reverent: feeling or showing profound respect or veneration; respectful; adoring.

– He drew me into his office, remarking in a reverent voice that it was a sad time for all of us, and offered me a cigar.

Reverential: feeling or manifesting veneration; reverent; veneration.

– The reading of comics is done in reverential silence, with now and then a few monosyllables of trade.

Reverse: reversed (turned backward) in order or nature or effect; inverse; backward.

– I was given to understand that the reverse was to be despised.

Reversed: turned about in order or relation; converse; transposed.

– First he reversed the law that had freed the slaves.

Reversible: capable of reversing or being reversed; correctable; rechargeable.

– For a while Edmond and I pretended that what was happening between us was totally reversible.

Reversionary: of or relating to or involving a reversion (especially a legal reversion).

– The other 75% would be allocated to a “reversionary fund” for the benefit of insurance companies, who could be on the hook for damage payments in future litigation.

Reversive: tending to be turned back; returning; backward.

– It included a letter from Loring, and there was another reversive upheaval for the exile.

Revertible: to be returned to the former owner or that owner’s heirs; returnable.

Revised: improved or brought up to date; altered.

– In the revised form the phosphate atoms were twisted 45 degrees, thereby allowing a different group of oxygen atoms to form a hydrogen bond.

Revitalised: restored to new life and vigor; revitalized; revived.

– I have seen it change, from being a bit lost in the download music revolution to being revitalised.

Revitalising: tending to impart new life and vigor to; renewing; reviving.

– Mary Portas turns her attention to revitalising the Great British High Street.

Revivalistic: of or relating to or characterizing revivalism.

– When we take up the phenomena of revivalistic conversion, we shall learn something more about all this.

Revocable: capable of being revoked or annulled; revocable; voidable.

– It’s a new finality for the man with a license to kill, but, apparently, a revocable permit to live forever.

Revokable: capable of being revoked or annulled; revocable; reversible.

– Permanent appointments are not revokable except by sentence of court-martial, and a man re-enlists in that rating for which he held a permanent appointment in his previous enlistment.

Revolting: highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust; dusgustful; loathly.

– My second drag was as revolting as my first.

Revolutionary: markedly new or introducing radical change; radial; new.

– But Sissy did such a revolutionary thing that they had to talk about it.

Rewardful: offering or productive of reward; rewarding.

Rewarding: providing personal satisfaction; pleasing; profitable.

– It’s been a tremendously rewarding life, a wonderful life.

Rhapsodic: feeling great rapture or delight; joyous; rapt.

–  It evolves in three rhapsodic movements lasting nearly 50 minutes altogether.

Rhenish: of or relating to the Rhine River and the lands adjacent to it.

–  By the last work in the concert, Schumann’s “Rhenish”, they were at ease, the playing taut and lean.

Rheologic: of or relating to rheology; rhetorical.

Rheological: of or relating to rheology; rheologic.

– This is difficult to attribute to the rheological effects of magma water content or crystallinity.

Rhetorical: given to rhetoric, emphasizing style at the expense of thought; fancy; nonliteral.

– Satan, in a classic rhetorical sleight of hand, doesn’t directly ask the question his speech hopes to answer.

Rheumatoid: of or pertaining to arthritis; creaky; unhealthy.

– The survival mechanism has become the enemy, as in such illnesses as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis that can attack organs, joints, even the brain.

Rheumy: moist, damp, wet (especially of the eyes); creaky; wet.

– Whether it was sentiment or rheumy eyes that troubled the old woman, I could not tell.

Rhinal: of or in or relating to the nose; nasal.

Rhizoidal: of or relating to a rhizoid.

Rhizomatous: producing or possessing or resembling rhizomes.

– It is difficult to eradicate because it spreads by both rhizomatous roots and seed dispersal.

Rhodesian: of or relating to the former country of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe);

– Early the next morning we left for Mbeya, a Tanganyikan town near the Northern Rhodesian border.

Rhombic: resembling a rhombus.

– And what a shape it will be: a 12-sided rhombic dodecahedron.

Rhombohedral: having threefold symmetry; trigonal; symmetric.

– The habit of the crystals may be rhombohedral, pyramidal or tabular, rarely prismatic.

Rhomboid: shaped like a rhombus or rhomboid; rhomboidal.

– For a developer, he built a glassy rhomboid, set on a ridge over the Malibu coast.

Rhomboidal: shaped like a rhombus or rhomboid; rhmonbid.

– The human body, he averred, was governed by a number of demons, whom he distributed over a rhomboidal figure.

Rhymeless: not having rhyme; rimeless; unrimed.

– One poet Whitman’s lawless line did directly influence; and this was Maeterlinck, whose rhymeless verse in Serres Chaudes was written under the inspiration of Leaves of Grass.

Rhythmical: recurring with measured regularity; regular; cadenced.

– As she worked on her hands and knees, she felt a rhythmical beat, like the rumble of Eskimo drums.

Riant: showing or feeling mirth or pleasure or happiness; laughing; happy.

– I have just mentioned Niels Andersen, and this good figure, at once so droll and so lovable, emerges all riant in my memory.

Ribald: humorously vulgar; bawdy; off-color.

– On the surface, it was a ribald little tune about a donkey who wanted to be an arcanist.

Ribbonlike: long and thin; resembling a ribbon; ribbony; thin.

– But moments later the magic happened again: he lowered himself to the floor, knees crossed, and reached forward until his body unfurled, ribbonlike.

Ribbony: long and thin; resembling a ribbon; thin; ribbonlike.

– Danny was gazing at a couple of stunt kites with snaky ribbony tails.

Ribless: having no ribs or no visible ribs.

– Many had well-developed ribs, indicating a condition of respiration much in advance of that in the ribless batrachians.

Riblike: resembling a rib; ribbed.

– Ears flat, teeth bared and flanks incised with riblike arcs, the animal projects a tense ferocity far exceeding its size.

Rich: possessing material wealth; abundant; privileged.

– Stella closed her eyes, thinking of the rich chocolate icing her mother whipped up and slathered on a warm layer cake.

Rickettsial: relating to or caused by rickettsias.

– The most common rickettsial diseases found in travelers are in the spotted fever or typhus groups.

Rickety: inclined to shake as from weakness or defect; shaky; wobbly.

– I feel a swell of homesickness as I hear the sound of the worn, rickety wood of that front step, creaking underneath us as we laugh and get close for the picture.

Ridged: having a ridge or shaped like a ridge or suggesting the keel of a ship; carinate; kneeled.

– Haunches made from burnt arms and offal, a serpentine tail ridged with human vertebrae.

Ridiculous: incongruous;inviting ridicule; absurd; idiotic.

– It was ridiculous, but that, of course, was its appeal.

Riemannian: of or relating to Riemann’s non-Euclidean geometry.

– Take the edge dislocations wandering through the crystal, and you find you get Riemannian geometry.

Rife: excessively abundant; overabundant; plethoric.

– Life is rife with many moments of misfortune, which we must learn to see as opportunities.

Right: free from error; especially conforming to fact or truth; correct; accurate.

– He picked one of the limbs that seemed right and began chopping where the limb joined the tree.

Righteous: morally justified; moral.

– Suspicious, self- righteous, spiteful, he was like a wife that must be got rid of.

Rightful: having a legally established claim; lawful; true.

– As much as she loved it, she felt that its rightful place was with him.

Rightish: tending toward the political right; right.

Rightist: believing in or supporting tenets of the political right; right-wing; right.

– Sweet, you’re such a states’ rightist you make me a Roosevelt Liberal by comparison.

Rightmost: farthest to the right; right.

– Dany chose the rightmost, and entered a long, dim, high-ceilinged hall.

Rigid: incapable of or resistant to bending; stiff; inflexible.

– A too rigid equality in rations, Squealer explained, would have been contrary to the principles of Animalism.

Rigorous: rigidly accurate; allowing no deviation from a standard; strict; exact.

– There, a worker cut a strip off the edge, divided it into squares, and put each through a series of rigorous tests.

Rimed: covered with frost; frosty; cold.

Rimeless: not having rhyme; rhymeless; unrimed.

– Go In and Out at the Window: An endless, rimeless improvisation containing the dance calls in order.

Riming: having corresponding sounds especially terminal sounds; rhymed; assonant.

– Not for him the sweet felicities of the mincing phraser or the dreamy languors of the riming troubadour.

Rimless: lacking a rim or frame.

– She wore her rimless glasses that Frank always liked to steal, and her fuzzy gray fleece pullover that smelled like cinnamon.

Rimmed: having a rim or a rim of a specified kind; horn-rimmied; red-mmied.

– Dark- rimmed glasses over her long-lashed eyes make her look very professional and also pretty.

Rimose: having a surface covered with a network of cracks and small crevices; rough.

– The pileus is pulvinate-ungulate, much dilated, deeply sulcate; cinnamon, then brown or blackish; very much cracked or rimose.

Rimy: covered with frost; frosty; cold.

– He knew that heavy ice is generally opaque and white, but this was transparent, with rimy streaks on it that ran to and fro in irregular patterns.

Ringleted: (of hair) shaped into ringlets; curly.

– There was something Renaissance about the pose, but it was princes I thought of, not coiffed and ringleted maidens.

Ringlike: having the shape of a ring; round; circular.

– This star is the one that created the ringlike shells of material surrounding the pair.

Riotous: characterized by unrest or disorder or insubordination; disruptive; troubled.

– They do not live a riotous s#x life themselves.

Riparian: of or relating to or located on the banks of a river or stream.

– The riparian forest for one, with Spanish moss draping cedar elm, Texas ebony and Mexican ash trees.

Ripe: fully developed or matured and ready to be eaten or used; mature; aged.

– It smelled like a mixture of ripe mango, orange, and something else that was irresistibly inviting.

Rippling: resembling a sound of violent tearing as of something ripped apart or lightning splitting a tree; rending; spillting.

– I look down at the book again, and then I hear paper ripping.

Risen: (of e.g. celestial bodies) above the horizon; up.

– At midnight the tide had risen enough to move the boats, and they left.

Risible: arousing or provoking laughter; amusing; comical.

– It’s both lovely and risible at once, all this fussing over a collar prized for its unfussy appearance.

Rising: advancing or becoming higher or greater in degree or value or status; improving; up.

– Lowering and rising, Cole wandered off away from the fire, then pretended the fire was the goal of his long migration.

Riskless: thought to be devoid of risk; risk-free; safe.

– Continued stimulus at this stage in the economic cycle is hardly riskless.

Risky: full of the possibility of danger, failure, or loss; dangerous; hazardous.

– It was much too risky to try to disarm him.

Risque: slightly indecent and liable to shock, especially by being sexually suggestive; bawdy; indecent.

– His risqué humour.

Ritardando: gradually decreasing in tempo; rit; decreasing.

Ritenuto: gradually decreasing in tempo; rallentando; rit.

– A definitely slower tempo at once     più lento meno mosso ritenuto. 

Ritual: of or relating to or employed in social rites or rituals.

– In his final piece, Parsifal, of 1882, Wagner turned the theatre into a temple, the plot into a sacramental ritual and the leitmotifs he bestowed with sacred power.

Ritualistic: of or characterized by or adhering to ritualism.

– The ones you ritualistically blow up every year with an M80.

Ritzy: luxuriously elegant; elegant.

– Cordelia’s family moves to a different, larger house, in a ritzier neighborhood farther north.

Rivalrous: eager to surpass others; emulous; comparative.

– In the Walter paintings he is looking hungrily at Ingres and with a rivalrous eye at Matisse.

Riveting: capable of arousing and holding the attention; absorbing; compelling.

– Some reviewers had called it a “good” book, and one had even used the word “riveting.

Roadless: lacking pathways; pathless; trackless.

– They strapped guns to their backs and skied deep into the roadless forests and mountains.

Roan: (used of especially horses) having a brownish coat thickly sprinkled with white or grey; colored; colorful.

– That sweet little red roan with the omega seared into her left shoulder.

Roaring: very lively and profitable; booming; palmy.

– Hatred would fill him like an enormous roaring flame.

Roast: (meat) cooked by dry heat in an oven; roasted; cooked.

– Using gestures, I bought a whole roasted chicken and something like thick potato chips.

Roasted: (meat) cooked by dry heat in an oven; roast; cooked.

– The courses appear in rapid succession—savory rabbit and roasted duck and fish, platters of vegetables and salads.

Robed: dressed or clothed especially in fine attire; often used in combination; attired; graded.

–  This time a stranger was with him, a maester chained and robed.

Robotic: resembling the unthinking functioning of a machine; automatic; robotlike. 

– Five of them had the huge robotic lions that could form Voltron.

Robotlike: resembling the unthinking functioning of a machine; robotic; mechanical.

– Then she stood up, put her jacket back on with the same robotlike movements, and left.

Robust: sturdy and strong in form, constitution, or construction; rugged; healthy.

– The Caplan family are a robust lot.

Robustious: noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline; boisterous; unruly.

– The picture of the robustious Colonel uneasy in Zion is one of them.

Rockbound: abounding in or bordered by rocky cliffs or scarps; rough; unsmooth.

– It is a weird land this, which in rockbound loneliness looks out over the cultivated plain.

Rocklike: hard as granite; hard; stony.

–  There was a nodding of heads in the kitchen, and only Tom sat rocklike and brooding.

Rocky: abounding in rocks or stones; rough; stony.

– Number of additional ankle twists on the rocky grounds of North Dakota’s hills and buttes: four, maybe more.

Rococo: having excessive asymmetrical ornamentation; fancy.

– We were led out of the elevator through a rococo hall into an anteroom and told to get into our fighting togs.

Rodlike: resembling a rod; rod-shaped; rod-shaped; rounded.

– Typically, operators replace the oldest four of 30 rodlike fuel elements and rearrange the others.

Roguish: lacking principles or scruples; blackguardly; rascally.

– She smiled, a perfect, roguish, Lucy Ricardo smile.

Roily: (of a liquid) agitated vigorously; in a state of turbulence; churning; rolling.

– Then the Sioux plunged their feverish faces into the roily water and drank as eagerly as the ponies.

Rollicking: given to merry frolicking; coltish; frolicky.

– Instantly, another reeling and reeking woman took over where Nancy’s rollicking had left off.

Rolling: uttered with a trill; rolled; thrilled.

– Like Jesus, rolling the stone from his tomb when everyone’d thought that he was a goner.

Roman: relating to or characteristic of people of Rome.

– Over the history of the empire, thousands of Romans had served and died in Greece.

Romance: relating to languages derived from Latin; latinian; Romance.

– She wasn’t crying, but she turned the pages of a True Romances magazine disconsolately.

Romani: of or relating to the Gypsies or their language or culture; Romany.

– The real Romani of nineteenth-century central Europe, whose fundamental ethnic origins were Indian, kept their own music to themselves.

Romanian: of or relating to or characteristic of the country of Romania or its people or languages; roumanian; roumanian.

– Within one year of the abortion ban, the Romanian birth rate had doubled.

Romanic: of or relating to or derived from Rome (especially ancient Rome); Roman.

– For Joseph Romanic, 19, the store was essential in fostering his passion for music.

Romanist: of or relating to or supporting Romanism; papist; popish.

– You may be a Romanist, but I am a Huguenot, and have read.

Romansh: of or relating to the Romansh language; Rumash.

– It’s Switzerland’s fifth language, along with French, German, Italian and Romansh, and is still spoken by a handful of people.

Romantic: expressive of or exciting sexual love or romance; amatory; loving.

– It was not the sort of thing he would normally have said to her, these romantic words.

Romanticist: belonging to or characteristic of Romanticism or the Romantic Movement in the arts; romantic; Romanticistic.

– For wine romanticists, that means the Bordeaux that Thomas Jefferson enjoyed on his visits to the region in the 1780s were probably not primarily cabernet.

Romanticistic: belonging to or characteristic of Romanticism or the Romantic Movement in the arts; romantic; Romanticistic.

– Well, they are romantic—romantic like a gentle poem, like an idyllic tale; but I deny that they are romanticistic.

Romany: of or relating to the Gypsies or their languageor cultural.

– The neck scarf and the rope belt around his flannel trousers may have been playful Romany touches.

Romish: of or relating to or supporting Romanism; romanist; papistic.

Roofed: covered with a roof; having a roof as specified (often used in combination).

– See the batey, the dirt road leading through, the shacks made of cornstalks roofed with banana leaves.

Roofless: physically or spiritually homeless or deprived of security; unfortunate; homeless.

– Panting, yearning for a roofless place, they flung themselves forward; and then in amazement they staggered, tumbling back.

Roomy: (of buildings and rooms) having ample space; spacious; commodious.

– They packed up and headed out the far side of the cavern into a drier, roomier tunnel.

Rooseveltian: of or relating to or like or in the manner of Franklin Roosevelt.

– Churchill seemed far less Victorian than Rooseveltian,” she writes.

Rootbound: having the roots matted or densely tangled; tangled.

– Keep in mind, however, that most houseplants perform best when they are slightly rootbound, and many flowering houseplants will bloom only if they are rootbound.

Rooted: absolutely still; frozen; stock-still.

– Rousing them from the horror that seemed to have rooted all but Sam to the ground where they stood, he drove them forward.

Rootless: wandering aimlessly without ties to a place or community; vagabond; unsettled.

– Touched with gold and red the autumn trees seemed to be sailing rootless in a shadowy sea.

Ropey: forming viscous or glutinous threads; ropy; stringy.

– They were broader than the rest of us, with wide shoulders and heavy hands that hung from ropey arms.

Ropy: of or resembling rope (or ropes) in being long and strong; ropey.

– Her dark hair was still lustrous and long; someone had put it in two ropy braids that reached almost to her waist.

Rosaceous: of something having a dusty purplish pink color; rose; chromatic.

– The fine grass spread like a carpet beneath the trees, and the sun, riddling the foliage, embroidered this carpet with a rosaceous pattern in gold.

Rose: of something having a dusty purplish pink color; roseate; chromatic.

– He rose up to his full five-foot-four-inch height and poked a finger into my chest.

Roseate: of something having a dusty purplish pink color; rose; chromatic.

– Sparrow flushed at this, a roseate warmth creeping into the blue of her cheeks and giving them a violet cast.

Rosicrucian: of or relating to the Rosicrucians.

– Once, while he was in the latrine, I sneaked into his spice-scented hideaway and rifled through a stack of Rosicrucian literature and a book by Nostradamus.

Rostrate: having a beak or beaklike snout or proboscis; beaked.

– Furnished with a process or a mouth like a beak; rostrate.

Rosy: having the pinkish flush of health; flushed; healthy.

–  Shortly after dawn, when the sky turned not rosy and welcoming as it does in summer but merely a lighter shade of gray, the midwife kicked her awake.

Rotary: describing a circle; moving in a circle; circular; orbital.

– She must have one of those really old rotary phones because I can hear her dialing it in the dining room.

Rotatable: capable of being rotated; mobile.

– There’s a rotatable dial and a directional pad within it to more quickly adjust settings.

Rotational: of or pertaining to rotation.

– We lamb on pasture as part of a sustainable, humane, rotational grazing operation.

Rotatory: of or relating to or characteristic or causing an axial or orbital turn; revolutionary.

– They exhibit rotatory or oscillatory movements, especially observed when a drop of water is added to the fluid.

Rotten: damaged by decay; hence unsound and useless; decayed; rotted.

– But though I laughed, I felt trapped, as hollow as a rotten tree.

Rotund: excessively large; fat; obese.

– Though he was somewhat rotund, hard muscle lay in the arm beneath her hand.

Rouged: marked by the use of various kinds of red makeup; painted.

– A blush deepened the color in her rouged cheeks.

Rough: having or caused by an irregular surface; unsmooth; uneven.

– The bride’s voice would be soft and pleading, his, rough and demanding.

Roughdried: (of laundry) dried but not ironed; unironed; wrinkled.

Roughhewn: of stone or timber; shaped roughly without finishing; rough-cut; unfinished.

– Here in the shop only great sarcophagi were built, and blocks of stone roughhewn to size, ready for the sculptors.

Roughish: somewhat rough; rough; unsmooth.

– One of his interviewees described the smell as “roughish but not as bad as you might think”, but there were places “where they tell me the foul air will cause instant death.

Roughshod: (of a horse) having horseshoes with projecting nails to prevent slipping; brutal; fell.

– Dozens of hybrids—bears, panthers, gorillas—run roughshod over the place.

Roumanian: of or relating to or characteristic of the country of Romania or its people or languages; roumanian; rumanian.

– But I couldn’t tell if it was a note from a bereaved mother or a piece of Roumanian sheet music.

Round: having a circular shape; circular; global.

– They rounded them up, put them in chains.

Roundabout: deviating from a straight course; indirect; devious.

– In a roundabout way, he caused a new name to be added to this list.

Rounded: curving and somewhat round in shape rather than jagged; far; circular.

– We rounded the corner and he opened the door to Ms. Rogers’s room, which was empty.

Roundheaded: having a brachycephalic head; board-headed; brachycranic.

– Not far from here is Polrode, where, serving as part of the bridge, is a good, though mutilated, example of a roundheaded cross with beaded angles.

Roundish: somewhat round in appearance or form; circular; round.

– Right at the end of Mr. C.’s shiny brown shoe was a little roundish rock.

Rousing: capable of arousing enthusiasm or excitement; stirring; stimulating.

– South into Lakedaimon into the land where greens are wide for dancing Athena went, to put in mind of home her great-hearted hero’s honored son, rousing him to return.

Rousseauan: of or pertaining to or characteristic of French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778).

– The Rousseauan dream of Woodstock was over, but the Rolling Stones’ identity had not shifted.

Routine: found in the ordinary course of events; everyday; mundane.

– This morning, the dust on the window filters the light as it beams in, bathing their daily routine in a kind of soft glow.

Roving: migratory; mobile; nomadic.

– She seethed, eyes roving through the crowd, until she zeroed in on me.

Rowdy: disturbing the public peace; loud and rough; raucous; disordly.

– Late at night, when crowds of rowdy proles roamed the streets, the town had a curiously febrile air.

Royal: belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler; imperial; regal.

– These calculations about food were immediately passed on to Monsieur Papillion, the royal chef.

Rubber: returned for lack of funds; no-good; bad.

– His hands were covered with three layers of rubber and then smeared with blood and hot agent.

Rubberlike: having an elastic texture resembling rubber in flexibility or toughness; rubbery; elastic.

– Cooling the liquid rapidly produces a rubberlike amorphous mass, called plastic sulfur.

Rubbery: having an elastic texture resembling rubber in flexibility or toughness; rubberlike; elastic.

– My foot sank into clear water and met the rubbery re­sistance of something flexible but solid.

Rubbishy: cheap and inferior; of no value; trasy; worthless.

– I long for one, just one, rubbishy and insolently random and hard to get rid of and perennially yellow as the sun.

Rubicund: inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life; florid; ruddy.

– Even the rubicund features and close-cropped white hair suggest a mix of military autocrat and merry patriarch.

Ruby: of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies; blood-red; carmine.

– Three rubies are set on both sides of the diamond.

Rudderless: aimlessly drifting; adrift; planeless; undirected.

– At last his wife was rudderless, trying to steer some sort of course on a sea of confusion, asking him for directions.

Ruddy: inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life; florid; healthy.

– By contrast the northmen seemed hale and healthy, big ruddy men with beards as thick as bushes, clad in fur and iron.

Rude: belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness; crude; early.

– Barons got more,” he blurted, then blushed because it sounded so rude.

Rudimentary: being in the earliest stages of development; incomplete; incomplete.

– From everything that happened later, I would guess that these instructions in feminine hygiene were rudimentary at best.

Rueful: feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses; contrite; ruthful.

– Just long,” she echoed with a rueful smile, laying one hand to her slender neck and rolling her head from side to side.

Ruffianly: violent and lawless; tough; violent.

– He was a principal leader in the mutiny of 1857 & of a most ruffianly disposition.

Rugged: having long narrow shallow depressions (as grooves or wrinkles) in the surface; furrowed; corrugated.

– I was about halfway to the house when a cool breeze drifted down from the rugged Tetons.

Rugose: of leaves; ridged or wrinkled; rough; unsmooth.

– Note the rugose look to the upper eyelids.

Ruined: destroyed physically or morally; destroyed; lost.

– We would never let things get so out of control that a bunch of drunks ruined the hall where we were playing.

Ruinous: extremely harmful; bringing physical or financial ruin; catastrophic; harmful.

– The growing light revealed to them a land already less barren and ruinous.

Ruling: exercising power or authority; powerful; regnant.

– I resigned my office, gave Frank a field promotion to praetor. Unless you want to contest that ruling.

Ruly: neat and tidy; tidy.

– They are a key way in which our ruly culture configures our nature.

Rum: beyond or deviating from the usual or expected; curious; funny.

– Only the bow was stuck, like a knife in a rum cake.

Rumanian: of or relating to or characteristic of the country of Romania or its people or languages; roumanian; roumanian.

– Many of these 69 individual pieces, sung to texts in Hungarian, Rumanian and Slovakian, are fruits of that immersion in folk culture.

Rumansh: of or relating to the Romansh language; Romansh.

Rumbling: continuous full and low-pitched throbbing sound; grumbling; full.

– I drive home with the tractor rumbling behind me.

Rumbustious: noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline; unruly; disordly.

– My mother combined bringing up three children with late nights in the company of often drunk and always rumbustious poets.

Ruminant: related to or characteristic of animals of the suborder Ruminantia or any other animal that chews a cud.

– The danger lies in the increase in nitrates, for the peculiar physiology of the ruminant at once poses a critical problem.

Ruminative: deeply or seriously thoughtful; brooding; thoughtful.

– Volpe is in a ruminative mood, thinking out loud about some of the kids.

Rummy: beyond or deviating from the usual or expected; strange; unusual.

– Bring us that deck of cards, love, let’s have a round of rummy.

Rumpled: in disarray; extremely disorderly; untidy; tousled.

– I caught a girl’s eyes, a few years younger than me, hair and clothing rumpled and dirty.

Runaway: completely out of control; uncontrolled.

– They scanned the growing crowd but saw no sign of her runaway stepbrother.

Runcinate: having incised margins with the lobes or teeth pointing toward the base; as dandelion leaves; rough.

– See, Miss Esther, look at these runcinate leaves.

Runic: relating to or consisting of runes.

– That much is clear — everything else about him remains open to runic interpretation.

Running: measured lengthwise; legenthways; lengthwise.

– The sole is bulging and dark, with a red line running around the edge.

Runny: characteristic of a fluid; capable of flowing and easily changing shape; fluid; liquid.

– A tasteless soyburger, a lump of runny mashed potatoes, and some unrecognizable form of cobbler for dessert.

Runproof: (of hosiery) resistant to runs or (in Britain) ladders; ladderproof; imperviable.

Runty: (used especially of persons) of inferior size; punny; little.

– At least he’d have one runty, cynical weasel to hang out with.

Rupestral: composed of or inscribed on rock; rupicolous.

Rupicolous: composed of or inscribed on rock.

Rural: living in or characteristic of farming or country life; agrarian; ustic.

– An earthquake in rural China buried thousands in their homes.

Ruritanian: of or pertaining to or characteristic of Ruritania (or any other imaginary country);

– The workmanship was exceptional for the Ruritanian embroideries or for lace dresses impregnated with sparkle.

Rushed: done under pressure; rush; hurried.

– I rushed to the front door to get a better look.

Rushlike: resembling rush or sedge; sedgelike; grassy.

– It has long, rushlike leaves, and yellow or white fragrant flowers.

Rushy: abounding in rushes; wooded.

– The first to open was the smaller species, with its rushy foliage and slender spikes of bloom.

Russet: of brown with a reddish tinge; chromatic.

– I exit through the room’s back door and land in a salon room made rich with russet sofas and ivory tea tables.

Russian: of or pertaining to or characteristic of Russia or its people or culture or language.

– The Russians come for them on a cloudless day in May.

Rust: of the brown color of rust; rusty; chromatic.

– I sit on a crumbling window ledge three stories up, hidden from view behind rusted steel beams.

Rusted: having accumulated rust; rusty.

– Mia ran a finger along one photograph, tracing the curve of a rusted bridge.

Rustic: characteristic of rural life; countrified; rural.

– He does not seem to have known what he was in for, possibly because he viewed the Inka as a gang of rustic thugs.

Rustless: without rust; rust-free; undercoatd.a 

– For they contain rustless iron, and where iron does not rust man cannot live, nor can any other animal or any plant.

Rustling: characterized by soft sounds; soft; soughing.

– A steady rustling sound told her that a few muscles were as unruly as her own.

Rustproof: treated against rusting; rustproofed; rustless.

– Either, however, is a good pick because aluminum is rustproof.

Rusty: covered with or consisting of rust; rusted.

– Presently, under her gentle stroking, she felt a throaty vibration, then heard a rusty, feeble purring.

Ruthful: feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses; contrite; rueful.

– Well, don’t pull it to pieces,” said Arthur, ruthfully.

Ruthless: without mercy or pity; unmerciful; pitiless.

– I just don’t want him to come out of this with that ruthless type of attitude.

Rutted: full of ruts; rutty; rugged.

– At the end of the paved road they turned left down a rutted dirt lane; only the last house seemed to be occupied.

Ruttish: feeling great sexual desire; horny; steamy.

– As with electronic dance music and drugs, Ibiza continues to trade on her ruttish behavior.

Rutty: full of ruts; rutted; rugged.

– The boys walked down the dark rutty road.

Rwandan: of or pertaining to Rwanda; rwandan.

– Ironically, people back home in Congo had called us Rwandan, but here in Rwanda, people called us Congolese.

Adjectives That Start with R – Infographic [Downloadable]

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Adjectives Starting with A to Z

Well done! You’ve completed learning adjectives starting with R. Would you like to continue the journey with other alphabets?

Adjectives That Start with:

A	B	C	D
E	F	G	H
I	J	K	L
M	N	O	P
Q	R	S	T
U	V	W	X
Y	Z

Final Thoughts

Thank you for reading till the end. We hope your stroll through this list of adjectives that start with R was a rich, robust, restful, rosy and relaxing time.

And we hope you were able to find the perfect words for whatever you needed, whether it be for a card, text, Instagram post or just a vocabulary booster.

So do you know any other R adjectives or did we miss any important one?

Either way, please let us know by leaving a quick comment.