MIND YOUR LANGUAGE: Appearances - How to describe someone in English

Height

	He is tall.	He is short.	He is normal height.
+	He is very tall.	He is quite short.	He is relatively normal height.

Build

She is skinny. (negative)	She is fat. (negative)
She is anorexic. (medical)	She is tubby. (negative)
She is underweight. (negative)	She is overweight. (negative)
She is thin. (negative)	She is plump. (neutral)
She is slim. (positive)	She is stocky. (neutral)
She is slender. (positive)	She is bonny. (positive)
!Note - if a man is fat (especially round the waist) we often say he has a beer belly.

Type of hair

	She has longhair.	She has short hair.	He has no hair. = He is bald.	She has medium length hair.	She has medium length hair.	She has short hair.
+	She has long,black hair.	She has short,black hair.	-	She has medium length , blonde hair.	She has medium length, red hair.	She has short,blonde hair.
++	She has long,straight, black hair.	She has short,straight, black hair.	-	She has medium length, straight, blonde hair.	She has medium length, wavy, red hair.	She has short,curly, blonde hair.
or	Her hair is long, straight and black.	Her hair is short, straight and black.	-	Her hair is medium length, straight and blonde.	Her hair is medium length, wavy and red.	Her hair is short, curly and blonde.
+					She wears glasses.

Type of complexion

He is asian. He has light-brown skin.	She is black. She has dark skin.	He is white. He has fair skin.	She is white. She has lightly tanned skin.	She is white. She has very pale skin.