How do you categorize someone as a person with good or bad character? There is no objective way of determining the same. But hopefully, the traits in this article will help you objectively decide what are good and bad character attributes.
John Luther once said, “Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are to some extent a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece by thought, choice, courage and determination.” Nothing could be truer. There are some among us that are born prodigies, blessed with talent that others cannot even dream of possessing. But there are some attributes that set us apart, regardless of the skills we possess, and the talents we may or may not have. And that is our character. The way we behave with other people and the ideals according to which we live our lives, garner us the respect and regard of fellow individuals and set us apart from the crowd. In this article, we’ll give you a list of both positive and negative attributes that we as human beings tend to display.
List of Character Traits
Character attributes put very simply are those characteristics that make us the unique individuals we are. They are the qualities that we possess that make other people look up to us, and faults that put people off us. While initially people are judged by their physical appearance, it is these traits that finally enable anyone to judge us properly and correctly. Admirable traits in a person can include those like being a good leader, a person who is honest, truthful and most importantly, a good human being. While there are some attributes in the list given below which seem like they are not altogether positive or negative, these characteristics in extremes can be annoying or charming depending on the situation. A personality traits list will help you determine positive and negative character attributes.
Most character traits that we possess are developed while we grow up depending on our family background and social environment, that determines the kind of individuals we turn out to be. Family, in most cases, is the basis for character building. But there are some people, whose character development is a sole result of their persistent aim to be better than what they have been born into. Situations that we have to face are also great character builders. They determine many of our attitudes and attributes. The environment that a person grows up in can be one of the main catalysts for change in an individual’s characteristics.
A-Z | Positive Character Traits | Negative Character Traits |
A | Affectionate | Aggressive |
---|---|---|
Affable | Anger | |
Ambitious | Afraid | |
Active | Arrogant | |
B | Brave | Boorish |
Brilliant | Bossy | |
Brainy | Babyish | |
Bright | Bad | |
C | Courageous | Caustic |
Calm | Conniving | |
Capable | Careless | |
Charismatic | Childish | |
D | Daring | Dangerous |
Decisive | Dishonest | |
Dependable | Disrespectful | |
Diligent | Disparaging | |
E | Effervescent | Embarrassing |
Eloquent | Evil | |
Energetic | Exacting | |
F | Facetious | Foolish |
Faithful | Fearful | |
Funny | Finicky | |
Frank | Fidgety | |
G | Generous | Gloomy |
Giving | Glum | |
Gentle | Garrulous | |
Gregarious | Greedy | |
H | Happy | Harsh |
Helpful | Haughty | |
Honest | Hateful | |
Humorous | Harried | |
I | Intelligent | Insensitive |
Imaginative | Ignorant | |
Immaculate | Ill-bred | |
Impartial | Immature | |
J | Jovial | Jealous |
K | Kind | Killjoy |
L | Loving | Lackadaisical |
Lively | Lazy | |
Logical | Languid | |
Loyal | Loner | |
M | Meticulous | Malicious |
Mature | Mean | |
Mysterious | Moody | |
N | Nice | Naive |
Neat | Naughty | |
O | Open minded | Obnoxious |
Obedient | Outspoken | |
Optimistic | Opinionated | |
P | Peaceful | Picky |
Polite | Pessimistic | |
Precise | Pompous | |
Positive | Petulant | |
Q | Quick | Quarrelsome |
Quiet | Quixotic | |
R | Rational | Rash |
Refined | Rambunctious | |
Responsible | Restless | |
Reliable | Rude | |
S | Sensible | Selfish |
Satisfied | Scornful | |
Serene | Shifty | |
Sensitive | Severe | |
T | Tolerant | Thoughtless |
Tenacious | Timid | |
Tasteful | Taciturn | |
Thoughtful | Touchy | |
U | Useful | Uncommunicative |
Unpretentious | Uncouth | |
Unselfish | Unscrupulous | |
V | Versatile | Vulgar |
Vivacious | – | |
W | Wise | Weak |
Witty | Whimsical | |
Warm | Wicked |
There are some characteristics that are inherent and difficult to change, while there are some that are developed over the years and can be modeled for the better. This list can be of help to teachers while trying to introduce various personality characteristics of people to their students or a novelist who is in the process of developing characters for his literary work. Whatever your purpose is, hopefully this list has been helpful in elucidating to you the different character attributes that human beings exhibit.