Extreme adjectives: going beyond “very”

Extreme adjectives: going
beyond “very”

Hi Quijoter@s!

Today we’re focusing on
a powerful way to make your English sound more natural and
sophisticated: extreme adjectives. At C1 level, relying too much on
“very + adjective” can make your language sound repetitive or
basic. Extreme adjectives allow you to express intensity more
precisely, and more effectively.

What are extreme adjectives?

Extreme adjectives
express a very strong degree of a quality. Because their meaning is
already intense, we do not usually use “very” with them.

Compare:

The film was very
good.
The film was
excellent.
I was very tired.
I was exhausted.

In the second sentence of
each pair, the adjective already contains the idea of “very”.

Common extreme adjectives

Here are some useful
examples:

Neutral adjective	Extreme adjective
big	enormous / huge
small	tiny / minute
good	excellent / outstanding
bad	awful / dreadful
interesting	fascinating
funny	hilarious
tired	exhausted
hungry	starving
cold	freezing
hot	boiling
surprised	astonished
scared	terrified

Important rule: No “Very”

We do not say:

❌ very freezing ❌ very exhausted ❌ very terrified

Instead, we can use:

absolutely freezing
completely exhausted
utterly terrified

Strong adverbs with
extreme adjectives

Because extreme
adjectives already express a very high degree, they do not usually
combine with very. Instead, they are commonly used with strong
adverbs (also called intensifiers).

Common strong adverbs

Absolutely
Completely
Totally
Utterly
Entirely
Perfectly
Simply
Quite (in British English, often meaning “completely” with extreme adjectives)

Natural collocations

At c1 level, learning
typical combinations (collocations) is essential. Here are some that
sound particularly natural:

Absolutely exhausted
Utterly ridiculous
Completely
devastated
Totally unacceptable
Absolutely furious
Utterly convinced
Perfectly clear
Simply amazing
Entirely
inappropriate
Quite extraordinary
(very common in British English)

Important: not all
adverbs work

We do not normally say:

❌ very freezing

❌ extremely starving

❌ incredibly boiling

Instead:

✔ absolutely freezing

✔ absolutely starving

✔ absolutely boiling

Some extreme adjectives
may occasionally appear with extremely, but many sound unnatural
because the adjective already expresses an absolute or maximum
quality.

A C1-level detail:
emotional collocations

Some strong adverbs are
frequently used with emotional or evaluative language, especially in
formal writing:

Deeply concerned
Bitterly
disappointed
Profoundly grateful
Deeply worried

Although these adjectives
are not always “extreme” in a strict sense, the collocations
create a similar effect of intensity and sophistication, something
examiners reward at advanced level.

Why they matter at C1 level

Using extreme adjectives:

makes your writing
more expressive
avoids repetition
improves lexical
resource (especially in exams)
sounds more natural
and fluent

In speaking exams, for
instance, saying:

“I was absolutely
thrilled.”

sounds far more advanced
than:

“I was very happy.”

Quick Practice

Rewrite the sentences
using an extreme adjective:

I was very surprised
by the news.
The food was very
bad.
We were very tired
after the trip.

(Example answers:
astonished, dreadful/awful, exhausted)

Using extreme adjectives
appropriately is one of the easiest ways to elevate your English
instantly. Try replacing “very” in your next piece of writing,
you may be surprised by the difference.

@quijoteland_

Quijoteland

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