The Dialogue Thesaurus: A Fiction Writer's Sourcebook of Dialogue Tags and Phrases (12 page)

"Did you bring it?" Dean asked,
animated
.

"I love it," Lindsey said,
delighted
.

"Of course," she said, feeling
euphoric
.

"I just know he will," Kim said,
optimism
tinging her voice.

Looking and feeling
vibrant
, she introduced herself. "How do you do?"

admiring; adoring; affected; affectionate; alluring; altruistic; amative; amorous; appreciated; appreciative; aroused; attached; attracted; bashful; beloved; beneficent; benevolent; besotted; bewitched; blissful; bowled over; breathless; breathtaken; bursting; buzzed; captivated; cared for; carefree; caring; carried away; charismatic; charming; cheeky; cherished; chivalrous; clingy; codependent; comfy; committed; compassionate; compatible; compelled; complete; concerned; connected; considerate; consumed; coy; cozy; cuddly; cute; dashing; debonair; desirable; desired; desirous; desperate; devoted; devout; emotional; empathetic; enamored; enchanted; enchanting; endeared; endearing; enraptured; enticed; enticing; entranced; entrancing; enveloped; envied; ethereal; euphoric; fabulous; faithful; fervent; flirtatious; fond; forlorn; friendly; frisky; gentle; genuine; giddy; giving; glowing; good-looking; good-natured; gorgeous; graceful; gracious; grateful; gratified; gushy; handsome; harmonious; heartfelt; heartful; hearty; helpful; horny; humane; infatuated; intimate; inviting; irresistible; keen; kind; kindhearted; kinky; lascivious; licentious; longing; loved; lovelorn; lovely; lovestruck; loving; loyal; lustful; lusty; maternal; mesmerized; motherly; mushy; needed; needy; nice; nostalgic; nurtured; nurturing; obsessed; obsessive; overprotective; passionate; paternal; peaceful; playful; pleasant; pleased; pleasurable; positive; possessive; pouty; precious; pretty; primal; prized; promiscuous; protected; protective; randy; rapturous; raunchy; ravished; ravishing; regarded; romantic; sappy; saucy; seduced; seductive; selfless; sensitive; sensual; sensuous; sentimental; sexy; sincere; smitten; smothered; soft-hearted; soothed; soulful; speechless; spellbound; stimulated; suave; supported; supportive; sweet; sympathetic; tantalized; tempestuous; tempted; thankful; thoughtful; thrilled; tingly; tolerant; touched; trusted; trusting; trustworthy; truthful; turned on; understanding; wanted; warm; welcoming; wonderful; worshipful.

"Come here, dear," he said,
affection
in his voice.

"You're as beautiful as ever," Gary said,
bewitched
.

"Your son is handsome," she said,
enraptured
.

Mesmerized
, she replied, "Is he single?"

"Thank you," she said,
touched
by the man's kindness.

abandoned; abysmal; aggrieved; agonized; aimless; alone; anguished; bereaved; bitter; bleak; blue; brittle; broken; broken down; brokenhearted; broken up; broody; browbeaten; bullied; bummed; bummed out; burdened; burdensome; burned out; chagrined; cheerless; choked up; cold; crappy; crestfallen; crummy; crushed; cursed; cut; cut down; cut off; cynical; damaged; damned; dark; dashed; daunted; dead; defeated; defective; deflated; deformed; dejected; demoralized; depressed; desolate; despairing; desperate; despondent; destroyed; detested; devalued; devastated; dire; direful; disappointed; discarded; discomforted; disconcerted; disconnected; discontent; discontented; discordant; discouraged; discriminated; disempowered; disenchanted; disenfranchised; disfavored; disgraced; disharmonious; disheartened; disillusioned; disliked; dismayed; disowned; dispirited; displaced; displeased; disposable; disregarded; dissatisfied; distant; distraught; distressed; disturbed; doleful; dolorous; doomed; dour; down; downcast; downhearted; downtrodden; dragged down; dreadful; dreary; droll; droopy; dull; dulled; emotional; empty; erratic; faithless; fatalistic; feeble; forsaken; forgotten; forlorn; foul; fragile; frail; friendless; futile; ghastly; gloomy; glum; grave; gray / grey; grief-stricken; grim; gutted; hapless; harried; hated; haunted; heartbroken; heartrending; heartsick; heavy-hearted; helpless; hollow; homesick; hopeless; horrible; humiliated; hunted; hurt; ignored; imploringly; inferior; invisible; irrational; isolated; joyless; knocked (down); lonesome; longingly; loveless; low; low-spirited; lugubrious; maudlin; melancholic; melodramatic; mirthless; miserable; misunderstood; mocked; moody; mopey; morbid; mournful; moved; nameless; negative; neglected; numb; ostracized; overlooked; oversensitive; overwrought; pained; painful; pathetic; pensive; pessimistic; piteous; pitiful; powerless; purposeless; put down; regretful; rejected; remorseful; remote; resented; resigned; ridiculed; rotten; rueful; ruined; ruthful; sad; self-critical; self-deprecating; self-effacing; self-pitying; sentimental; shaky; shamefaced; shunned; sick at heart; solemn; somber; sore; sorrowful; soulful; sour; spiritless; strained; strangled; stressed; suffering; suicidal; sulky; sullen; tantrumy; tearful; teary-eyed; teased; temperamental; tormented; torn; torturous; touchy; tremulous; troubled; tumultuous; ugly; unattractive; uncared for; uncheerful; unconsolable; uncontrollable; unhappy; unharmonious; unimportant; uninspired; unloved; unmotivated; unreserved; unrestrained; unsettled; unsteady; unsuccessful; unwanted; unwelcome; upset; useless; vacant; vulnerable; weak; wearisome; weary; weepy; whiny; woeful; worthless; wounded; wretched.

"You really don't care, do you?" she cried,
aggrieved
by his lack of empathy.

"Your father didn't return any of my calls," his mother said, looking
dejected
.

"No," I said,
disheartened
. "I can't."

Heartbroken
, she sulked, "Why doesn't he love me?"

With
solemnness
her only friend, Kathy replied, "Life is black like my heart."

aghast; agog; alarmed; alert; amazed; astonished; astounded; awed; awesome; awestruck; baffled; bamboozled; bedazzled; befuddled; bewildered; blown away; bowled over; breathtaken; caught out; dazzled; fainthearted; flabbergasted; flummoxed; gobsmacked; hoodwinked; horrified; hysterical; incredulous; jarred; jolted; jumpy; mesmerized; mystified; outraged; overwhelmed; perplexed; puzzled; quizzical; shaken; shaky; shocked; speechless; spellbound; startled; stunned; stupefied; suckered; surprised; tremulous.

"I don't know why," he said,
aghast
.

"Is it true?" he whispered with
astonishment
.

Bewildered
, Susan asked, "What the hell is that thing?"

"I don't know what to make of it," Dave said,
perplexed
.

She was
speechless
. "I never thought I'd live to see the day."

aloof; amoral; apathetic; barefaced; bland; blank; blunt; bold; bored; brazen; brisk; calculating; candid; carefree; careless; casual; cavalier; cheerless; clear-headed; closed; closed off; cold; cold-blooded; cold-hearted; composed; conservative; constrained; cool; critical; cynical; dauntless; detached; devil-may-care; dimensionless; direct; disconnected; disinterested; dismissive; dispassionate; disrespectful; distant; elusive; emotionless; empty; flat; forward; frank; grounded; guiltless; hard-hearted; hardened; heartless; hollow; humorless; icy; impassive; impermeable; imperturbable; impervious; indifferent; ingenuous; inhumane; inscrutable; insensitive; insincere; insouciant; intolerant; irreproachable; joyless; laconic; languid; lifeless; mirthless; mundane; needless; neglectful; negligent; neutral; nonchalant; noncommittal; numb; passionless; passive; pessimistic; resigned; shameless; sober; stable; stoic; stolid; unaffected; unapologetic; uncaring; unemotional; unfeeling; vacant; wolfish.

"Whatever you say, sunshine," he said,
barefaced
.

"The day is almost done," Grace said, feeling
cheerless
.

"Um, sure," she replied,
distant
.

Nonchalant
, Penny said, "I don't see the problem."

"Get over yourself," he said,
unfeeling
.

arid; avaricious; avid; breathless; carnivorous; covetous; deprived; desirous; eager; empty; esurient; faint; famished; gluttonous; greedy; hoggish; hollow; hungry; insatiable; insatiate; keen; lightheaded; peaky; peckish; piggish; rapacious; ravenous; slothful; starved; starving; thirsty; unfilled; unquenchable; unsatisfied; voracious; yearning.

Avaricious
, he asked the waiter, "Can I get a large steak?"

"I can't go on," he croaked,
famished
and out of breath.

Lightheaded
, Vince beckoned her over. "I require sustenance."

Looking
ravenous
, one of the men yelled, "Don't keep us waiting."

"Help me," he said, with a look of
starvation
in his eyes.

abysmal; afflicted; agonized; awful; bleak; blighted; broken down; chilly; clammy; cold; crappy; crippled; crummy; dazed; debilitated; delirious; dismal; dizzy; drunk; enfeebled; faint; feeble; feverish; flush; foul; fragile; frail; frigid; hazy; hot; hung over; ill; impaired; inebriated; intoxicated; lame; lifeless; lightheaded; limp; lousy; low; nauseous; pained; painful; paralyzed; plagued; poisoned; poorly; queasy; rotten; rough; shaky; sick; sluggish; sore; squeamish; strained; strangled; stressed; stricken; struck down; suffering; tearful; teary-eyed; tingly; tipsy; tormented; tremulous; weak; weepy; woeful; woozy; wretched.

Debilitated
as he was, Lance still managed to issue a warning. "They are almost upon us."

"I can see angels in the sky," the man said,
delirious
.

Feeling
feverish
, she whimpered, "I need more medicine."

A wave of
nausea
suddenly overcame her. "Please, we must hurry."

"I'm sorry," he said, feeling slightly
queasy
. "I can't eat that."

absent-minded; asleep; beat; bleary-eyed; buggered; burned out; catatonic; comatose; crabby; cranky; depleted; dizzy; drained; drowsy; dull; effete; empty; exhausted; faint; fallow; fatigued; flat; foggy; frazzled; fried; groggy; grouchy; grumpy; haggard; irritated; knackered; knocked out; lackadaisical; lackluster; lazy; lethargic; listless; moody; numb; overworked; petered out; punch drunk; ragged; run down; sedate; serene; sleepy; slow; sluggish; soporific; spent; tired; tranquil; used up; vacant; weary; winded; withdrawn; zealless; zestless; zoned out; zonked; zonked out.

"Are we almost done?" she asked, feeling
burned out
.

Drained
, Michelle motioned toward the bed. "I'm going to get some sleep."

"I can't do this anymore," he said,
fatigued
.

"I want to go home," she said with a hint of
moodiness
.

Feeling
spent
, Ryan headed for the door. "I'm going to get a few hours shuteye."

absent; adrift; aimless; alone; aloof; apathetic; asleep; banal; bland; blank; blasé; bleak; blue; bored; caged in; catatonic; cheerless; cloistered; closed off; comatose; confined; cooped up; cut off; dark; dead; debilitated; deflated; demotivated; depressed; despondent; detached; disconnected; disinterested; distant; distracted; diverted; dull; excluded; fidgety; gloomy; glum; gray / grey; halfhearted; idle; immobile; immobilized; inactive; incapacitated; indifferent; irritable; isolated; joyless; lackadaisical; lackluster; lame; languid; lazy; lethargic; lifeless; limp; listless; low; low-spirited; moody; mopey; mundane; numb; paralyzed; passionless; passive; perfunctory; remote; removed; resigned; restless; sedate; sedated; slack; slow; sluggish; spiritless; stuporous; subdued; unambitious; unconcerned; unenthusiastic; unexcited; unfocused; uninquisitive; uninspired; uninterested; unmotivated; unmoved; unproductive; unresponsive; vacant; weary; withdrawn; zoned out.

"I don't remember," he said,
apathetic
.

"I wish he would," she said,
despondent
. "Things around here are so dull."

"Do whatever you want," he replied,
disinterested
in her plight.

Idle
and
uninspired
, Simone said, "I couldn't be bothered."

With a look of
resignation
on her face, Catherine said, "Sometimes, I wish I'd never wake up again."

absent; absent-minded; absurdly; addled; aimless; ambivalent; asinine; baffled; bamboozled; bedazzled; bedeviled; befuddled; bewildered; blank; blind; boggled; brainless; capricious; clouded; clueless; confounded; confused; daft; dazed; delirious; deluded; demented; dense; deranged; dim; dimwitted; discombobulated; disconcerted; disorganized; disoriented; ditzy; doubtful; dubious; dull; dumb; dumbfounded; dumbstruck; erratic; fatuous; flummoxed; foggy; foolish; forgetful; fragmented; garbled; glib; hazy; idiotic; ignorant; impaired; inane; incoherent; incompetent; indecisive; inept; inexactly; irrational; jumbled; lost; mindless; misguided; misinformed; moronic; morose; muddied; muddled; murky; mystified; naive; oblivious; perplexed; puzzled; quizzical; scatterbrained; scattered; senile; simple; slow; struck dumb; stupid; thickheaded; unclever; uncritical; unenlightened; uninformed; unintelligent; unknowingly; unsure; unwise; vacuous; witless.