Glossary
Personality traits list: 150 traits organised by the Big Five
A personality trait is a consistent pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving that makes one person different from another. Most published trait lists are alphabetical piles of adjectives with no structure. This one sorts 150 trait words into the six dimensions personality research keeps recovering, and says for each word which end of its dimension it marks.
Last updated September 16, 2026.
What is a personality trait?
A trait is a way of describing how one person tends to differ from another: a pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving that is reasonably consistent across situations and across years. The trait approach remains one of the main paradigms in personality psychology, alongside the social-cognitive, biological and other traditions (Funder, 2001). The word tends is doing real work. A trait is not a rule about what you will do on Tuesday. It is a statement about your average, and about the range you usually move within.
That separates traits from three things they get confused with. A state is how you are right now, and it moves all day. A skill is something you can do whether or not you feel like it. A role is what a situation asks of you. Someone quiet at work and loud with old friends is not two people, which is why one trait word only ever half describes anyone.
Traits are matters of degree, not kind. There is no line at which a talkative person becomes an extravert. Everyone sits somewhere on every trait below, and most people sit near the middle of most of them.
Why are most personality trait lists random?
Because they start and stop with the dictionary. Gordon Allport's monograph put the trait at the centre of how a person is studied, and trait psychology grew from there (Allport, 1937). Later work collected the trait-descriptive words of English and other languages, which run into the thousands. A list that alphabetises them says nothing about how the words relate, which is why so many trait lists read as a pile.
Structure came from asking large samples to rate themselves and others on those words, then seeing which words travelled together. Talkative, sociable and energetic moved as a group; tidy, punctual and thorough moved as a different one. Five broad clusters kept emerging across samples and methods (Goldberg, 1990; Goldberg, 1993), and a review at the end of the 1980s described the five-factor model's emergence as the consensus account of personality structure (Digman, 1990).
The clusters were then turned into working word lists. A set of 100 unipolar trait adjectives, twenty per factor, was built and tested so each adjective sat mainly on one of the five (Goldberg, 1992). A shorter set of 40, eight per factor, was selected from those as an optimally robust subset, with somewhat lower reliabilities than the full hundred (Saucier, 1994). Those marker sets are why it is possible to say which group a trait word belongs to rather than guessing.
One further finding shapes the tables below. When lexical studies run from scratch in several languages rather than translated from English, a sixth factor separates out, covering sincerity, fairness, modesty and indifference to status (Ashton et al., 2004). That is Honesty-Humility, the extra dimension in the HEXACO model (Ashton & Lee, 2007). Words about honesty and greed sit there rather than inside Agreeableness, so they get a table of their own.
What are the 150 traits, organised by dimension?
Each table holds the trait words that belong to one dimension. The middle column says which end the word marks, so "reserved" and "talkative" are the same dimension read from opposite directions. Higher does not mean better. It means more of the quality the dimension is named for.
Linked words are the 51 facets Wellington measures beneath the six dimensions, written as plain adjectives, each with a page of its own. Facets are the narrower traits inside a broad dimension, the level at which two people with the same overall score turn out to differ (Soto & John, 2017). Unlinked words are ordinary English trait words, placed by the cluster they load on in the marker research.
Extraversion: 25 trait words
| Trait word | End | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| cheerful | Higher | Good mood comes easily. |
| friendly | Higher | Warm one to one. |
| gregarious | Higher | Seeks out crowds and groups. |
| assertive | Higher | Speaks up, takes charge. |
| active | Higher | Keeps a full day. |
| thrill-seeking | Higher | Wants risk and stimulation. |
| socially bold | Higher | Starts things among strangers. |
| lively | Higher | Animated in company. |
| sociable | Higher | Wants time around people. |
| playful | Higher | Jokes and teases easily. |
| fast-paced | Higher | Moves and works quickly. |
| talkative | Higher | Speaks readily, fills silences. |
| outgoing | Higher | Moves toward people. |
| enthusiastic | Higher | Shows eagerness openly. |
| expressive | Higher | Feeling shows in the face. |
| energetic | Higher | Brings visible drive. |
| exuberant | Higher | Runs high and warm. |
| fun-loving | Higher | Goes looking for enjoyment. |
| reserved | Lower | Holds back until trusted. |
| quiet | Lower | Speaks less, by preference. |
| private | Lower | Shares little unasked. |
| shy | Lower | New contact costs at first. |
| solitary | Lower | Recovers alone. |
| low-key | Lower | Level and unhurried. |
| self-contained | Lower | Needs little from others. |
Agreeableness: 25 trait words
| Trait word | End | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| trusting | Higher | Assumes people mean well. |
| straightforward | Higher | Stays clear of manipulation. |
| helpful | Higher | Wants to help, and does. |
| cooperative | Higher | Seeks agreement over contest. |
| sympathetic | Higher | Feels for people struggling. |
| warm | Higher | Openly affectionate with close people. |
| tender-minded | Higher | Judgements bend toward mercy. |
| polite | Higher | Respects convention and comfort. |
| kind | Higher | Acts for another's good. |
| considerate | Higher | Thinks of the effect first. |
| forgiving | Higher | Lets a grievance go. |
| generous | Higher | Gives time, money, credit. |
| patient | Higher | Waits without irritation. |
| gentle | Higher | Handles people carefully. |
| accommodating | Higher | Bends to fit others. |
| tactful | Higher | Says hard things softly. |
| supportive | Higher | Backs people at a cost. |
| blunt | Lower | Softens nothing. |
| critical | Lower | Sees the flaw first. |
| argumentative | Lower | Presses a disagreement. |
| competitive | Lower | Wants to win the exchange. |
| sceptical | Lower | Waits for proof of goodwill. |
| stubborn | Lower | Holds position under pressure. |
| demanding | Lower | Expects a great deal. |
| hard-nosed | Lower | Keeps feeling out of decisions. |
Conscientiousness: 25 trait words
| Trait word | End | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| orderly | Higher | Keeps things and plans structured. |
| self-disciplined | Higher | Continues after motivation goes. |
| achievement-driven | Higher | Sets a high bar. |
| dutiful | Higher | Takes obligations seriously. |
| cautious | Higher | Thinks before acting. |
| self-efficacious | Higher | Believes you can handle it. |
| perfectionistic | Higher | High standards that help, not stall. |
| industrious | Higher | Sustains effort for long stretches. |
| methodical | Higher | Works to a system. |
| tidy | Higher | Things in their places. |
| organised | Higher | Time and plans in order. |
| reliable | Higher | Does what was agreed. |
| punctual | Higher | Arrives when they said. |
| thorough | Higher | Finishes the last tenth. |
| persistent | Higher | Carries on past interest. |
| responsible | Higher | Owns the outcome. |
| prepared | Higher | Ready before it is needed. |
| deliberate | Higher | Decides slowly, on purpose. |
| careless | Lower | Misses detail that matters. |
| disorganised | Lower | Loses track of things. |
| impulsive | Lower | Acts before weighing it. |
| forgetful | Lower | Commitments slip from mind. |
| procrastinating | Lower | Starts late, finishes later. |
| scattered | Lower | Attention moves off early. |
| laid-back | Lower | Lets standards sit loose. |
Emotional Stability: 25 trait words
| Trait word | End | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| calm | Higher | Settled before anything happens. |
| even-tempered | Higher | Takes news evenly, either way. |
| unflappable | Higher | A shock barely lands. |
| self-confident | Higher | Worth holds under criticism. |
| tough | Higher | Carries pressure without showing it. |
| adaptable | Higher | Settles quickly when plans change. |
| steady | Higher | Moods move slowly. |
| relaxed | Higher | Low background tension. |
| resilient | Higher | Returns to normal quickly. |
| secure | Higher | Not easily threatened. |
| level-headed | Higher | Thinks clearly during it. |
| composed | Higher | Keeps a surface under strain. |
| easygoing | Higher | Little bothers them. |
| unworried | Higher | Future trouble does not occupy. |
| moody | Lower | Mood swings within a day. |
| anxious | Lower | Anticipates trouble early. |
| worried | Lower | Runs bad outcomes in advance. |
| irritable | Lower | Small frictions land hard. |
| tense | Lower | Carries the strain physically. |
| self-critical | Lower | Judges own mistakes harshly. |
| touchy | Lower | Takes remarks personally. |
| temperamental | Lower | Reactions strong and quick. |
| insecure | Lower | Doubts your own standing. |
| volatile | Lower | Feeling arrives fast and large. |
| easily discouraged | Lower | One setback drains the next. |
Openness to Experience: 25 trait words
| Trait word | End | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| imaginative | Higher | Thinks in images and scenarios. |
| artistic | Higher | Moved by art and music. |
| emotionally open | Higher | Notices and feels vividly. |
| adventurous | Higher | Seeks new places and methods. |
| intellectual | Higher | Enjoys hard, abstract ideas. |
| inquisitive | Higher | Asks why, follows the answer. |
| creative | Higher | Makes what was not there. |
| open-minded | Higher | Tests views you disagree with. |
| reflective | Higher | Examines your own motives. |
| resourceful | Higher | Finds a way regardless. |
| tolerant | Higher | Comfortable with unlike lives. |
| culturally engaged | Higher | Follows books, film, public argument. |
| sensitive | Higher | Registers fine detail. |
| curious | Higher | Wants to know regardless. |
| original | Higher | Arrives at uncommon answers. |
| unconventional | Higher | Untroubled by difference. |
| philosophical | Higher | Drawn to large questions. |
| experimental | Higher | Tries the untested version. |
| inventive | Higher | Builds new from old. |
| practical | Lower | Prefers what already works. |
| conventional | Lower | Content with the usual. |
| traditional | Lower | Values what was handed down. |
| concrete | Lower | Trusts the specific. |
| routine-loving | Lower | Likes the same shape. |
| down-to-earth | Lower | Little patience for theory. |
Honesty-Humility: 25 trait words
| Trait word | End | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| sincere | Higher | Never charms for advantage. |
| fair | Higher | Refuses unearned advantage. |
| unmaterialistic | Higher | Wealth and status pull little. |
| modest | Higher | Claims no special standing. |
| honest | Higher | Tells it straight. |
| genuine | Higher | Same person everywhere. |
| ethical | Higher | Keeps rules they could break. |
| humble | Higher | Holds achievement lightly. |
| unassuming | Higher | Never takes the front seat. |
| principled | Higher | Loses something to keep faith. |
| trustworthy | Higher | Safe with what matters. |
| incorruptible | Higher | Not moved by private offers. |
| self-effacing | Higher | Turns attention elsewhere. |
| unpretentious | Higher | No display of standing. |
| plain-living | Higher | Wants less than available. |
| boastful | Lower | Announces their own achievements. |
| entitled | Lower | Expects more than the share. |
| calculating | Lower | Plans the advantage in. |
| status-seeking | Lower | Wants the visible markers. |
| flattering | Lower | Praises to gain something. |
| self-important | Lower | Rates own standing highly. |
| acquisitive | Lower | Wants more, then more. |
| opportunistic | Lower | Takes any opening. |
| smug | Lower | Pleased with own superiority. |
| greedy | Lower | Enough is never enough. |
Why is sorting traits into positive and negative the wrong cut?
Because it splits the list along a line that is not in the data. Trait research finds continuous dimensions with people spread along them, not a good half and a bad half. Read down any table above and the higher end brings something and costs something, and so does the lower end.
Take Conscientiousness. Its high end predicts job performance across occupational groups (Barrick & Mount, 1991) and a healthier set of daily habits (Bogg & Roberts, 2004), which is why "reliable" and "thorough" get filed as positive traits. The same high end is where rigidity lives, and the low end is where flexibility and improvisation live. "Laid-back" is that position written by someone who liked it.
Most of the sorting happens in the writing rather than in the person. Persistent or stubborn, candid or blunt, careful or fussy, spontaneous or careless: each pair names one position with two verdicts attached. The longer version is at positive and negative personality traits.
How do you use a list of personality traits?
A list is a vocabulary, not a result. It works best in two passes, and the order matters.
- Describe first. Mark the ten or fifteen words that sound like you on an ordinary week, not on your best day. Ask someone who knows you well to mark the same tables, because other people see parts of you that you see poorly, and the reverse is also true (Vazire, 2010).
- Notice the clusters. If your words pile into one table, that dimension is doing a lot of work in your life. If they spread evenly, you are near the middle, where most people are.
- Look for the pairs. Where you marked words at both ends of one dimension, the situation is probably driving the difference. That is worth more attention than an average.
- Then measure. Self-description is a starting point, not a reading. A questionnaire asks the same thing many times in different words and places your answers against other people's, which a word list cannot do.
- Skip the scoring. Trait words are positions, not achievements, so do not rate yourself out of ten on each one.
For the dimensions themselves, the Big Five traits, defined sets out all six, and the Big Five facets explains the narrower level the linked words belong to.
How does Wellington measure these traits?
Wellington is a science-based personality assessment from Therabot Labs LLC. It measures personality as continuous traits, built on the Big Five and HEXACO models, and writes the results back as a personal report rather than a type.
The free Snapshot asks 60 questions, takes about 7 minutes and scores the six dimensions the tables are built on: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Openness to Experience, Honesty-Humility. Each statement is rated on a five-point accuracy scale, each dimension is the average of its statements, and that average is placed against a reference sample as a percentile and reported in one of three bands: Quiet below the 30th percentile, Balanced to the 70th, High above. The bands exist to make the result easier to talk about; the percentile is the measurement, and it is always shown alongside. Those norms are provisional until the norming sample is complete. The first ten questions are answered before anything is asked of you; after question ten you sign in with an email so answers are saved and results can be shown. No card is needed.
The 51 linked words arrive with the Wellington Membership, $4.99 a month, which adds 336 further questions and brings the report to 90 traits, including every facet listed here and all 24 VIA character strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), then continues with a short weekly module toward all 255 traits across eight domains. In the written report, every trait has three pages, one per band, written in advance by the writing and psychology team, and your answers choose which one you read. The methodology shows the shape of it and has the scoring in full.
No trait word comes back as a verdict. A band is a position on a dimension, described from both sides, with the costs of that position named next to its uses. Wellington is a wellness tool for reflection, not a medical or psychological diagnosis, and it does not replace care from a qualified professional. It is not designed for hiring, and you can export or delete your data at any time.
Questions people ask
- How many personality traits are there?
- There is no fixed number, because it depends how narrowly you cut. English holds thousands of trait-descriptive words. Factor analysis reduces them to five broad dimensions, or six when lexical studies run in several languages from scratch. Between those sit facets, counted differently by different inventories: thirty in the NEO inventories (Costa & McCrae, 1992), fifteen in the BFI-2 (Soto & John, 2017).
- What are the 5 main personality traits?
- Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness to Experience, often remembered as OCEAN. Wellington reports the fourth the other way up, as Emotional Stability, so a higher number always means more of what the dimension is named for. It also reports a sixth, Honesty-Humility, which separates out when lexical studies are run in several languages (Ashton & Lee, 2007).
- What is the difference between a personality trait and a character trait?
- A personality trait describes how you tend to behave. A character trait adds a moral judgement to the description: honesty, fairness and courage are praised, not merely observed. The two overlap most at Honesty-Humility. Character strengths are usually measured separately, as 24 strengths under six virtues (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), rather than as positions on a dimension.
- Is there a list of all personality traits?
- No complete list exists, and one would not help. Dictionaries hold thousands of words for describing people, many of them shades of the same tendency. What researchers built instead were marker sets: a hundred adjectives covering the five factors (Goldberg, 1992), later cut to a robust subset of forty (Saucier, 1994). Those cover the territory without pretending to be exhaustive.
Sources
Peer-reviewed sources for the claims above. Wellington's own reliability figures will be published once the norming sample is complete.
- Allport, G. W. (1937). Personality: A psychological interpretation. Holt.
- Funder, D. C. (2001). Personality. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 197–221.
- Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative "description of personality": The Big-Five factor structure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(6), 1216–1229.
- Goldberg, L. R. (1993). The structure of phenotypic personality traits. American Psychologist, 48(1), 26–34.
- Digman, J. M. (1990). Personality structure: Emergence of the five-factor model. Annual Review of Psychology, 41, 417–440.
- Goldberg, L. R. (1992). The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 4(1), 26–42.
- Saucier, G. (1994). Mini-Markers: A brief version of Goldberg's unipolar Big-Five markers. Journal of Personality Assessment, 63(3), 506–516.
- Ashton, M. C., Lee, K., Perugini, M., Szarota, P., de Vries, R. E., Di Blas, L., Boies, K., & De Raad, B. (2004). A six-factor structure of personality-descriptive adjectives: Solutions from psycholexical studies in seven languages. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86(2), 356–366.
- Ashton, M. C., & Lee, K. (2007). Empirical, theoretical, and practical advantages of the HEXACO model of personality structure. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11(2), 150–166.
- Soto, C. J., & John, O. P. (2017). The next Big Five Inventory (BFI-2): Developing and assessing a hierarchical model with 15 facets to enhance bandwidth, fidelity, and predictive power. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(1), 117–143.
- Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources.
- Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44(1), 1–26.
- Bogg, T., & Roberts, B. W. (2004). Conscientiousness and health-related behaviors: A meta-analysis of the leading behavioral contributors to mortality. Psychological Bulletin, 130(6), 887–919.
- Vazire, S. (2010). Who knows what about a person? The self-other knowledge asymmetry (SOKA) model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(2), 281–300.
- Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford University Press and the American Psychological Association.
Read next
See your own traits, not a type.
The free Snapshot takes about seven minutes and gives you your personality card and five dimensions. No credit card, no type.