Skin and Complexion of a Person

Describing Skin and complexion

Selection of the perfect adjective for describing skin and complexion saves words and makes writing leap off the page. This article contains over 100 adjectives to describe color, texture, skin and complexion of a person. One adjective can be used in various contexts like describing animals’ skin, appearance, color or something else. Most of these adjectives could be applied only to specific body parts rather than skin or complexion. Complexion is the natural appearance and color of the skin, especially of the face. For example, “John has a soft, silky complexion.”

100 adjectives to describe skin and complexion:

Wrinkled: (skin covered with lines or loose folds, as we grow older; often associated with age)

Freckled: (skin of a person with sprinkled or covered with small brownish spots on it)

Ruddy: (skin that has a reddish tint; may have the appearance of sunburn)

Florid: (Skin having a red or reddish color, a ruddy skin)

Sallow: (skin that has a yellowish tint, pale; may be associated with illness)

Tanned: (The word tanned is normally used for skin that is dark or light brown color especially being exposed to the sunrays)

Rosy or fresh-faced: (Pink-cheeked, fair complexion that glows with a hint of pink)

Bronzed: (Someone who is bronzed has attractive brown skin because they have spent long time in the sun)

Brown: (Skin that is naturally brown in color)

Pale: (Skin color that has yellowish texture due to sickness or weakness)

Fair: (Smooth, healthy and clear skin)

Spotless: (Smooth skin that has no spots or marks on it)

Bloodless: (A bloodless face or skin that is very pale due to sickness, weakness or fear)

Silky: (Soft, smooth and shiny skins like silk)

Creamy: (Smooth and soft skin)

Albino: (A person with very pale skin, white hair or fur, and pink eyes caused by sickness or a medical condition that they were born with)

Baby-soft: (Skin that is clear, smooth and soft like a child’s skin that is fair)

Glowing: (Skin with shining color that is fair and bright)

Rough: (Skin that is not fair and smooth, dry skin)

Callused: (A thickness or hardness of the skin normally on hand areas or on feet)

Weathered, Weather-beaten: (Skin that is affected due to weather)

Craggy: (A rough skin)

Mottled: (A skin having blotches or colored spot on it)

Colored: (Normally this word is used for a black person. Older white people sometimes consider it polite, but black people consider this word as offensive word. This word is also used (especially in South African) for a person who has a mixture of people from different races in his family background)

Dark: (Skin that is not light in color)

Jaundiced: (Skin with light yellow color, especially because of illness)

Wheatish: (Wheatish skin is light brown in color especially in Asian countries like India, Pakistan or Bangladesh)

Blushing: (skin marked by blushes, often used to suggest (ironically) an appearance of youthful innocence, the blushing bride)

Brick-colored, (brick red): (a brownish red color)

Dappled: (marked with many spots of color or light)

Dusky, (somewhat dark)

Ebony: (very dark or black)

Lily-White: (completely white, pure white color, all the white people), milk-white

Liver-Spotted or Age Spots: (benign flat spot of dark pigmentation on the skin due to old age)

Pasty: (pale and unhealthy in appearance, a pasty complexion)

Pearly: (White shining color like a pearl)

Rouged: (pinky cheeks-red powder or cream to make cheeks pinker)

Russet, Sepia: (reddish-brown color)

Snowy: (white like snow)

Swarthy: (having a dark skin)

Tarnished: (to cause or become dull or not shiny)

Acned: (A condition of skin in which the skin of a person has many small swellon spots on it called pimples on face or neck)

Blemished: (skin marked by lot of flaws, a blemished skin)

Blistered: (a raised area on the skin that contains clear liquid and that is caused by injury to the skin)

Crinkled: (small and thin lines on the skin, the corner of her eyes crinkle when she smiles)

Hairless: (a clear skin with no hair on it)

Hairy: (a skin with lot of hair on it)

Hive-dotted: (a skin with lot of marks/hole on it like holes on hive of bees)

Kitten-soft: (smooth and soft skin)

Patchy: (skin that has some part smooth/good and some parts rough/bad)

Petal-soft: (Soft and silky skin like petal of a flower)

Pimpled, Pimply: (skin with lot of small, red, swollen spot on it)

Pockmarked: (a mark or scare on the skin that is normally caused by a disease like chicken pox or acne)

Scabby: (skin that is covered with scabs, a scab is a hard covering of dried blood that forms over a wound to cover and protect it as it heals. a scabby skin)

Scarred: (skin with scares pots, a remaining mark on skin after injured tissue has healed)

Scratched

Unblemished: (free from marks or spots, unblemished skin)

Aglow: (face glowing with light or color, feeling or showing excitement)

Dimpled: (face that has a dimple on chin or on cheeks, a dimple is a small curved in area on cheeks or chin)

Fleshy: (soft and thick skin with lot of flesh)

Frost-bitten: (affected skin (such as toes or fingers) due to frost, damage to tissues caused by freezing))

Furrowed: (a narrow line or wrinkle in the skin of a person’s face)

Puckered: (wrinkled skin)

Radiant: (a bright and shining skin)

Sparkling: (bright and lively skin)

Stubbly: (a skin with short hair on it, like beard on men’s face that is not shaven recently)