Adjectives Used As Nouns – Explanation & Examples

An adjective is a word used to modify or describe a noun.

A noun is a person, place, or thing.

Can an adjective be used as a noun?

The answer is, YES!

In this post, we are going to talk about some adjectives that can be used as nouns.

Let’s begin!

Adjectives That Can Be Used As Nouns By Adding “The”

By simply adding the word “the” before an adjective, that adjective becomes a noun referring to a social class of people or a group of people. For example, we can take the adjective wise and turn it into a noun by saying “the wise”. The wise refers to a group of wise people.

Please keep in mind that this doesn’t work with all adjectives, but let’s take a look at some adjectives that can be turned into nouns.

Examples Of Adjectives That Can Be Used As Nouns By Adding “The”

• The adventurous – people who like an adventure.
• The blind – people who can’t see.
• The brave – people who show courage.
• The deaf – people who can’t hear.
• The dead – people who are no longer living
• The depressed – people who are sad.
• The disabled – people who have a physical or mental condition that limits them.
• The dying – people who are going to die.
• The educated – people who have an education.
• The elderly – people who are old or aging.
• The faithful – people who are loyal and steadfast.
• The famous – people are known by a lot of people.
• The helpful – people who help those around them.
• The helpless – people who are unable to help themselves.
• The heartless – people who show a lack of emotion.
• The homeless – people who don’t have a home.
• The hopeless – people who don’t have hope.
• The infirm – people who are not physically or mentally strong.
• The Innocent – people who are pure, naive.
• The insane – people who are mentally ill.
• The insured – people who are covered by insurance.
• The intelligent – people who are smart
• The jobless – people who don’t have a job
• The living – people who are living.
• The meek – people who are meek, and humble.
• The mentally ill – people who have mental issues.
• The old – people who are no longer young.
• The poor – people who don’t have a lot of money or possessions.
• The powerful – people who have great strength or power.
• The privileged – people who have special rights or advantages.
• The quiet – people who don’t make a lot of noise.
• The rich – people who have a lot of money or possessions.
• The reckless – people who don’t think about the consequences of their actions.
• The relentless – people who are insistant.
• The ruthless – people who show no compassion for others.
• The sick – people who are affected by a physical or mental illness.
• The speechless – people who are unable to speak.
• The strong – people who are able to perform physically demanding tasks.
• The thoughtful – people who are always thinking.
• The uneducated – people who don’t have an education.
• The unemployed – people who don’t have a job.
• The weak – people who lack power to do physically demanding tasks.
• The wealthy – people who posses a lot of money or possessions.
• The wicked – people that do evil things.
• The wise – a group of wise people.
• The wounded – people who have been injured.
• The young – people who have only lived for a short time.
• The zealous – people who show zeal.

By adding “the” in front of an adjective you can make it a noun to refer to a group of people. However, sometimes it can be used to only refer to one person. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

“The deceased is survived by his 3 daughters and his 5 grandchildren.”

In this example, the deceased refers to one person.

“The accused was found guilty of armed robbery.”

Adjectives That Are Nouns – Using “s”

Another way you can turn an adjective into a noun is simply by adding an “s”. This too can be used to refer to a group of people.

Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Examples Of Adjectives That Can Be Used As Nouns By Adding “S”

• Elders
• Inferiors
• Juniors
• Minors