50 Feelings You Can Portray In Your Writing


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As a writer, one of your main motifs is to make your audience, the reader, feel. Your writing should make them angry or happy, thoughtful or scared, relieved or anticipating. And to do so, especially in fictional writing, you have to make your characters feel. However, there are so many more feelings than just sadness, anger and happiness.


In this blog article we will have a look at 50 feelings you can use in your writing. Don’t make your characters (and thus your readers) happy. Make them ecstatic! Don’t portray your characters as angry. Let them be enraged. And so on. Check out the list below for a much wider variety.


50 Feelings You Should Use In Writing

Following, we have divided our list of 50 feelings and moods to group them under one “main” feeling. Of course there are many, many more emotions you can portray, with many smaller nuances! We have only gathered a helpful selection for the most common feelings your characters might feel and that you want your readers to feel.


Feelings of Anger

Grit your teeth, clench your fist and go through this list.

  1. Aggressive: When someoneor something makes you want to use violence
  2. Annoyed: The state you are in when someone ticked you off or made you angry
  3. Bitter: A feeling of anger and defeat when being treated unfair or when you can not forget an unpleasant occurrance
  4. Enraged: When someone made you very angry
  5. Fuming: Feeling anger without necessarily expressing it
  6. Hostile: When you don’t like something or someone and act in an unfriendly manner due to this
  7. Irritated: You feel this way when someone annoyed you, made you wait or is grinding your gears
  8. Provoked: When someone purposely ticked ou off
  9. Resentful: Being angry because you have to put up with something you were against
  10. Upset: When you feel unhappy or worried because of something


Feelings of Happiness

Don’t let clouds taint your sky. The following list will let the sun come out.

  1. Cheerful: When you are in a very bright and positive mood and show it
  2. Delighted: The feeling when something pleased or humored you
  3. Ecstatic: Being extremely happy or excited and expressing it loudly
  4. Festive: When you feel happy because of a specific occasion or festval/holiday
  5. Fortunate: Feeling lucky because of something
  6. Glad: The feeling of pleasure for yourself or someone else, sometimes after worrying
  7. Gleeful: When you are feeling pleasently excited
  8. Joyous: The feeling of pure joy
  9. Satisfied: When something went well or the way you wanted
  10. Thankful: Happiness that comes from someone doing something for you or a happy circumstance


Feelings of Sadness

If you are not feeling well and the world is too much for you, check out this list. But in the end, please remember: it will get better!

  1. Depressed: When you are overwhelmingly sad, often causing a state of incapacity; serious mental condition
  2. Desperate: When you abandoned all hope and don’t know what to do
  3. Grief: Sadness caused by the loss of someone beloved
  4. Lonely: Sad feeling caused by being apart from other people
  5. Miserable: When you’re so sad that it makes you feel sick
  6. Mournful: When you express sadness because of a loss or missing someone or something
  7. Pessimistic: Concentrating on the bad things that can happen
  8. Powerless: When you feel like you can not change, do or stop something
  9. Sorrowful: Sadness caused by sorrow and worries
  10. Sulky: Staying silent when someone upset, angered or saddened you, bottling all feelings inside


Feelings of Fear

It can me temporarily because of a scare, or longer-lasting because of circumstances. Anyway, don’t let fear ruin or guide you!

  1. Alarmed: Being afraid because signs point to something happening/danger
  2. Anxious: The feeling of fear or nervousness, especially about what could happen; having anxiety
  3. Cowardly: Avoiding or hiding from something that frightens or pains you
  4. Scared: Feeling nervous or frightened by something or because you have to do something
  5. Suspicious: When you have no trust in someone or something and expect somthing bad to happen
  6. Terrified: When you are afraid to a point where you can hardly move/(re)act
  7. Threatened: Feeling of fear caused by someone or something harming you
  8. Timid: When you are nervous and easily frightened with a lack of courage or confidence
  9. Wary: A feeling of cautious uncertainty towards someone or something
  10. Worried: When you think about problems or about something that may hapen (to you or someone else)


Feelings of Love

Arguably the most powerful force on earth. We end on a high note with this list.

  1. Admired: The feeling you have when someone praises you for being attractive or respects you
  2. Affectionate: Actively showing your love for someone
  3. Close: When you feel a connection with someone
  4. Considerate: When you think about and show kindness to other people
  5. Devoted: A feeling of strong love and loyalty for someone
  6. Passionate: When you have ans express very strong feelings for someone or something
  7. Sympathetic: Showing and expressing understanding or concern for a situation or hardship
  8. Tender: When you show affection towards someone in a gentle way
  9. Touched: When you feel moved by something
  10. Warm: When someone treated you friendly and kindly, almost making you feel physically warm(er)
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