An adult tropical kingbird is long and weighs . The head is pale gray, with a darker eye mask (area around its eyes), an orange crown stripe, and a heavy gray bill. The back is grayish-green, and the wing and forked tail are brown. The throat is pale gray, becoming olive-colored on the breast, with the rest of the underparts being yellow. Both male and female are similar, but young birds have pale buff edges on the wing coverts.