something you like or enjoy very much

good / gʊd / [ adjective ]

▪ Did you have a good weekend?

▪ It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read.

▪ That smells good. What are you cooking?

▪ There’s nothing good on TV these days.

▪ This year’s show was much better than last year’s.

very/really good

▪ We enjoyed our trip to Canada. It was really good.

nice / naɪs / [ adjective ] pleasant or enjoyable :

▪ I hope you have a nice vacation.

▪ Come over on Saturday. It would be nice to see you.

very/really nice

▪ She made us a really nice dinner.

great spoken also excellent / greɪt, ˈeks ə lənt / [ adjective ] extremely good :

▪ Thanks for a great afternoon.

▪ ‘Did you have a good holiday?’ ‘It was great!’

▪ Our local theatre has put on some excellent productions.

▪ an excellent film

perfect / ˈpɜːʳfɪkt / [ adjective ] so good that it could not be made any better :

▪ It was a perfect day out.

▪ This church is a perfect example of Gothic architecture.

▪ ‘How was your holiday?’ ‘Oh, just perfect!’

marvellous/wonderful/fantastic/terrific / ˈmɑːʳv ə ləs, ˈwʌndəʳf ə l, fænˈtæstɪk, təˈrɪfɪk / [ adjective ]

spoken very good in a way that makes you feel happy or excited :

▪ The kids had a marvellous time at the carnival.

▪ You get a wonderful view of the mountains from here.

▪ The special effects in the movie were just fantastic.

▪ Their latest album’s terrific.

amazing/incredible / əˈmeɪzɪŋ, ɪnˈkredb ə l / [ adjective ] very good in a surprising and exciting way :

▪ Standing there on top of Mount Fuji was an amazing experience.

▪ What a goal! That was just incredible!

brilliant / ˈbrɪljənt / [ adjective ] spoken extremely good :

▪ You should come to the new sports centre - it’s brilliant.

▪ ‘How was your trip?’ ‘Absolutely brilliant!’

neat / niːt / [ adjective ] American spoken very good or enjoyable :

▪ That’s such a neat car.

really neat

▪ The fireworks over Golden Gate Park were really neat.

be out of this world / biː ˌaʊt əv ðɪs ˈwɜːʳld / [ verb phrase ] spoken use this to say that something is so
good, enjoyable etc, that it is almost the best you have ever experienced :

▪ Her new apartment’s out of this world!

▪ This is the best soufflé I’ve ever tasted -- it’s out of this world.

a good performance/piece of work/achievement

good / gʊd / [ adjective ]

▪ Harry’s work is always very good.

▪ Rosemary does a good job here.

▪ It’s the best performance we’ve seen from Giggs all season.

▪ Her grades are getting better all the time.

excellent / ˈeks ə lənt / [ adjective ] extremely good :

▪ They complimented her on her excellent English.

▪ Many studies reported excellent results with the drug.

outstanding / aʊtˈstændɪŋ / [ adjective ] an outstanding performance or achievement is extremely good

and much better than that of most other people :

▪ It was an outstanding performance by a talented young actor.

▪ Her work has been outstanding all year.

brilliant / ˈbrɪljənt / [ adjective ] extremely good, and showing an unusually high level of skill or
intelligence :

▪ Michael Horden gave a brilliant performance as King Lear.

▪ After a brilliant career at St Luke’s Hospital, she was given her own department.

▪ The decision to reorganize the company was a brilliant success.

brilliantly [ adverb ]

▪ The team played absolutely brilliantly.

impressive / ɪmˈpresɪv / [ adjective ] something that is impressive is of an unusually good quality and you
admire it :

▪ The school’s examination results were very impressive.

▪ an impressive achievement

exceptional / ɪkˈsepʃ ə nəl / [ adjective ] much better than the usual standard :

▪ He writes good essays, but I wouldn’t say that his work is particularly exceptional.

▪ Merits are given as an honour for exceptional achievement.

exceptionally [ adverb ]

▪ Only exceptionally bright students are entered for the examination.

admirable / ˈædm ə rəb ə l / [ adjective ] formal something that is admirable has good qualities that
make you like and admire it :

▪ It is an admirable book, the first to tell the whole truth about the war.

admirably [ adverb ]

▪ We found the organization of the company to be admirably democratic.

bad films/books/methods/food etc
bad / bæd / [ adjective ] something that is bad is of a low standard, because it has been done badly,
designed badly, performed badly etc :

▪ The movie was so bad that we left before it finished.

▪ It’s the worst book she’s ever written.

▪ Opponents of the plan say it is a bad way of managing city traffic.

▪ In the 1980s, their cars had a bad reputation for reliability.

▪ Their latest album is even worse than their last one.

no good / nəʊ ˈgʊd / spoken not good at all :

▪ I wouldn’t go there - the food’s no good.

▪ I’ve tried that diet, and it’s no good.

awful/terrible/appalling/lousy / ˈɔːf ə l, ˈterb ə l, əˈpɔːlɪŋ, ˈlaʊzi / [ adjective ] very bad :

▪ That’s such an awful programme! How can you watch it?

▪ Your handwriting is appalling.

▪ The food was lousy and the service was terrible.

dreadful / ˈdredf ə l / [ adjective ] especially British very bad :

▪ The coffee tasted dreadful!

▪ ‘How did you like the film?’ ‘I thought it was dreadful.’

rubbish British informal /garbage especially American / ˈrʌbɪʃ, ˈgɑːʳbɪdʒ / [ uncountable noun ] use this
to describe something you think is very bad :

▪ ‘What did you think of his speech?’ ‘I thought it was rubbish!’

▪ Most of the food in these fast food joints is garbage.

a load of rubbish/garbage

▪ I don’t know why you’re watching that film, it’s a load of old rubbish.

▪ I’ve never read such a load of garbage in my life.

crap / kræp / [ uncountable noun ] informal use this to describe something you think is very bad -- some
people think this word is offensive :

▪ There’s nothing but crap on television these days.

▪ The stereo’s great but the rest of the car is crap.

a load of crap

▪ Someone told me it was a really interesting museum, but I thought it was a load of crap.

suck / sʌk / [ intransitive verb ] especially American, informal if you say that something sucks , you think
it is very bad -- some people think this word is offensive :

▪ Let’s not go there -- the food sucks.

bad events/experiences/weather etc

bad / bæd / [ adjective ] not at all pleasant, enjoyable, or successful :

▪ If the weather’s bad, we could go to the museum instead.

▪ bad housing conditions

bad news

news of a bad event

▪ I’m afraid I have some bad news.

a bad day/year/time etc

when a lot of unpleasant things happen

▪ This was a very bad year for the banking industry.

▪ It had been a bad day, and I just wanted to go home.

awful/terrible/dreadful / ˈɔːf ə l, ˈterb ə l, ˈdredf ə l / [ adjective ] very bad :

▪ The weather has been terrible lately.

▪ Traffic in the downtown Boston area is awful.

▪ Conditions in the hospital were dreadful. The place was falling apart and it was understaffed.

appalling/atrocious / əˈpɔːlɪŋ, əˈtrəʊʃəs / [ adjective ] so bad that you are shocked :

▪ Living conditions in the refugee camps were atrocious.

▪ The appalling weather continued, with harsh winds, fogs and heavy rain.

horrendous / hɒˈrendəsǁhɑː-, hɔː- / [ adjective ] extremely bad, unpleasant, and often frightening :

▪ It was a horrendous storm.

▪ She is still recovering from a horrendous car accident.

horrific / hɒˈrɪfɪkǁhɔː-, hɑː- / [ adjective ] extremely bad, especially in a way that is frightening or
upsetting :

▪ It was a horrific experience. We really thought we were going to die.

▪ The race was stopped after a horrific accident in which two drivers were killed.

be a nightmare / biː ə ˈnaɪtmeəʳ / [ verb phrase ] spoken informal use this to talk about an extremely
bad experience or situation :

▪ The traffic coming in to work this morning was a nightmare.

▪ The President’s trip turned out to be a nightmare for his security staff.

be a complete nightmare

▪ Our vacation was a complete nightmare. The weather was awful and our hotel was worse.