What are Some Examples of Cumulative Adjectives

Here are some examples of cumulative adjectives in sentences. Cumulative adjectives follow a specific order. Cumulative adjective will sound incorrect if they are out of sequence and cumulative adjectives are NOT separated by a comma.

Some examples of cumulative adjectives will help you spot and identify cumulative adjectives in everyday English sentences.

What are Some Examples of Cumulative Adjectives?

Features of Cumulative Adjectives?

Here are four features of cumulative adjectives!

Cumulative adjectives work together progressively (not separately) to modify a noun.
Cumulative adjectives follow a specific order (see order table below).
If cumulative adjectives are out of sequence, they usually sound incorrect.
Cumulative adjectives are not separated by a comma.

Word Order of Cumulative Adjectives

Cumulative Adjectives follow a specific order based on the categories shown below!

Quantity (one, two, three, etc)
Opinion (charming, fair, crazy)
size (big, huge, little)
Age/Condition (young, old, original)
shape/length (circular, long, tall)
Color (red, purple, orange)
Origin/Nationality/Religion (American, Christian, Muslin)
Material (cotton, wooden, plastic)
Purpose (camping [beds], living [area], running [shoes])

Examples of Cumulative Adjectives!

In the following examples, the cumulative adjectives will be in RED and the noun that are modified will be underlined.

I met a charming young Asian lady at a social gathering over the weekend. (opinion + age + nationality)
David saw a beautiful old wooden cabinet at the local markets on Saturday morning. (opinion + age + material)
My mother bought me a new woollen sleeping bag for my school camping expedition during the winter holidays. (age + material + purpose)
David and Jenny purchased a quiet small wooden cabin in the woods so that they could spend time together during the holidays. (opinion + size + material)
While at college, I meet a smart young Asian man who helped me overcome my shortcomings in several difficult subjects. (opinion + age + nationality) (quantity + opinion)
There were many large colorful birds in the park behind our new home. (quantity + size + color)
Dad ran over the old plastic watering can that I left in the driveway. (age + material + purpose)
The rising interest rates created several difficult situations for new home buyers. (quantity + opinion)
Jonathan ordered two tasty large pizzas for the game. (quantity + opinion + size)
My sister bought several large Hawaiian pizzas for my birthday party. (quantity + size + nationality)
Candice found a beautiful grey Persian rug at the markets over the weekend. (opinion + color + origin)
We followed an unsightly big old truck into town this morning. (opinion + size + age)
The boy was hit in the head by a large round metal object that came from the highway. (size + shape + material)
James carried a small round glass marble in his pocket. (size + shape + material)
Rachel passed three difficult tests this morning in order to fulfil her university requirements. (quantity + opinion)
Why did your brother buy a flashy new red car? (opinion + age + color)
It took all day to roll the large round metal wheel up the steep hill into the garage. (size + shape + material)
It was very difficult to avoid two annoying students in the classroom. (quantity + opinion)
The children played in the large living room of Grandma’s house during the holidays. (size + purpose)
Rebekah and Rachel were bullied by two arrogant young women at the shopping mall. (quantity + opinion + age)
Peter gave his girl friend a cheap little ceramic ring for her birthday. (opinion + size + material)
James and Rachel saw two bright lights in the distance as they travelled home from the movies. (quantity + opinion)
Jenny cut two round holes in the cardboard placard that she used for the protest march at the local community hall. (quantity + shape)
The thief hid his spoils in a small rectangular wooden box in his garage. (size + shape + material)
Emma read three popular modern poems at the literary event for the school. (quantity + opinion + age)
Grandpa build a large rectangle cubby house for his grandchildren in his backyard.
Timothy went to a small modern school in order to get the best education during his younger years. (size + age)
John found three strange metal objects when he weeded the garden for his mother. (quantity + opinion + material)
Dad made two square wooden trays for my cupboard in my bedroom. (quantity + shape + material)
Why are you hiding those two shiny metal objects in your hand? (quantity + opinion + material)
Can you help me find small round metal screw that fell out of my watchband? (size + shape + material)
Bradley threw a large rectangular wooden block at the children in the playground. (size + shape + material)

David gave his mother one huge embrace when they met at the airport after being separated for many years. (quantity + size)
My sister bought a flashy new white dress for her wedding. (opinion + age + color)
He poked an old round plastic object in the spider hole in the lawn. (age + shape + material)
He was one dangerous boxer. (quantity + opinion)
There were several young soldiers attending the memorial service of their fallen comrade. (quantity + age)
Timothy lost the small round clip in the long grass. (size + shape)
Grandma sold the old dining table to her next door neighbor. (age + purpose)
Jonathan drove down a long narrow dirt road to deliver the parcel to the homeowner. (size + shape + material)
The minister bought several classic books for his library. (quantity + age)
The family watched a thrilling old English movie that was set in World War Two. (opinion + age + origin)
Rachel put several little yellow lights on the Christmas tree. (quantity + size + color)
Dad gave me his old blue Ford sedan so that I could travel to work. (age + color + origin)
We travelled to Africa to help bring clean running water to a village in Uganda. (condition + purpose)
We were given two large avocadoes from the fruit shop for being excellent customers. (quantity + size)
I bought two fresh lettuces from the supermarket. (quantity + condition)
The frighten boy walked down a long narrow grassy path to reach someone for help. (size + shape + material)
The teacher gave the student several resourceful hints for their assignment. (quantity + opinion)
The two large rolling stones crashed into the house at the bottom of the street. (quantity + size + purpose)

Identifying Cumulative Adjectives!

Sometimes we can use two or more adjectives to modify a noun. We call these adjectival modifiers cumulative adjectives or coordinate adjectives.

Coordinate adjectives work differently to cumulative adjectives as we will see in the following examples.

Cumulative adjectives work together progressively (that is they build upon each other) to modify a noun and they follow a specific order. Also they are NOT separated by a comma.

Coordinate adjectives work independently (they have equal value) to modify a noun and they can be joined by “AND” and they are usually separated by a comma. Also they can be reversed in order and still sound correct.

Let’s look at some examples of cumulative adjectives!

Example #1

The rising interest rates created several difficult situations for new home buyers.

In the above example, we note that “several” and “difficult” modify the noun “situations.”
When we reverse the order of these two adjectives, we notices that they sound incorrect. The rising interest rates created difficult several situations for new home buyers.
Therefore, these two adjectives are cumulative because they build upon each other by following the order of quantity and opinion.

Example #2

Candice found a beautiful grey Persian rug at the markets over the weekend.

In the above example, we note that “beautiful,” “grey” and “Persian” modify the noun “rug.”
When we reverse the order of these three adjectives, we notices that they sound incorrect. Candice found a Persian grey beautiful rug at the markets over the weekend.
Therefore, these three adjectives are cumulative because they build upon each other by following the order of opinion, color and origin.

Example #3

He was a cruel, heartless father.

In the above example, we note that “cruel” and “heartless” modify the noun “father.”
When we reverse the order of these two adjectives, we notices that they still sound correct. He was a heartless, cruel father.
Therefore, these two adjectives are not cumulative adjectives but coordinate adjectives because they work independently of each other and are of the same value. Also they can be joined together with “AND.” He is a cruel and heartless father.

Example #4

David gave his mother one huge embrace when they met at the airport after being separated for many years.

In the above example, we note that “one” and “huge” modify the noun “embrace.”
When we reverse the order of these two adjectives, we notices that they sound incorrect. David gave his mother huge one embrace when they met at the airport after being separated for many years.
Therefore, these two adjectives are cumulative because they build upon each other by following the order of quantity and opinion.

Example #5

The family watched a thrilling old English movie that was set in World War Two.

In the above example, we note that “thrilling,” “old” and “English” modify the noun “movie.”
When we reverse the order of these three adjectives, we notices that they sound incorrect. The family watched a English old thrilling movie that was set in World War Two.
Therefore, these three adjectives are cumulative because they build upon each other by following the order of opinion, age and origin.

Example #6

My mother was a quiet, gentle person.

In the above example, we note that “quiet” and “gentle” modify the noun “person.”
When we reverse the order of these two adjectives, we notices that they still sound correct. My mother was a gentle, quiet person.
Therefore, these two adjectives are not cumulative adjectives but coordinate adjectives because they work independently of each other and are of the same value. Also they can be joined together with “AND.” My mother was a quiet and gentle person.

Order of Cumulative Adjectives

The order of cumulative adjectives is quantity, opinion, size, age/condition, shape/length, color, origin/nationality/religion, material and purpose.

Order	Categories	Example Adjectives
1	Quantity	two, three, four, etc
2	Opinion	scary, gentle, ignorant
3	Size	little, small, large
4	Age/Condition	middle-aged, baby, old
5	Shape/Length	short, round, rectangular
6	Color	orange, purple, blue
7	Nationality/Religion	Japanese, Christian, Muslin
8	Material	dirt, wooden, cotton
9	Purpose	watering (can), dining (table), sleeping (bag)