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    Main text: Adjectives of relation.

    For the purposes of this article, an "irregular adjective" is an adjective of relation that is not derived from the same root as the corresponding noun, or is based on the same root but in a way that is non-intuitive even to a native English speaker.

    A list of nouns and their irregular adjectives follows. You can use this to look up an irregular adjective from the noun – a facility which many dictionaries do not offer. Some of the adjectives have a similar noun form, which acts as an alternative noun (for example, the adjective for "business" is given as "commercial", which has the corresponding noun "commerce"). Equivalent regular adjectives, where they exist, are not listed. For example, "abdominal" is not shown against "abdomen".

      abdomen (belly) – ventral, alvine
      actor, acting – histrionic (more commonly means overly theatrical, applied not just to actors), thespian (often facetious)
      aesthetic pleasure – sensuous
      aging, the aged – geriatric, gerontic
      air – pneumatic, aerial
      ant – formic, myrmecological
      ape (or monkey) – simian
      apple – malic, pomaceous
      arm – brachial
      arrangement – tactic
      ash (cinders) – cinerary
      ass (animal) – asinine
      author – auctorial
      baby – infantile (often derogatory); see also child
      back (anatomy) – dorsal, lumbar (lower part of back)
      back of the head (also called the occiput) – occipital
      bat (animal) – chiropteran, vespertilian
      baths, bathing – balneal
      beginning – initial
      bell – tintinnabulary
      bird – avian, ornithic, volucrine
      birth – natal, parturient
      blood – h(a)emal, h(a)ematic, h(a)emic, h(a)ematal, sanguineous
      boat – see ship
      bodily motion – gestic
      body – corporal, corporeal, physical, somatic, carnal
      bone – osseous, osteal, osteoid
      boxing – pugilistic, fistic
      brain – cerebral, cerebric, encephalic
      breast – mammary, mammilary
      breeding season – nuptial
      brother – fraternal
      bud – blastous
      butterfly – papilionaceous, lepidopterous (also applies to moths)
      car – automotive
      cat – feline
      chest (anatomy) – thoracic, pectoral
      child – juvenile, puerile (usually derogatory); see also baby
      chin – mental
      china – ceramic
      city – urban, civic
      coin (or medal) – numismatic
      countryside – rural, rustic, bucolic
      cow – bovine
      daughter (or son) – filial
      dawn – auroral (see also twilight)
      day – diurnal
      devil – diabolic(al), satanic
      dog – canine
      dusksee twilight
      ear – aural, otic
      end – final, terminal
      eye – optic, ocular, ophthalmic
      finch – fringilline (also applies to other small birds)
      fire – igneous (now mostly refers to rock formed by solidification of magma)
      fish – piscatorial, piscine
      flesh – carnal
      flood – diluvial, diluvian, clysmian
      fog – brumous
      foot (anatomy) – pedal
      four – quaternary
      fox – vulpine
      frog – ranine, batrachian (also applies to toads)
      hare – leporine, lagomorphic (also applies to rabbits and pikas)
      heather – ericaceous
      hip (anatomy) – sciatic
      ice – glacial
      jaw (anatomy) – maxillary
      kidney – renal, nephritic, nephric
      king (or queen) – regal
      lead (metal) – plumbeous
      left (direction) – sinistral
      letter (missive) – epistolary
      light (physics) – optic(al)
      lip (anatomy) – labial
      liver (anatomy) – hepatic
      love (sexual) – amatory, amorous
      man – masculine, virile (particularly emphasising strength and vigour)
      marriage – nuptial, conjugal, connubial, hymeneal
      moth (or butterfly) – lepidopterous
      nephew – nepotal
      nerve (anatomy) – neural
      nose – nasal, rhinal
      owl – strigine
      parish – parochial (now usually means narrow-minded)
      (the) people – popular, demotic
      pig – porcine
      queen (or king) – regal
      rabbit – lagomorphic (also applies to hares and pikas)
      rib (anatomy) – costal
      right (direction) – dextral
      sea – maritime, marine, pelagic
      seal (animal) – otarine
      ship – nautical, marine, naval (usually applies to warships)
      sign – semiotic
      sister – sororal
      sky – celestial
      slug (mollusc) – limacine
      smell (sense) – olfactory
      son (or daughter) – filial
      sound – sonic, acoustic
      sparrow – passerine (also applies to other perching birds)
      star – stellar, sidereal, astral
      starch – farinaceous, amyloid
      stomach – gastric (see also abdomen)
      symbol – semiotic
      table – mensal (especially dining table)
      tail (anatomy) – caudal
      taste (sense) – gustatory
      teacher – pedagogic(al) (now often derogatory)
      ten – decimal
      three – ternary
      threshold – liminal
      tin – stannic
      toad (or frog) – batrachian
      toe (or finger) – digital
      touch (sense) – tactile
      tree – arboreal, dendroid
      twilight – crepuscular (see also dawn)
      two – dual
      uncle – avuncular
      wax – cerotic (specifically, beeswax)
      wife – uxorial
      wind – aeolian (British), eolian (US)
      word – lexical, verbal (usually refers to the spoken word)


        List of irregular English adjectives
     
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