List of Proper Adjectives

Proper Adjectives from Place Names (countries, continents, regions, cities)

Your country  is a proper noun and it has a capitalized proper adjective . Here are a few examples of proper adjectives based on place names, and you can find a much longer list of proper adjectives based on place names here :

(place) proper noun proper adjective example sentence
Africa A frican Jumbo was a famous African elephant.
Alaska A laskan I just love to eat Alaskan salmon.
Alps A lpine We need an Alpine guide, please.
Amazon A mazonian They cut their way through the Amazonian rainforest.
Antarctica A ntarctic Nothing could prepare them for the ferocity of the Antarctic winds.
Asia A sian How many Asian countries have you visited?
Atlantis (fictional) A tlantean He built an Atlantean castle for himself.
Bali B alinese They scanned the Balinese skyline.
Barcelona B arcelonian This is one of many Barcelonian traditions.
Brazil B razilian I have a Brazilian boss.
Britain B ritish My teacher is British.
China C hinese Let's go to a Chinese restaurant.
Costa Rica C osta Rican What are the Costa Rican beaches like?
Himalayas H imalayan Have you ever experienced a Himalayan winter?
Iran I ranian We haven't crossed the Iranian border yet.
Laos L aotian Is there a Laotian consulate here?
Lilliput (fictional) L illiputian The only way this Lilliputian economy can grow is by exporting.
Madagasacar M adagascan,
M alagasy 		His wife is Malagasy.
Mexico M exican Do you like Mexican food?
Middle East M iddle E astern There has been a massive growth in Middle Eastern airlines.
Moscow M uscovite He was accompanied by two Mucovite women.
Paris P arisian Many Parisian streets are lined with trees.
Polynesia P olynesian It is one of the most endearing Polynesian traditions.
South America S outh A merican Cape Horn is the southern tip of the South American landmass.
the Philippines P hilippine Can you change some Philippine pesos?
Tibet T ibetan He photographed the stunning Tibetan landscapes.
Toronto T orontonian We inched our way through the Torontonian traffic.
Uzbekistan U zbek The Uzbek border is five miles from here.
Vienna V iennese Though I was born in London, my father was Viennese.

Proper Adjectives from People's Names (eponymous )

Your name  is a proper noun and if you were super-famous it might have a capitalized proper adjective. Nouns and adjectives derived from people's names—both real and fictional—are called " eponymous ". Eponymous adjectives are by definition proper adjectives. Here are a few examples, and you can find a much longer list of eponymous adjectives here :

(person's name)
proper noun
proper adjective example sentence
Gautama Buddha B uddhist This is the most famous of the Buddhist temples here.
Confucius C onfucian He was a famous Confucian  scholar.
Charles Darwin D arwinian Some people challenge the concept of Darwinian evolution.
Jesus Christ C hristian These traditions are inherently Christian.
Queen Elizabeth E lizabethan Part of this building is Elizabethan.
Adolf Hitler H itlerian The Hitlerian moustache originated in the need to trim moustaches to fit under gas-masks, worn in response to British mustard gas attacks.
Niccolò Machiavelli M achiavellian The tactics he encountered were almost Machiavellian.
Karl Marx M arxist We discussed the finer points of Marxist  theory.
George Orwell O rwellian The vision he described was of a truly Orwellian future.
Vladimir Putin P utinist Many believe that the Putinist doctrine is no more than old-fashioned nationalism.
William Shakespeare S hakespearean How many Shakespearean plays have been made into films?
Margaret Thatcher T hatcherite He was at best a devoted Thatcherite editor.

Prefixes with Proper Adjectives

Normally, a prefix attached to a proper adjective should not be capitalized . Look at these examples:

Examples:

  • pre-Christian
    Paganism was one of many pre-Christian religions.
  • pan-European
    The search for a pan-European identity started well before 1900.
  • post-Thatcherite
    Did wages go up in post-Thatcherite Britain?

Note that the prefix should not be capitalized, unless it starts the sentence:

Examples:

  • anti-Western
  • Anti-Western sentiment was an inevitable consequence.

If the prefix itself is formed from a proper noun, then the prefix should of course by capitalized. In the following example, Austro-  comes from the proper noun Austria and Hungarian  comes from the proper noun Hungary.

Examples:

  • Austro-Hungarian
    The assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne led directly to the First World War.

In the next example, the prefix Afro-  comes from the proper noun Africa, and Caribbean  is the proper adjective from the proper noun Caribbean:

Examples:

  • Afro-Caribbean
    He loves Afro-Caribbean music.

Hyphenation with Proper Adjectives

The same logic applies with suffixes and other hyphenated forms—capitalize only the word or words derived from a proper noun :

Examples:

  • English-speaking
    She asked for an English-speaking guide to show her around.

When Proper Adjectives Lose their Connection

Sometimes proper adjectives lose their connection with the proper noun that gave them the right to be capitalized, for example:

Examples:

  • gargantuan, titanic, caesarian, draconian, herculean, spartan