The entries below are a sampling of what you’ll find in The Emotion Thesaurus: a Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, now an expanded 2nd edition consisting of 130 emotions.
This popular book has been translated into multiple languages and sold half a million copies.
You can also find the Emotion Thesaurus at One Stop For Writers, our powerful library of resources and tools that you must see to believe.
Happy writing!
What is an Emotion Thesaurus?
Expressing Cardinal Emotions: Male vs. Female
The Mother Lode of Emotion Thesaurus Help
- Impatience
- Indifference
- Indignation
- Loneliness
- Jealousy
- Love/Attraction
- Overwhelmed
- Panic
- Relief
- Reluctance
- Resentment
- Resigned
- Sadness/Grief
- Satisfaction
- Shame
- Shock/Surprise
- Somberness
- Smugness
- Stubbornness
- Sympathy/Empathy
- Uncertainty
- Unease
- Wariness
- Worry
- Addendum: Exhaustion
- Addendum: Hunger
- Addendum: Pain (Physical)
Visit our other Descriptive Thesaurus Collections HERE.
To find out more about The Emotion Thesaurus or its companion guide, The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Stress and Volatility, go HERE.
45 Comments.
You missed an emotion, called REGRET. And dont say its the same as guilt.
Worry not, it hasn’t been missed. 🙂 This is only a sampling of this thesaurus, and so purposefully incomplete. We actually cover 130 emotions–including regret–in the full volume. Here’s that list, in case you’d like to scan the 130 emotions: https://shopwritershelpingwriters.net/pages/list-of-emotions
Happy writing, Adam!
[…] are so confident that you’ll love and want to buy their book, that they provide you with samples of their text here which you can use while you’re waiting for your book to arrive (or until you can afford the […]
Impressive! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m also trying to find rejection. Grief must be in the second edition, which i have on order but haven’t received yet.
Yes, Grief is in the second edition. Rejection isn’t as we don’t view it as an emotion (rather a product of emotion. Chances are you are looking for something like disillusionment, disappointment, devastation, etc.). Here’s the Table of Contents: https://writershelpingwriters.net/emotion-thesaurus-second-edition-entries-list/
What does heartbreak fall under?
Hi, Larry. This is a great question. I would say that heartbreak is a form of anguish (emotional or mental distress; acute suffering); it’s just coming from a specific cause and regarding a specific situation. You might also check out grief, since that is associated with loss. So you should be able to find some applicable information in those entries.
thanks
[…] with these signals, behaviors, sensations, and thoughts for each emotion. That is why I recommend The Emotion Thesaurus (click here for some samples). This book is such a life-saver! I use it every time I edit a scene. I will go over the scene, […]
Hello, in What other language has it been translated?. And where can i buy them?
Hi, Maria. The Emotion Thesaurus has been translated into Korean, Japanese, Romanian, and both simple and complex Chinese. Copies in those languages are available from the individual publishers. If you’re interested in one in particular, I can put you in contact with them. For information on where you can buy this book in English, please see our Bookstore page.
Thanks for the information! I was looking for a spanish version but i see it does not exist, maybe one day 🙂
[…] Emotions: bitterness, conflicted, confusion, contempt, defeat, desire, determination, disappointment, […]
[…] Emotions: agitation, anger, betrayed, bitterness, certainty, conflicted, contempt, defensiveness, defiant, […]
[…] Emotion Thesaurus (free version) […]
Love these books so much and hold much hope there are plans for more. They sit on my desk right next to my desktop. I had them spiral bound and i tabbed them to make searching even easier. LOVE THIS SERIES!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the series, Leah. We’re always in development, so you can look for a new book in the future. By the way, do you know about our Upcoming Releases newsletter? It only goes out when we’re getting ready to publish a new book, so it’s a good way to stay updated on new publications. https://twitter.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=cc1cb11597b48d3f26dd7e1c3&id=f6515a7617
[…] frustrated, excited, or scared. One of the best resources that I’ve found for this is the Emotional Thesaurus. It’s filled with thousands of different emotional responses that will help set your story […]
[…] The Emotion Thesaurus (and it’s fellow books) by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi […]
[…] Emotional Thesaurus: When you can’t quite figure out how to show don’t tell […]
[…] frustrated, excited, or scared. One of the best resources that I’ve found for this is the Emotional Thesaurus. It’s filled with thousands of different emotional responses that will help set your story […]
Hello 🙂
Could someone please tell me which languages this book was translated into? It says available in 5 languages and I have searched for more information but cannot find any.
Thanks in advance.
This particular volume has a translation in Japanese, Romanian, Korean, and two in Chinese (Simple & Traditional, both of these in final stages of publishing). Let me know if you would like any links!
[…] love these books so much. My first foray into the Descriptive Thesaurus series was the Emotion Thesaurus, but I just got the two beauties pictured above last week, and I am getting so much use out of them […]
Hi. Love your work but have a question.
I’ve already bought and downloaded The Emotion Thesaurus (which is great).
Is there anyway to download the Addendums?
Many of the addendum are what Becca and I call “Amplified States” because they are associated with emotions, but aren’t emotions. And yes, we put them in a booklet called “Emotion Amplifiers” which you can find anywhere ebooks are sold, on our Bookstore Page, and on the Tools For Writers page. And, because we love you guys, it’s free to download. 🙂
[…] The Bookshelf Muse’s Emotion Thesaurus. I found this thesaurus back when it was on blogspot, and have kept it bookmarked throughout the years. This is a (sample) of entries of emotions, which you can replace with physical actions to make the description in your writing really pack a wallop. Fun to browse even when you’re not editing, you never know what you’ll remember. […]
[…] Emotion Thesaurus A sample of how to have your characters express emotion without saying stupid crap like “He was sad.” […]
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A writer friend recommended this book to me the other day and I ordered it right away from Amazon. Thanks for the work!
Oh, I’m so glad your friend recommended it. Let us know what you think!
[…] https://writershelpingwriters.net/2010/10/emotion-thesaurus-entry-collection-samples/ […]
These thesauruses are amazing, I love them!
I clicked on Uncertainty and was taken to a page detailing “Distraction” which, funnily enough, isn’t even listed in the collection. However, I was able to find the right page by typing it directly into the url: https://writershelpingwriters.net/2008/10/emotion-thesaurus-entry-uncertainty/
Just a little heads up. Have a nice day!
The link is fixed now. Thanks for letting us know, Kat!
[…] more information on how to express emotions using the face and other body parts, see our sampling of The Emotion Thesaurus, or check out the complete version at Amazon and other […]
[…] Hi Everyone! I just wanted to stave off any panic in case you notice the Emotion Thesaurus Sample Entries are missing from the sidebar. It’s okay–they are safe and sound, just moved to their own page. From now on, all posts and entries to do with The ET will be here: EMOTION THESAURUS. […]
I tried entering on the “Sarcasm” entry twice, and was redirected to “Exhaustion” instead. I also cannot find the free download referenced in the “Exhaustion” entry. I don’t know whether or not you have to be a member of this site to download it or not. I hope you have some answers for me.
Hi there. Sorry for the trouble. We’re still finding little bugs here and there from when we transferred everything from The Bookshelf Muse to our new Writers Helping Writers site. Thanks for letting us know! The Sarcasm link now goes to the correct entry, and I’ve changed the information on the Addendums so people can get to the Emotion Amplifier PDF. Here’s the link, in case you’d like to go there directly. Have a great day!
Hello!
(Was that an overly exited way of greeting? Did I, by any chance, freak you out with my excessively jovial nature? I apologize.)
I wanted to say, first of, that this is a wonderful site. Thank you for giving it to us. We can’t be thankful enough. And by we, I mean, any and everybody whose ever stumbled upon your amazing website. I’ve taken liberty to talk for everyone, by the way.
Second of, the main reason why I decided to break my shell and my usual internet behavior (of hanging around the bleachers hiding in the confines my Hoodie [read:staying in the background] and silently judging everybody) is to tell you that the Sarcasm page redirects me to the WordPress loging page. I do not have WordPress. Neither do I have a Tumblr. I’m a Blogger girl. And that was completely random. I apologize, again.
Is this supposed to happen? Redirecting to the WordPress page, I mean. I really don’t think that’s supposed to happen, so yeah. I’d be grateful if you’d check. Thank you in advance.
End rant.
~D
Hi, Ditika! I’m so glad that you emerged from your shell to tell us about the broken link ;). They crop up here and there, and Angela and I don’t know about them until someone points them out. So thank you! It should be fixed now.