As Seen by Others:
Couldn't motivate someone to move if the two of them occupied the same phone booth.
Will put you to sleep before he puts you on the road to doing something.
His reasoning is about as inspiring as an income tax form.
His arguments are so insipid that you're inclined to believe that the opposite approach must be better.
When he talks, his logic is scattered all over the place.
Couldn't get a hungry dog to eat.
Legions have collapsed unconscious over his pleas.
Talks like he doesn't believe it himself.
Related Traits:
Absorbing, alluring, appealing, bewitching, captivating, charming, compelling, delightful, electrifying, enchanting, engrossing, entertaining, enthralling, enticing, entrancing, fascinating, interesting, irresistible, magnetic, mesmerizing, pleasing, pleasurable, provocative, stimulating, thrilling.
As Seen by Others:
You may not agree with him, but he can rivet your attention.
When he walks into a room, heads turn.
He could charm the skin off a snake.
He puts a charge into whatever group he belongs or visits.
Curiosity follows after him like a trained dog.
If you've got a smile in you, he'll find it.
He is a light toward which everyone gravitates.
Related Traits:
Bland, boring, humdrum, prosaic, tedious, tiresome, unappealing, uncompelling, unenticing, uninteresting, unmagnetic, unprovocative, wearisome.
As Seen by Others:
Has nothing that draws you to him.
He is the color gray.
His conversation is as sparkling as a box of dry oats and there is no prospect for wetness.
Instead of hanging on his every word, you want to escape from them.
His presence wears your interest paper thin.
Related Traits:
Babbling, chatty, circumlocutory, communicative, conversational, didactic, digressive, discursive, gabby, garrulous, glib, gossipy, gushy, informational, informative, instructive, long-winded, oratorical, preachy, prolix, rambling, redundant, repetitious, sermonizing, talebearing, talkative, verbose, windy, wordy.
As Seen by Others:
Can turn "How do you do" into a small sermon.
Would rather talk than listen.
Nothing but a chatterbox, blabbermouth, gasbag, motormouth, windbag.
If he says it once, he'll be sure to somehow say it again and again.
Uses ten extra words for everyone that's needed.
Loves to chew the rag (shoot the breeze).
Can't get to the end of a conversation without adding a big lump of instructive morality for someone to swallow.
Jumps from subject to subject as if he were dodging bullets.
Talks mostly, and endlessly, about trivial matters.
His conversation is as smooth as glass, yet as pointless as a paperwad.
Can't keep a secret.
Has more rumors on the tip of his tongue than a cat has hairs.
Listening to him talk is like being adrift on the ocean: you know land is somewhere, but you don't know where.
Feels right at home behind a podium.
Seems as though his tongue is going to run off and leave him.
Inside him is a professor fighting to get out.
Related Traits: Close-mouthed, guarded, noncommunicative, pithy, quiet, reticent, secretive, sententious, silent, taciturn, terse, tight-lipped, unrevealing.
As Seen by Others:
A person of few words.
His most often-used words are "Yes," "No," "Maybe," and "I suppose." Not many have the keys to his mouth.
If you want to know something, he's the last person to ask.
Good at pretending ignorance about something.
Handles questions as if you had put a blank sheet of paper in his hand.
Never discusses politics or religion.
Will hardly talk about his family, his job, or the people he knows.
Pares his words down to the bare minimum, using only one if one will do.
Comes right to the point, sparing everyone the preamble.
Related Traits: Bemoaning, bitchy, griping, grousing, grumbling, lamenting, protesting, repining, resentful, whining.
As Seen by Others:
Carries personal grievances around as if they were a knapsack on his shoulder.
Always got an ax to grind.
He is a weeper and a gnasher of teeth.
Protests the wrongs he has suffered.
Protests the slights he has endured.
Protests the ills that have visited him.
Protests the opportunities of which he has been deprived.
May be heard to say, "Oh, that I had ever been born!"
Related Traits:
Forbearing, long-suffering, patient, philosophical, resigned, stoical, uncritical, understanding, unresentful, unruffled.
As Seen by Others:
Blames nothing or no one for the misfortune in his life.
Keeps his annoyances or injuries all to himself.
Takes the attitude that problems in life are to be expected, dealt with, and not complained about.
Does not take the view that his misfortune is part of God's grand design to frustrate him
As Seen by Others:
Seems indifferent to great discomfort.
Refuses to openly accuse others of being responsible for whatever he endures.
He is the tree that silently suffers the woodsman's ax.
Related Traits:
Alert, astute, brainy, bright, clear-sighted, clever, discerning, discriminating, intellectual, intelligent, keen, knowing, perceptive, perspicacious, quick, quick-eyed, responsive, sagacious, savvy, sharp, sharp-sighted, sharp-witted, shrewd, smart, wise.
As Seen by Others:
Constantly alert with regard to what is going on.
His sharp perception allows him to make discerning comments.
Shows an above-average aptitude for learning.
Can grasp the essential nature of something almost instantly.
Has the ability to see what is important amidst those things that are less important.
Often exhibits surprising insight regarding practical matters.
Capable of making judgments based on little information.
His quickness in grasping the meaning or nature of something being said is exceptional
Able to quickly pinpoint the truth of a matter.
Related Traits:
Asinine, blockheaded, blockish, brainless, dopey, doltish, dull, dull-witted, dumb, empty-headed, feeble-minded, foolish, half-witted, imbecilic, lowbrow, lumpish, mindless, moronic, nonintellectual, obtuse, shallow, simple, simple-minded, slow, stolid, stupid, thick, thick-headed, thick-witted, undiscerning, unintelligent, vacant, vacuous, witless.
As Seen by Others:
You will never see his mind race ahead; it must be pulled gently along.
Too many concepts at one time confuses him.
Lacks the sharpness of mind needed to determine what is and is not important.
He very often cannot see what is clearly obvious to almost everyone else.
Ability to understand and learn is sluggish.
His mind appears to be like an unfurnished apartment.
His exceptionally low mental capacity is a result of a genetic defect.
He thinks simply and acts accordingly.
Doesn't realize it when someone makes fun of him; in fact, he's likely to laugh without knowing what he's laughing about.
Related Traits:
Assured, cocksure, confident, convinced, credulous, decided, dogmatic, gullible, ideological, ingenuous, innocent, naïve, positive, satisfied, sure, trustful, trusting, undoubting, unguarded, unquestioning, unsuspicious, unwary.
As Seen by Others:
He's absolutely positive that he's right.
He and doubt are complete strangers.
His conviction not only becomes immovable but he wants others to accept it as their own as well.
If he locks onto a political or social philosophy, he will not entertain any opposition to it.
Inclined to doubt the validity of something if it disagrees with what he believes.
Tends to believe whatever someone tells him.
Can easily be persuaded that what you're telling him is the truth, or that he should do something because it's best for him.
He'll overlook signs that tell him his trust is misplaced.
Needs skepticism to stand watch for him.
Related Traits:
Cautious, challenging, diffident, disbelieving, disputatious, distrustful, doubtful, doubting, dubious, irresolute, leery, puzzled, skeptical, suspecting, suspicious, unconvinced, undecided, unimpressed, unsure, wary.
As Seen by Others:
Rarely believes the first thing he hears or sees; instead, he withholds judgment until he has chased the truth down the last alleyway.
For every answer you've got, he's got a question to follow it.
Caution often causes him to delay action.
His path to understanding and accepting something is always impeded by his reluctance to accept its validity.
Labors over conflicts and contradictions.
Tends to imagine that something is not quite right, even though there is no evidence to suggest it.
It's not the
amount
of evidence that impresses him but rather the
weight.
Has a difficult time determining where to place his trust and, as a result, looks for still more facts to examine.
Always one of the last people to become convinced.
His motto: Show me.
Related Traits: Down-to-earth, efficacious, materialistic, mundane, practical, prosaic, realistic, unromantic, utilitarian.
As Seen by Others:
Doesn't have much imagination and shows no interest in the theoretical.
Takes an all-business, materialistic view.
Only attracted to those things that promise to be functional, workable, useful, and efficient.
More likely to engage himself in only those goals which are truly reachable.
Shows more interest in probabilities than possibilities.
Places more value on what has been done rather than on what has never been accomplished.
Rarely listens to an idea that floats above the commonplace and which is not firmly tied to the here and now.
Before he becomes involved in something, he wants to know how much money he is going to make or in what way it is going to soon benefit him.
Displays great interest in what serves a useful purpose and is far less concerned with how something looks.
Takes a down-to-earth, feet-on-the-ground approach to things.
Related Traits:
Conjectural, daydreaming, dreamy, fanciful, idealistic, moonstruck, romantic, speculative, starry-eyed, theoretical, unrealistic, visionary, whimsical.
As Seen by Others:
Usually involves himself in those things that are anchored in idealism rather than reality.
Shows a weakness for wild speculation instead of that which builds incrementally on experience.
Tends to see the whole pie and is inclined to leap for it, not being happy with taking one slice at a time.
Regularly attracted to those things that, seemingly, have no immediate worthwhile purpose or which may be too difficult to achieve.
Leans heavily toward the theoretical.
Prone to take risks, to jump without first looking.
Easily becomes enthralled with what is possible and yet is incapable of determining the steps necessary to get there.
His ideas are decidedly unusual.
Related Traits:
Absorbed, alarmed, attentive, bothered, discomposed, disconcerted, disquieted, distressed, disturbed, engaged, engrossed, gripped, haunted, immersed, interested, involved, occupied, overwrought, tormented, troubled, uneasy, unsettled, upset.
As Seen by Others:
If he becomes convinced of the importance of something, it will rivet his attention and block out everything else.
Inclined to focus his mind on something to such a degree that he sometimes cannot even hear others speak to him.
Worry sits on his face like a billboard.
Seems to be bothered by something that bears no name.
Hears trouble before it is trouble.
He can be here and, at the same time, not here.
Related Traits:
Blasé, bored, detached, dispassionate, inattentive, insensitive, nonchalant, unalarmed, unbothered, undisturbed, unengaged, uninterested, uninvolved, unperturbed, untroubled.
As Seen by Others:
No matter how bad things get, nothing seems to bother him.
He sort of accepts life as it comes.
Abstractions never get in his way and bog him down.
If he's not satisfied with the way things are, you wouldn't know it by looking at him.
Acts like he doesn't care about what's going on.
He is serenity's poster child.
Related Traits: Effusive, memoried, nostalgic, reflective, reminiscent, retrospective, sentimental.
As Seen by Others:
Prone to talk about the past as he remembers it—or chooses to remember it
As Seen by Others:
When describing the past, tends to dress it unfairly.
Able to recall precise dates, situations, and who was there.
Has a strong grasp of history or past relationships.
He can describe past events in detail, like it was yesterday.
His capacity for remembering names and faces is remarkable.
More interested in talking about the past than the present, and makes more of it than what was ever really there.
Related Traits: Absent-minded, amnesiac, heedless, memoryless, neglectful, oblivious, unmindful, unremembering.
As Seen by Others:
His ability to recall what happened or didn't happen in the past isn't very strong.
Has a hard time remembering names, dates, birthdays, anniversaries, appointments, and so on.
Somehow, things just slip easily from his mind.