Adjectives that Start with Y: 80+ Y Adjectives in English • 7ESL

The letter Y is one of the least used letters in the English language. There are only about 438 words in the English language that start with the letter Y. That leaves very few adjectives that start with Y.

Table of Contents

Adjectives that Start with Y

Descriptive Adjectives that Start with Y

There are 50 descriptive adjectives that start with Y.

Yachting
Yacked
Yacking
Yahooing
Yammering
Yankee
Yapping
Yappy
Yarrish
Yawl
Yawling
Yawning
Yeared
Yearling
Year-long
Yearly
Yearnful
Year-round
Yeast
Yeasty
Yelled
Yelling
Yellow
Yellow-bellied
Yellowish
Yenning
Yeomanlike
Yeomanly
Yester
Yew
Yewen
Yiddish
Yieldable
Yielding
Yieldless
Yodeling
Yon
Yonder
Young
Youngish
Youngly
Your
Yours
Youthful
Youthly
Youthsome
Yugoslav
Yugoslavian
Yummier
Yummiest

Descriptive Adjectives that Start with Y that Describe a Person

There are 22 adjectives that start with Y that describe a person.

Yakut
Yankee
Yao
Yappy
Yeasty
Yellow
Yemeni
Yiddish
Yielding
Yogic
Yokelish
Yon
Yonder
Young
Youngling
Youthful
Yo-yo
Yucatecan
Yucky
Yugoslav
Yugoslavian
Yummy

The Letter “Y”

The letter Y can be traced back to the Semitic alphabet. Both the Greek and Latin alphabets grew out of the Phoenician form of the Semitic alphabet. As language evolved, Y was used less and less. Because the sound it made was so close to that of the French and German U, it did not appear as much in language.

In the 1400s, printing was introduced in England. The typefaces they used did not have the letter Þ (which is pronounced as a hard “th” and usually found at the beginning of words such as “thorn”). Printers began using the letter Y in place of the Þ. As a result, the letter Y became more commonly used. So much so that eventually, it retained its place in the alphabet, while Þ was removed.

The letter Y does have the distinction of being considered both a consonant and a vowel. Many children learned their vowels as, “A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y.” The “sometimes” part can be sort of tricky. We first need to know about the different sounds that Y can make.

When Y appears at the beginning of a word, it makes the consonant sound of “yeh” (such as in “yellow”).

When the Y appears at the end of a one-syllable word, it makes the sound of a long I: “eye” (such as in “dry”). When Y appears at the end of a multi-syllable word, it makes the sound of a long E: “ee” (such as in “factory”).

The Y also sometimes appears in the middle of a word. Here, it is usually pronounced “eye” or “ih” (such as in “gym”).

Vowels are speech sounds that are produced when you keep your vocal tract open. It is more of a flowing sound (such as in “cycle”). If the Y in your word slows smoothly, then it is considered a vowel.

If there is a “break” in your breath when pronouncing the word, the Y is considered a consonant (such as in “lawyer”).

It may help to think of it this way: Y is considered a vowel if: