Cebuano Adjectives and Describing Words with Tagalog Translations
40 describing things in Cebuano, each with its Tagalog equivalent and an English gloss. Entries come from our phrasebook, compiled from published references rather than produced by the translation engine. Cebuano entries are marked pending review until a native speaker has confirmed them.
Describing things
Big, small, good, beautiful.
| Cebuano | Tagalog | English |
|---|---|---|
| Dakopending review | Malaki | Big |
| Gamaypending review | Maliit | Small |
| Maayopending review | Mabuti | Good |
| Dautanpending review | Masama | Bad |
| Gwapapending review | Maganda | BeautifulBikol 'magayon' is the root behind Mayon, the volcano. Waray 'mahusay' means beautiful; in Tagalog the same word means skilled or well-arranged. |
| Initpending review | Mainit | Hot |
| Bugnawpending review | Malamig | Cold |
| Paspaspending review | Mabilis | Fast |
| Bag-opending review | Bago | New |
| Daanpending review | Luma | Old (of a thing)Ilocano and the Visayan languages use 'daan' for old — the same string Tagalog uses for a road. |
| Tigulangpending review | Matanda | Old (of a person)Ilocano 'lakay' is an old man specifically; 'baket' is the word for an old woman, and that one collides with Kapampangan 'baket', meaning why. |
| Daghanpending review | Marami | Many |
| Gamaypending review | Kaunti | Few |
| Taaspending review | Mahaba | Long |
| Mubopending review | Maikli | Short |
| Bug-atpending review | Mabigat | Heavy |
| Limpyopending review | Malinis | Clean |
| Hugawpending review | Marumi | Dirty |
| tananpending review | lahat | All |
| ubay-ubaypending review | ilan | Some |
| lainpending review | iba | Other |
| lapadpending review | malapad | Wide |
| bagapending review | makapal | Thick |
| gip-otpending review | makitid | Narrow |
| nipispending review | manipis | Thin |
| initpending review | mainit | Warm (as in weather) |
| tugnawpending review | malamig | Cold (as in weather) |
| punopending review | puno | Full |
| daanpending review | luma | Old |
| latapending review | bulok | Rotten (as a log) |
| tarongpending review | tuwid | Straight |
| linginpending review | bilog | Round |
| haitpending review | matulis | Sharp (as a knife) |
| habulpending review | mapurol | Dull (as a knife) |
| hamispending review | makinis | Smooth |
| basapending review | basa | Wet |
| ugapending review | tuyo | Dry (adjective) |
| tinuodpending review | tama | Right (correct) |
| tuopending review | kanan | Right (side) |
| walapending review | kaliwa | Left (side) |
More Cebuano word lists
- Cebuano Polite Words and Phrases10
- Cebuano Numbers17
- Cebuano Days, Months and Time Words19
- Cebuano Family and People Words22
- Cebuano Food and Eating Words28
- Cebuano Directions and Travel Words13
- Cebuano Emergency and Health Phrases12
- Cebuano Words for Parts of the Body26
- Cebuano Words for Nature and Weather38
- Cebuano Everyday Verbs66
- Cebuano Months of the Year12
- Cebuano Words for Animals17
Sources
- Cebuano phrasebook — Wikivoyage. Accessed 2026-08-13.
- Appendix: Austronesian Swadesh lists — Wiktionary. Accessed 2026-08-17.
- Tagalog phrasebook — Wikivoyage. Accessed 2026-08-13.