If you are looking for ways to enliven your writing and speech, this classic collection from Grenville Kleiser provides an abundance of colorful phrases.
You can review these lists when you seek a little extra punch in written works, and you can also use them to develop your vocabulary by identifying, looking up, and learning words you don't know.
This set of useful phrases consists of nouns (occasionally verbs or adjectives) modified by adjectives or adverbs.
P
pacific disposition
painful obstinacy
painstaking reticence
palatable advice
pallidly illumined
palpable originality
palpitating emotion
paltry hypocrisies
pampered darling
panting eagerness
parabolic obscurity
paradoxical talker
paralyzing sentimentalism
paramount authority
parasitical magnificence
parental permission
paroxysmal outburst
particularly notable
partisan prejudice
passing panorama
passionate insistence
passive obedience
patchwork manner
patent example
paternal tenderness
pathetic helplessness
patient endurance
patriarchal visage
patriotic enthusiasm
peacefully propagated
peculiar piquancy
pecuniary privation
pedantic ineptitude
pedestrian vigor
peerless raconteur
peevish ingratitude
pending determination
penetrating warmth
penitential cries
penniless wanderer
pensive reflections
perceptible difference
peremptory punishment
perennial charm
perfect embodiment
perfunctory inquiries
perilous expedient
permanent significance
pernicious doctrine
perpetual oscillation
perplexing problem
persecuting zeal
persistent adherence
personal predilection
persuasive eloquence
pert prig
pertinacious solemnity
pertinent question
perusing earnestness
pervading tendencies
perverse quaintness
pessimistic skepticism
pestiferous career
pet aversion
petrified smile
petticoat diplomacy
pettifogging business
petty pedantries
phantom show
philanthropic zeal
philosophical acuteness
phlegmatic temperament
phosphorescent shimmer
photographic exactitude
physical convulsion
pictorial embellishments
picturesque details
piercing clearness
pinchbeck dignity
pining melancholy
pioneering spirit
pious platitudes
piquant allusions
pitiable frenzy
pitiless precision
pivotal point
placid stupidity
plainly expedient
plainspoken rebuke
plaintive cadence
plastic mind
plausible commonplaces
playful wit
pleasing reveries
pleasurable excitement
plenary argument
plentiful harvest
plighted word
poignant clarity
pointless tale
poisonous counsels
polished ease
polite indifference
political malcontent
polluting taints
pompous platitudes
ponderous research
pontifical manner
popular resentment
populous fertility
portentous gulf
positively deteriorating
posthumous glory
potential energy
powerful stimulant
practical helpfulness
precarious path
precautionary measure
precipitous flight
precise purpose
precocious wisdom
preconceived view
predatory writers
predestined spinster
predominant habit
pregnant hint
preliminary assumption
premature ripening
premonitory symptoms
preoccupied attention
prepossessing appearance
preposterous assertion
prescient reflection
prescribed conditions
presiding genius
pressing necessity
pretended surprise
pretentious dignity
preternatural sagacity
pretty plaintiveness
prevailing misconception
priestly austerity
primal energy
prime factor
primeval silence
primordial conditions
princely courtesy
prismatic blush
pristine dignity
private contempt
privileged caste
prized possession
problematic age
prodigally lavished
prodigious variety
productive discipline
profane denunciation
professedly imitated
professional garrulity
proffered service
profitable adventure
profligate expenditure
profound conviction
profuse generosity
projected visit
prolegomenous babbler
prolific outpouring
prolix narrative
prolonged happiness
promiscuous multitude
promising scions
prompt courage
propagandist literature
propelling impulse
proper punctilio
prophetic vision
propitious moment
proportionately vigilant
proprietary sense
prosaic excellence
prospective success
prosperity revival
prostrate servility
protoplasmic ancestors
protracted agony
proud destiny
proverbial situation
provincial prejudice
provoked hostility
prudential wisdom
prurient desire
prying criticism
psychic processes
public derision
puerile fickleness
pugnacious defiance
pulsating life
punctilious care
pungent epigram
puny dimensions
purblind brutality
pure coincidence
purgatorial fires
puritanical primness
purplish shadows
purposed attempt
purposeful drama
pursuing fancies
pusillanimous desertion
pyrotechnic outburst
Go back to the Main Page of Useful Phrases... or ... Go to the Next Page: Useful Phrases, Page 15 (Q-R).
Editor's note: This section of EnhanceMyVocabulary.com is excerpted and adapted from Project Gutenberg's Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases, by Greenville Kleiser.
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