Emotions List at a Glance

“Our emotions need to be as educated as our intellect. It is important to know how to feel, how to respond, and how to let life in so that it can touch you.” — Jim Rohn

On This Page

4 Basic Emotions List from William James
5 Primary Emotions List from Atlas of Emotions
7 Universal Emotions List from Dr. Paul Ekman
8 Emotions List from Robert Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions
27 Emotions List from University of California, Berkeley
87 Emotions List from Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown
154 Emotions List from the Book of Human Emotions

Master your emotions by mastering the language of your emotions.

This emotions list can help you build your emotional vocabulary and develop your emotional intelligence.

If you want to master your emotions, you need to start with your awareness.

You need to be able to identify and label your emotions, so an emotions list is a catalyst for your journey.

Building your emotional vocabulary is one of the greatest things you can do from a personal effectiveness and personal development standpoint to help you in all your adventures in work and life.

By learning the labels for emotions and building a better vocabulary for your emotions, you level up your life.

Level Up Your Life with an Emotions List

Jim Rohn believed when you build your vocabulary you level up your life.

You can improve your thought processes, articulation, and understanding through your vocabulary.

Jim Rohn emphasized working on your vocabulary because he believed it significantly improves your communication skills, leading to your personal and professional growth.

Rohn’s general principle was that expanding your vocabulary is a key component in achieving success and expressing yourself effectively.

The same holds true when it comes to recognizing your emotions, identifying your emotions, understanding your emotions, and expression your emotions.

You need an effective vocabulary for your emotions and you can learn that from various emotions list.

4 Basic Emotions List from William James

In 1890, William James proposed four basic emotions based on body involvement:

fear
grief
love
rage

5 Primary Emotions List from Atlas of Emotions

The “Atlas of Emotions” developed by Dr. Paul Ekman categorizes emotions into five primary groups:

Anger: Branches into emotions like annoyance, frustration, exasperation, argumentativeness, bitterness, vengefulness, and fury.
Disgust: Encompasses aversion, distaste, revulsion, and loathing.
Enjoyment: Spans from sensory pleasure and relief to amusement, joy, ecstasy, and bliss.
Fear: Includes trepidation, nervousness, anxiety, dread, desperation, panic, horror, and terror.
Sadness: Covers emotions such as disappointment, discouragement, dismay, despair, sorrow, grief, and agony.

Emotions within the 5 Emotion Groups

Each primary emotion in this model leads to a range of specific feelings, providing a nuanced understanding of human emotional experiences. For a detailed exploration, you can visit the Atlas of Emotions website.

Anger

Annoyance
Frustration
Exasperation
Argumentativeness
Vengefulness
Fury

Enjoyment

Sensory Pleasure
Rejoicing
Compassion/Joy
Amusement
Schadenfreude
Relief
Peace
Fiero
Price
Naches
Wonder
Excitement
Ecstasy

Disgust

Dislike
Aversion
Distaste
Repugnance
Revulsion
Abhorrence
Loathing

Fear

Trepidation
Nervousness
Anxiety
Dread
Desperation
Panic
Horror
Terror

Sadness

Disappointment
Discouragement
Distraughtness
Resignation
Helplessness
Hopelessness
Misery
Despair
Grief
Sorrow
Anguish

7 Universal Emotions List Based on Facial Expressions

Here are the 7 Universal Emotions based on Dr. Paul Eckman’s research:

Anger
Contempt
Disgust
Fear
Happiness
Sadness
Surprise

Dr. Paul Ekman’s research revealed that some facial expressions of emotion are universal, while others are influenced by cultural context.

He found that certain emotions are expressed in similar ways across different cultures, demonstrating a universal aspect of facial expressions.

However, he also observed that the way these expressions are displayed can vary due to cultural norms and contexts.

This led to his concept of “display rules,” which are societal guidelines dictating when, how, and to whom we show our emotions. These rules are learned as we grow up, shaping our emotional expressions.

All the Feelz App Emotions List

All the Feelz app is an interactive emotion wheel you can use to identify how you feel and track your emotions over time.

Also known as a “feelings wheel”, you can use the wheel to identify and label your feelings, activate the parts of your brain that help you regulate your emotions. Keeping a record of these sessions, is an effective way to reveal long term emotional trends.

It looks like All the Feelz organizes their emotions list aligned with the 7 Universal Emotions from Dr. Paul Eckman’s research:

Here is how All the Feelz organizes their feelings wheel:

Angry

Critical: Dismissive, Skeptical
Distant: Withdrawn, Numb
Frustrated: Annoyed, Infuriated
Mad: Furious, Jealous
Bitter: Indignant, Violated
Humiliated: Disrespected, Ridiculed
Let Down: Betrayed, Resentful
Aggressive: Provoked, Hostile

Bad

Tired: Sleepy, Unfocused
Stressed: Overwhelmed, Out of Control
Busy: Pressured, Rushed
Bored: Indifferent, Apathetic

Disgusted

Disappointed: Appalled, Revolted
Awful: Nauseated, Detestable
Repelled: Horrified, Hesitant
Disapproving: Judgmental, Humiliated

Fearful

Threatened: Nervous, Exposed
Rejected: Excluded, Persecuted
Weak: Worthless, Insignificant
Insecure: Inadequate, Inferior
Anxious: Worried, Agitated
Scared: Frightened, Helpless

Happy

Optimistic: Hopeful, Inspired
Trusting: Sensitive, Intimate
Peaceful: Thankful, Loving
Powerful: Creative, Courageous
Accepted: Respected, Valued
Proud: Confident, Successful
Interested: Curious, Inquisitive
Content: Free, Joyful
Playful: Aroused, Cheeky

Sad

Lonely: Isolated, Abandoned
Vulnerability: Victimized, Fragile
Despair: Grief, Powerless
Guilty: Ashamed, Remorseful
Hurt: Disappointed, Embarrassed
Depressed: Empty, Unimportant

Surprised

Started: Shocked, Dismayed
Confused: Disillusioned, Perplexed
Amazed: Awe, Astonished
Excited: Eager, Energetic

8 Emotions List from Robert Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions

In 1980, Robert Plutchik diagrammed a wheel of eight emotions inspired by his Ten Postulates:

anger
anticipation
disgust
fear
joy
sadness
surprise
trust

27 Emotions List from University of California, Berkeley

According to Emoji fans take heart: Scientists pinpoint 27 states of emotion, a UC Berkeley study challenges a long-held assumption in psychology that most human emotions fall within the universal categories of happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear and disgust.

Using novel statistical models to analyze the responses of more than 800 men and women to over 2,000 emotionally evocative video clips, UC Berkeley researchers identified 27 distinct categories of emotion and created a multidimensional, interactive map to show how they’re connected.

Here are the 27 emotion categories according to the research team:

Admiration
Adoration
Aesthetic Appreciation
Amusement
Anger
Anxiety
Awe
Awkwardness
Boredom
Calmness
Confusion
Craving
Disgust
Empathic Pain
Entrancement
Excitement
Fear
Horror
Interest
Joy
Nostalgia
Relief
Romance
Sadness
Satisfaction
Sexual Desire
Surprise

87 Emotions List from Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown

Brene Brown shares 87 emotions and experiences we feel in her book Atlas of the Heart.

Brown also shares a free PDF of the 87 emotions list on a page.

I really like how Brown organized the emotions into sets of scenarios so we can talk about emotions and experiences in context.

Here is how Brown organizes the 87 emotions:

Places we go when things are uncertain or too much:

Stress
Overwhelm
Anxiety
Worry
Avoidance
Excitement
Dread
Fear
Vulnerability

Places we go when we compare:

Comparison
Admiration
Reverence
Ency
Jealousy
Resentment
Schedenfreude
Freudenfreude

Places we go when things don’t go as planned:

Boredom
Disappointment
Expectations
Regret
Discouragement
Resignation
Frustration

Places we go when it’s beyond us:

Awe
Wonder
Confusion
Curiosity
Interest
Surprise

Things aren’t what they seem:

Amusement
Bittersweetness
Nostalgia
Cognitive Dissonance
Paradox
Irony
Sarcasm

Places we go when we’re hurting:

Anguish
Hopelessness
Despair
Sadness
Grief

Places we go with others:

Compassion
Pity
Empathy
Sympathy
Boundaries
Comparative Suffering

Places we go when we fall short:

Shame
Self-Compassion
Perfectionism
Guilt
Humiliation
Embarrassment

Places we go when we search for connection:

Belonging
Fitting in
Connection
Disconnection
Insecurity
Invisibility
Loneliness

Places we go when the heart is open:

Love
Lovelessness
Heartbreak
Trust
Self-Trust
Betrayal
Defensiveness
Flooding
Hurt

Places we go when life is good:

Joy
Happiness
Calm
Contentment
Gratitude
Foreboding Joy
Relief
Tranquility

Places we go when we feel wronged:

Anger
Contempt
Disgust
Dehumanization
Hate
Self-Righteousness

Places we go to self-assess:

Pride
Hubris
Humility

154 Emotions List from the Book of Human Emotions

Tiffany Watt Smith listed 154 different worldwide emotions and feelings in the Book of Human Emotions:

Abhiman
Acedia
Amae
Ambiguphobia
Anger
Anticipation
Anxiety
Apathy
L’appel du vide
Awumbuk

Bafflement
Basorexia
Befuddlement
Bewilderment
Boredom
Brabant
Broodiness

Calm
Carefree
Cheerfulness
Cheesed (off)
Claustrophobia
Collywobbles, the
Comfort
Compassion
Compersion
Confidence
Contempt
Contentment
Courage
Curiosity
Cyberchondria

Delight
Dépaysement
Desire
Despair
Disappear, the desire to
Disappointment
Disgruntlement
Disgust
Dismay
Dolce far niente
Dread

Ecstasy
Embarrassment
Empathy
Envy
Euphoria
Exasperation
Excitement

Fear
Feeling good (about yourself)
Formal feeling, a
Fraud, feeling like a
Frustration

Gezelligheid
Gladsomeness
Glee
Gratitude
Greng jai
Grief
Guilt

Han
Happiness
Hatred
Heebie-Jeebies, the
Hiraeth
Hoard, the urge to
Homefulness
Homesickness
Hopefulness
Huff, in a
Humble, feeling
Humiliation
Hunger
Hwyl

Ijirashi
Ilinx
Impatience
Indignation
Inhabitiveness
Insulted, feeling
Irritation

Jealousy
Joy

Kaukokaipuu

Liget[68]
Litost
Loneliness
Love

Malu
Man
Matutolypea
Mehameha
Melancholy
Miffed, a bit
Mono no aware
Morbid curiosity

Nakhes
Nginyiwarrarringu
Nostalgia

Oime
Overwhelmed, feeling

Panic
Paranoia
Perversity
Peur des espaces
Philoprogenitiveness
Pique, a fit of
Pity
Postal, going
Pride
Pronoia

Rage
Regret
Relief
Reluctance
Remorse
Reproachfulness
Resentment
Ringxiety
Rivalry
Road rage
Ruinenlust

Sadness
Satisfaction
Saudade
Schadenfreude
Self-pity
Shame
Shock
Smugness
Song
Surprise
Suspicion

Technostress
Terror
Torschlusspanik
Toska
Triumph

Vengefulness
Vergüenza ajena
Viraha
Vulnerability

Wanderlust
Warm glow
Wonder
Worry

Zal

Emotions List from Wikipedia

Wikipedia’s emotions list is also a good source of insight at a glance:

Emotion classification – Wikipedia

What I found especially helpful is the explanation of the multiple perspectives on how to label emotions and why they differ.

Master the Language of Emotions to Master Your Emotions

Mastering your emotions begins with mastering the language of emotions.

This emotion list is not just a tool; it’s a transformational journey towards heightened emotional intelligence.

By expanding your emotional vocabulary, you’re equipping yourself to better learn and express your feelings in both your personal and professional life.

Embrace your journey of self-awareness and expression.

Remember, as Jim Rohn highlighted, improving your vocabulary is a powerful step towards success.

Let this emotions list be your guide to a more articulate, insightful, and emotionally intelligent you.

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