Emotional
Vocabulary
Reference

ADHD Executive Function Tools

A structured reference for exploring emotion words

Using This Vocabulary

This word list is a vocabulary aid, not a complete or universal map of emotion. Use the closest word as a starting point and add your own language when none of the listed terms fits.

Naming a feeling may support reflection or communication, but it does not establish its cause, intensity, or best response. The categories are optional and are not an ADHD profile.

How to Use This Reference

Start anywhere in the table. Choose a listed category or word only when it feels useful; a rough match or a self-supplied word is enough.
Move across rows and columns. The entries are examples, not a hierarchy, and selecting a word does not determine a response.
Use the additional words as options, not answers. You do not need a perfect or final label; add language that fits better when the list does not.
Keep this reference visible. Pin it to a wall, save it on your phone, or leave it in your notebook. Emotional vocabulary grows through repeated use, not memorization.
Use the reference whenever it feels helpful. You can reflect during or after a situation and revise the words as more context becomes available.

Coaching and Health Scope

This is a coaching reflection aid, not therapy, diagnosis, medical care, or a validated clinical instrument. Use it to record your own observations and prepare questions, not to identify a condition or choose treatment. Adapt or stop any prompt that feels unsafe or distressing. Bring persistent sleep, mood, anxiety, medication, physical-symptom, or safety concerns to a licensed health professional; use emergency or local crisis services for immediate danger.