adjective order

The usual order of adjectives before a noun.

When two or more adjectives come before a noun, put them in a fixed order. That order is habit, not a grammar rule you can break. Start with a judgment (fine, ugly), then size (big, small), then age (old, new), then shape (round, square), then color (red, blue), then origin (French, Italian), then material (oak, steel), then purpose (dining, racing), then the noun. Write a tall gray steel ladder, not a steel gray tall ladder. Write a cheap new plastic lunch tray, not a plastic new cheap lunch tray. Skip any slot you do not need.

Examples

Usea tall gray steel ladder (size, then color, then material)

Usea cheap new plastic lunch tray (judgment, age, material, purpose)

Avoida steel gray tall ladder (material before color and size)

Avoida plastic new cheap lunch tray (material and age before judgment)

The order is a strong habit, not a rigid law. Stress, meaning, and intensity can change it: that blue tiny speck.