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Reference · 666 entries · 10 categories

Which words should you cut, and when should you keep them?

Every editing tool highlights "weak words" and few say what the categories mean or when the word is right. This page defines 10 kinds of word to cut from the texts that first named them, Strunk, Orwell, Williams, Lanham, the SEC and the plain-language guidelines, lists the entries Orwellix's own highlighter uses with a replacement and a before-and-after for each, and gives the keep rule for every category, because "partially blocked" is not "blocked".

Updated 25 Oct 2026
Verified 23 Oct 2026
Entries 666
With a replacement 495

Start with weasel words Get the full sheet with find-and-replace patterns

The short answer

Ten categories, one test.

Cut a word when the sentence means the same thing without it. Keep it when the meaning changes. The categories tell you where to look.

10categories, each defined from the source that named it
666entries with an action, an example and a keep rule
498entries that can be cut on sight
300nominalizations per 10,000 words in research articles

Orwell's third rule is the whole page in one line: "If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out."[4]
His sixth rule is the keep rule: 'Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.'
Strunk, 1918: "A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences", which "requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail", but "that he make every word tell."[3]
The 'omit needless words' rule is a rule about information, not length.
The fillers and intensifiers of conversation leak into prose: "really" is five times and "actually" eight times more frequent in speech than in writing.[19]
If a word is on the list because it is a speech habit, read the sentence aloud to hear it.
Nominalizations are the quiet category: about 300 per 10,000 words in research articles, with "-tion" alone over 200.[21]
Lanham's Lard Factor, words removed over words in the original, typically runs 25 to 30% on official prose once the hidden verbs are freed.
Hemingway Editor, which taught a generation to fear adverbs, now says "an adverb is a grammatical category, not automatically a writing problem" and flags only intensifiers and adverbs propping up weak verbs.[14]
The keep rules on this page follow the same principle.

The ten categories
Category	In a phrase	Examples	Entries
Weasel words	Vague attribution that sounds like evidence	some people say, many scholars state, it is believed, it is widely thought	46
Qualifiers and hedges	Words that soften a claim	somewhat, sort of, kind of, rather	62
Intensifiers and boosters	Emphasis without precision	very, really, extremely, absolutely	42
Nominalizations (hidden verbs)	A verb turned into a noun	make a decision, conduct an investigation, provide assistance, give consideration to	80
Filler words	Words that fill space in speech and pad prose	basically, actually, just, really	71
Wordy phrases	Several words where one would do	the fact that, in order to, in the event that, prior to	74
Redundancies	Saying the same thing twice	each and every, first and foremost, past history, final outcome	75
Weak verbs	'Is', 'has', 'does' and 'make' doing the work of a verb	is able to, has the ability to, make use of, give an indication of	46
Jargon and pretentious diction	The long or foreign word where a short one will do	utilize, leverage, facilitate, implement	70
Clichés	Phrases worn smooth by use	at the end of the day, think outside the box, low-hanging fruit, move the needle	100

Showing 10 of 10 rows

Vague attribution that sounds like evidence

Weasel words

What it is. A word or phrase that creates the impression something specific has been said when only a vague claim has been made: 'some people say', 'it is believed', 'experts agree'. The term appeared in print in 1900 and Theodore Roosevelt made it public in 1916: a weasel sucks the meat out of an egg and leaves the shell.[1][2]

How to spot it. A 2009 study of Wikipedia found three forms: numerically vague expressions ('most', 'many', 'evidence suggests'), the passive voice used to hide the authority ('it is said'), and adverbs that weaken ('often', 'probably').

The canonical examples: some people say · many scholars state · it is believed · it is widely thought · research has shown · experts declare · it is often reported · is widely regarded as.

Weasel words: entries with replacements
	What to do
according to some	Rewrite the sentence → Name the source	cut on sight
clinically proven	Rewrite the sentence → Name the trial and the result	cut on sight
considerably	Rewrite the sentence → Give the size of the change	cut on sight
critics say	Rewrite the sentence → Name the critics	cut on sight
data shows	Rewrite the sentence → Name the data and the finding	cut on sight
dramatically	Rewrite the sentence → Give the size of the change	cut on sight
drastically	Rewrite the sentence → Give the size of the change	cut on sight
everyone knows	Cut	cut on sight
experts agree	Rewrite the sentence → Name the experts or the group	cut on sight
it has been said that	Rewrite the sentence → Name who said it	cut on sight
it is generally agreed that	Rewrite the sentence → Name who agrees	cut on sight
it is often claimed that	Rewrite the sentence → Say who claims it	cut on sight
it is well known that	Rewrite the sentence → Give the fact and the source	cut on sight
it is widely believed	Rewrite the sentence → Say who believes it, or give the evidence	cut on sight
many believe	Rewrite the sentence → Say who believes it	cut on sight
many people	Rewrite the sentence → Give the number or the group	cut on sight
most experts	Rewrite the sentence → Name the experts or give the share	cut on sight
research shows	Rewrite the sentence → Name the research and the finding	cut on sight
research suggests	Rewrite the sentence → Name the research and the finding	cut on sight
scientifically proven	Rewrite the sentence → Name the study and the result	cut on sight
scientists say	Rewrite the sentence → Name the scientists and the study	cut on sight
significantly	Rewrite the sentence → Give the size of the change	cut on sight
some argue	Rewrite the sentence → Name who argues	cut on sight
some experts say	Rewrite the sentence → Name the expert and the source	cut on sight
some people say	Rewrite the sentence → Name who says it	cut on sight

Showing 25 of 25 rowsShowing the 25 strongest of 46 entries. Open a row for the before-and-after and the keep rule.

Words that soften a claim

Qualifiers and hedges

What it is. Words that make a statement less certain or less direct: 'may', 'perhaps', 'somewhat', 'sort of', 'I think', 'to a certain degree'. Grammarly calls hedging 'a deliberate choice, not a grammatical error'; Pinker calls the academic habit 'compulsive hedging'.[16][17][24][14]

How to spot it. Hedges come as introductory verbs (suggest, appear, seem), modals (may, might, could), adverbs (possibly, probably, perhaps, generally), adjectives (likely, possible) and quantifiers (some, many, several).

The canonical examples: somewhat · sort of · kind of · rather · fairly · a bit · I think · it seems that · in some respects · to a certain degree.

Qualifiers and hedges: entries with replacements
	What to do
could potentially	Replace → could	cut on sight
I suppose	Cut	cut on sight
I'd say	Cut	cut on sight
in a manner of speaking	Cut	cut on sight
in all likelihood	Cut	cut on sight
in my view	Cut	cut on sight
it would seem	Cut	cut on sight
ostensibly	Cut	cut on sight
there is a chance that	Replace → may	cut on sight
a bit	Cut	usually cut
a little	Cut	usually cut
apparently	Cut	usually cut
appears to	Cut	usually cut
arguably	Cut	usually cut
as far as I can tell	Cut	usually cut
as far as I know	Cut	usually cut
at least in part	Rewrite the sentence → Say how much	usually cut
by and large	Cut	usually cut
comparatively	Cut	usually cut
fairly	Cut	usually cut
I believe	Cut	usually cut
I feel that	Cut	usually cut
I think	Cut	usually cut
I would argue that	Cut	usually cut
in general	Cut	usually cut

Showing 25 of 25 rowsShowing the 25 strongest of 62 entries. Open a row for the before-and-after and the keep rule.

Emphasis without precision

Intensifiers and boosters

What it is. Words that add emphasis but no information: 'very', 'really', 'extremely', 'absolutely', 'literally', and the boosters that presume agreement: 'clearly', 'obviously', 'of course'. Hemingway: intensifiers 'add emphasis but lack precision'; Wikipedia: clearly, obviously, naturally and of course 'presume too much about the reader's knowledge and perspective and often amount to verbiage'.[1][14][19][15]

How to spot it. They are speech habits. In the British National Corpus 'very' is the tenth most frequent adverb and 'just' the seventh; 'really' is five times more frequent in speech than in writing, 'actually' eight times.

The canonical examples: very · really · extremely · absolutely · totally · literally · clearly · obviously · of course · without a doubt.

Intensifiers and boosters: entries with replacements
	What to do
absolutely	Cut	cut on sight
amazingly	Cut	cut on sight
awfully	Cut	cut on sight
completely	Cut	cut on sight
critically	Cut	cut on sight
crucially	Cut	cut on sight
exceptionally	Cut	cut on sight
extremely	Cut	cut on sight
genuinely	Cut	cut on sight
greatly	Cut	cut on sight
highly	Cut	cut on sight
hugely	Cut	cut on sight
incredibly	Cut	cut on sight
insanely	Cut	cut on sight
massively	Cut	cut on sight
remarkably	Cut	cut on sight
seriously	Cut	cut on sight
super	Cut	cut on sight
surely	Cut	cut on sight
terribly	Cut	cut on sight
totally	Cut	cut on sight
tremendously	Cut	cut on sight
truly	Cut	cut on sight
ultra	Cut	cut on sight
unbelievably	Cut	cut on sight

Showing 25 of 25 rowsShowing the 25 strongest of 42 entries. Open a row for the before-and-after and the keep rule.

A verb turned into a noun

Nominalizations (hidden verbs)

What it is. A verb or adjective converted into a noun, usually with -tion, -ment, -sion, -ance or -ity, that then needs a weak verb to carry it: 'make a decision' for 'decide', 'conduct an investigation' for 'investigate'. The federal plain-language guidelines call them hidden verbs; Lanham's Paramedic Method puts a box around them to find the action.[9][7][5][6][13][18]

How to spot it. Williams' four patterns: a nominalization after an empty verb ('conducted an investigation'), after 'there is' ('there is a need for'), as the subject of an empty verb ('the intention of the IRS is'), and in a chain ('a review of the evolution of').

The canonical examples: make a decision · conduct an investigation · provide assistance · give consideration to · reach an agreement · carry out a review of · the implementation of · take action to.

Nominalizations (hidden verbs): entries with replacements
	What to do
arrive at a decision	Replace → decide	cut on sight
bring about an improvement	Replace → improve	cut on sight
carry out a review	Replace → review	cut on sight
carry out an inspection	Replace → inspect	cut on sight
conduct a survey	Replace → survey	cut on sight
conduct a test of	Replace → test	cut on sight
conduct an investigation	Replace → investigate	cut on sight
conduct research	Replace → research	cut on sight
do a calculation	Replace → calculate	cut on sight
do an assessment	Replace → assess	cut on sight
draw a distinction	Replace → distinguish	cut on sight
effect a change	Replace → change	cut on sight
engage in a discussion	Replace → discuss	cut on sight
engage in negotiation	Replace → negotiate	cut on sight
give a demonstration	Replace → demonstrate	cut on sight
give a response	Replace → respond	cut on sight
give an explanation	Replace → explain	cut on sight
give an indication of	Replace → show	cut on sight
give approval to	Replace → approve	cut on sight
give consideration to	Replace → consider	cut on sight
have a discussion	Replace → discuss	cut on sight
have a preference for	Replace → prefer	cut on sight
have a tendency to	Replace → tend to	cut on sight
have an objection to	Replace → object to	cut on sight
hold a meeting	Replace → meet	cut on sight

Showing 25 of 25 rowsShowing the 25 strongest of 80 entries. Open a row for the before-and-after and the keep rule.

Words that fill space in speech and pad prose

Filler words

What it is. Words that fill empty space in speech and survive into writing: 'basically', 'actually', 'just', 'really', 'you know'. Williams' list of words to delete: 'kind of, really, basically, practically, actually, virtually, generally, certain, particular, individual, given, various'.[5][15][17]

How to spot it. The test is Grammarly's: remove the word and see whether the meaning changes. 'I just got out of the shower' needs 'just'; 'Could you just send me the file?' does not.

The canonical examples: basically · actually · just · really · simply · essentially · in order to · it is worth noting · of course · at all times.

Filler words: entries with replacements
	What to do
actually	Cut	cut on sight
all things considered	Cut	cut on sight
and so on and so forth	Cut	cut on sight
and stuff	Cut	cut on sight
anyway	Cut	cut on sight
as a matter of fact	Cut	cut on sight
as it were	Cut	cut on sight
as you can see	Cut	cut on sight
at any rate	Cut	cut on sight
at the end of the day	Cut	cut on sight
basically	Cut	cut on sight
believe it or not	Cut	cut on sight
by the way	Cut	cut on sight
for all intents and purposes	Cut	cut on sight
for what it's worth	Cut	cut on sight
I mean	Cut	cut on sight
if you will	Cut	cut on sight
in any case	Cut	cut on sight
in the final analysis	Cut	cut on sight
interestingly enough	Cut	cut on sight
it goes without saying that	Cut	cut on sight
it is important to note that	Cut	cut on sight
it is interesting to note that	Cut	cut on sight
it is worth mentioning that	Cut	cut on sight
it should be noted that	Cut	cut on sight

Showing 25 of 25 rowsShowing the 25 strongest of 71 entries. Open a row for the before-and-after and the keep rule.

Several words where one would do

Wordy phrases

What it is. Phrases that can be replaced by fewer words meaning the same thing. Strunk's Rule 13 (1918): 'the fact that' should be 'revised out of every sentence in which it occurs'; the SEC calls them superfluous words; Orwell called the compound prepositions 'with respect to', 'in view of', 'by dint of' a way to 'pad each sentence with extra syllables'.[3][13][10][4][11]

How to spot it. Strunk: 'owing to the fact that' → since; 'in a hasty manner' → hastily; 'he is a man who' → he. SEC: 'in order to' → to; 'in the event that' → if; 'prior to' → before; 'despite the fact that' → although. The federal 'dirty dozen' adds 'in accordance with' → by, 'utilize' → use, 'in the amount of' → for.

The canonical examples: the fact that · in order to · in the event that · prior to · despite the fact that · at this point in time · in the process of · with regard to.

Wordy phrases: entries with replacements
	What to do
a good deal of	Replace → much, or a lot of	cut on sight
a great deal of	Replace → much, or a lot of	cut on sight
a large number of	Replace → many	cut on sight
a wide variety of	Replace → many	cut on sight
as a consequence of	Replace → because of	cut on sight
as a result of	Replace → because of	cut on sight
as of right now	Replace → now	cut on sight
as regards	Replace → about	cut on sight
at all times	Replace → always	cut on sight
at some point in the future	Replace → someday, or later	cut on sight
at such time as	Replace → when	cut on sight
at that time	Replace → then	cut on sight
at the present time	Replace → now	cut on sight
at this point in time	Replace → now	cut on sight
by means of	Replace → by, or with	cut on sight
despite the fact that	Replace → although	cut on sight
due to the fact that	Replace → because	cut on sight
during the time that	Replace → while	cut on sight
for a period of	Replace → for	cut on sight
for the duration of	Replace → during	cut on sight
for the purpose of	Replace → to, or for	cut on sight
for the reason that	Replace → because	cut on sight
has the ability to	Replace → can	cut on sight
in a timely manner	Replace → promptly, or on time	cut on sight
in accordance with	Replace → under, or following	cut on sight

Showing 25 of 25 rowsShowing the 25 strongest of 74 entries. Open a row for the before-and-after and the keep rule.

Saying the same thing twice

Redundancies

What it is. Doubled words and modifiers that repeat what the noun already says. Williams: 'full and complete, hopes and desires, first and foremost, any and all, each and every'; redundant modifiers 'completely finish, each individual, past history, basic fundamentals, final outcome, various different, future plans'; redundant categories 'pink in color', 'period of time'.[5][13][7]

How to spot it. The SEC calls the adjective version 'shotgunning': 'letting loose a blast of words hoping at least one conveys your intended meaning'. Lanham's Lard Factor measures the cure: words removed divided by words in the original.

The canonical examples: each and every · first and foremost · past history · final outcome · future plans · completely finish · period of time · in color.

Redundancies: entries with replacements
	What to do
12 noon	Replace → noon	cut on sight
3 a.m. in the morning	Replace → 3 a.m.	cut on sight
absolutely essential	Replace → essential	cut on sight
absolutely necessary	Replace → necessary	cut on sight
actual fact	Replace → fact	cut on sight
added bonus	Replace → bonus	cut on sight
advance planning	Replace → planning	cut on sight
advance warning	Replace → warning	cut on sight
all-time record	Replace → record	cut on sight
ask the question	Replace → ask	cut on sight
ATM machine	Replace → ATM	cut on sight
attach together	Replace → attach	cut on sight
basic fundamentals	Replace → fundamentals	cut on sight
blend together	Replace → blend	cut on sight
brief summary	Replace → summary	cut on sight
circle around	Replace → circle	cut on sight
classify into categories	Replace → classify	cut on sight
close proximity	Replace → near	cut on sight
collaborate together	Replace → collaborate	cut on sight
completely eliminate	Replace → eliminate	cut on sight
consensus of opinion	Replace → consensus	cut on sight
continue on	Replace → continue	cut on sight
cooperate together	Replace → cooperate	cut on sight
current trend	Replace → trend	cut on sight
depreciate in value	Replace → depreciate	cut on sight

Showing 25 of 25 rowsShowing the 25 strongest of 75 entries. Open a row for the before-and-after and the keep rule.

'Is', 'has', 'does' and 'make' doing the work of a verb

Weak verbs

What it is. Forms of 'to be', 'to have', 'make', 'do', 'give' and 'take' that carry a nominalization or an adverb instead of an action. The SEC: 'weak verbs keep frequent company with two more grammatical undesirables: passive voice and hidden verbs'. Gopen and Swan: 'Readers expect the action of a sentence to be articulated by the verb.'[13][18][8][14]

How to spot it. Lanham's method circles the 'is', 'have' and 'do' forms and the prepositions, then asks 'Who's kicking who?'. Hemingway's weak-verb case is 'walked quietly' for 'crept'.

The canonical examples: is able to · has the ability to · make use of · give an indication of · take into consideration · is in a position to · does an analysis of.

Weak verbs: entries with replacements
	What to do
come to a conclusion	Replace → conclude	cut on sight
give rise to	Replace → cause	cut on sight
go ahead and	Cut	cut on sight
is able to	Replace → can	cut on sight
is capable of	Replace → can	cut on sight
is considered to be	Rewrite the sentence → Say who considers it	cut on sight
is in the process of	Cut	cut on sight
is said to	Rewrite the sentence → Say who says it	cut on sight
make certain	Replace → check, or confirm	cut on sight
make use of	Replace → use	cut on sight
proceed to	Cut	cut on sight
put emphasis on	Replace → emphasize	cut on sight
serves to	Cut	cut on sight
turn out to be	Replace → prove	cut on sight
will be able to	Replace → can	cut on sight
begin to	Cut	usually cut
come up with	Replace → devise	usually cut
continues to	Replace → still	usually cut
deal with	Replace → handle	usually cut
do (as a weak carrier)	Replace → a precise verb	usually cut
does (as a weak carrier)	Replace → a precise verb	usually cut
end up	Cut	usually cut
figure out	Replace → solve	usually cut
find out	Replace → learn	usually cut
get	Replace → a precise verb, such as receive, become, or buy	usually cut

Showing 25 of 25 rowsShowing the 25 strongest of 46 entries. Open a row for the before-and-after and the keep rule.

The long or foreign word where a short one will do

Jargon and pretentious diction

What it is. Orwell's rule (ii): 'Never use a long word where a short one will do', and rule (v): never a foreign phrase, scientific word or jargon word 'if you can think of an everyday English equivalent'. His list of pretentious diction: phenomenon, element, objective, categorical, effective, virtual, basic, primary, promote, constitute, exhibit, exploit, utilize, eliminate.[4][11][12][10]

How to spot it. GOV.UK bans a specific set from government writing: deliver, leverage, robust, key, tackle, transform, facilitate, utilise, going forward, drive, 'in order to'. The Plain English Campaign's A to Z offers an alternative for hundreds more.

The canonical examples: utilize · leverage · facilitate · implement · robust · going forward · deliver (an outcome) · key (adjective) · transform · commence.

Jargon and pretentious diction: entries with replacements
	What to do
actionable	Rewrite the sentence → Say what the reader can do	cut on sight
aforementioned	Replace → this, or the	cut on sight
agile	Rewrite the sentence → Say how the team works	cut on sight
ascertain	Replace → find out	cut on sight
best of breed	Replace → best	cut on sight
commence	Replace → begin, or start	cut on sight
cross-functional	Rewrite the sentence → Name the teams	cut on sight
digital transformation	Rewrite the sentence → Name what moves to digital	cut on sight
dynamic	Rewrite the sentence → Say how it changes	cut on sight
empower	Rewrite the sentence → Say what people can now do	cut on sight
enablement	Rewrite the sentence → Say what you teach	cut on sight
end user	Replace → user, or customer	cut on sight
endeavor	Replace → try	cut on sight
facilitate	Replace → help, or lead	cut on sight
functionality	Replace → features, or what it does	cut on sight
granular	Rewrite the sentence → Say what level of detail	cut on sight
granularity	Rewrite the sentence → Say what level of detail	cut on sight
heretofore	Replace → until now	cut on sight
holistic	Rewrite the sentence → Say what the whole includes	cut on sight
ideate	Replace → brainstorm, or think up	cut on sight
ideation	Replace → brainstorming	cut on sight
impactful	Replace → effective, or powerful	cut on sight
incentivize	Replace → encourage, or reward	cut on sight
initiate	Replace → start, or begin	cut on sight
innovate	Rewrite the sentence → Say what you will invent	cut on sight

Showing 25 of 25 rowsShowing the 25 strongest of 70 entries. Open a row for the before-and-after and the keep rule.

Phrases worn smooth by use

Clichés

What it is. Orwell's 'huge dump of worn-out metaphors which have lost all evocative power and are merely used because they save people the trouble of inventing phrases for themselves', and the business equivalents: 'at the end of the day', 'think outside the box', 'low-hanging fruit', 'move the needle'. Oxford: phrases 'used so often that they're no longer very interesting or effective'.[4][22][23][1]

How to spot it. Wikipedia's test: 'if a literal reading of a phrase makes no sense given the context, the sentence needs rewording'. Orwell's rule (i): never use a figure of speech 'which you are used to seeing in print'.

The canonical examples: at the end of the day · think outside the box · low-hanging fruit · move the needle · circle back · touch base · take it to the next level · paradigm shift · best of breed · synergy.

Clichés: entries with replacements
	What to do
30,000-foot view	Replace → overview	cut on sight
action item	Replace → task	cut on sight
ahead of the curve	Rewrite the sentence → Say how you are ahead	cut on sight
at scale	Rewrite the sentence → Say how many	cut on sight
back to the drawing board	Replace → start over	cut on sight
ballpark figure	Replace → rough estimate	cut on sight
bandwidth	Replace → time, or capacity	cut on sight
best-in-class	Rewrite the sentence → Say what you beat, and by how much	cut on sight
bleeding edge	Replace → newest, or untested	cut on sight
boil the ocean	Rewrite the sentence → Say the scope is too big	cut on sight
boots on the ground	Rewrite the sentence → Say who is there	cut on sight
bring to the table	Rewrite the sentence → Say what the person offers	cut on sight
buy-in	Replace → support, or approval	cut on sight
circle back	Replace → return to, or follow up	cut on sight
circle the wagons	Replace → pull together	cut on sight
core competency	Replace → main strength	cut on sight
deep dive	Replace → detailed look	cut on sight
deliverable	Replace → product, or result	cut on sight
disrupt	Rewrite the sentence → Say what you change and for whom	cut on sight
double down	Replace → commit more, or invest more	cut on sight
drill down	Replace → look closer, or examine	cut on sight
elephant in the room	Rewrite the sentence → Name the issue	cut on sight
end-to-end	Rewrite the sentence → Name the steps	cut on sight
game changer	Rewrite the sentence → Say what changes	cut on sight
get buy-in	Replace → win approval	cut on sight

Showing 25 of 25 rowsShowing the 25 strongest of 100 entries. Open a row for the before-and-after and the keep rule.

How common

What the corpora say about these words.

Frequencies from the British National Corpus, the Corpus of Contemporary American English and a 2.2-million-word corpus of research articles, quoted as published.

Frequency evidence
What was counted	Figure	Source
'very' in American English	970 per million words overall, 2,324 per million in speech, 468 in academic prose; the 105th most frequent lemma	[20]
'just' and 'very' among British English adverbs	7th and 10th most frequent adverbs (1,277 and 1,165 per million)	[19]
Spoken versus written British English	'really' 1,727 vs 337 per million; 'actually' 1,239 vs 147; 'basically' 134 vs 19; 'sort of' 472 vs 11	[19]
The formal hedges and boosters run the other way	'clearly' 107 spoken vs 159 written; 'somewhat' 17 vs 50; 'generally' 59 vs 122	[19]
Nominalizations in research articles	about 300 per 10,000 words (298 in 1965, 310 in 2015); '-tion' alone over 200 per 10,000	[21]
'-tion' nouns by register	'information' 88 per million in fiction vs 490 in informative writing; 'education' 23 vs 342; 'legislation' 1 vs 93	[19]

Showing 6 of 6 rows

For how these habits show up by genre, the Writing Benchmarks by Genre give sentence length, word length and passive rate for nine kinds of prose; the Passive Voice Index measures the agentless passive that Wikipedia counts as a form of weasel wording.

Method, limitations, data

How the list was built.

Method

The categories and their definitions come from the primary texts, each opened on 23 Oct 2026 and quoted: Strunk's 1918 Rule 13, Orwell's 1946 essay, Williams on nominalizations and metadiscourse (via openable summaries, since the book is not online), Lanham's Paramedic Method as adapted by three universities, Gopen and Swan, the SEC's 1998 handbook, the US federal and GOV.UK guidelines, Wikipedia's Words to watch, and the current help pages of the two editing tools.

The entries are Orwellix's cut list: the phrases the editor's highlighter looks for, each with an action (cut, replace, rewrite), a replacement where one exists, a before-and-after example and a keep rule where the word has a legitimate use.
Each category shows its 25 strongest entries by default; the rest are one click away and all are in the CSV.
Frequency figures are quoted from the BNC companion lists, the COCA free sample and Hyland and Jiang's corpus study.

Limitations

Williams' and Lanham's books, Hyland's 2005 hedge list and Pinker's book could not be opened; they are quoted through university handouts, a bar journal and a lecture report, and marked as such in the sources.
The Plain English Campaign's A to Z is under copyright; only selected entries are quoted.
Every keep rule is a judgement. The entries say when a word usually carries no information, not that it never does.
COCA's free sample contains every tenth lemma, so some fillers ('really', 'just', 'actually') have BNC figures only.

Data and files

The entries, examples and keep rules are CC BY 4.0: reuse them with a link to this page. Quoted definitions belong to their sources.

Sources

24 documents, each one opened.

The texts that defined each category, the guidelines that list them, the tools that flag them and the corpora that count them.

Wikipedia editors (2026). Manual of Style/Words to watch (MOS:WTW). en.wikipedia.org guideline; puffery, weasel, editorializing and cliché lists. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Wikipedia editors (2026). Weasel word. en.wikipedia.org; definition and the Chaplin 1900 / Roosevelt 1916 history; cites Ganter and Strube 2009. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Strunk, W. (1918). The Elements of Style, Rule 13: Omit needless words. Project Gutenberg eBook #37134. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Orwell, G. (1946). Politics and the English Language. The Orwell Foundation. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Mukherjee, S., & Puketza, N. (2004). Style in Technical Writing (slides based on Williams, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace). UC Davis Computer Science. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
New York State Bar Association Journal (n.d.). Thoughts on Legal Writing from the Greatest of Them All: Joseph M. Williams, Part I. quotes Williams and Bizup, Style, 12th edition (2016). SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Gay, J. M. (adapting Lanham, Revising Prose) (n.d.). The Paramedic Method. Naval Postgraduate School handout; the Lard Factor formula. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Purdue University (adapting Lanham, Revising Prose, 3rd ed.) (n.d.). Paramedic Method for Revising Prose. College of Liberal Arts. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
US General Services Administration (n.d.). Federal Plain Language Guidelines: Avoid hidden verbs. GSA GitHub source of the former plainlanguage.gov page. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
US General Services Administration (n.d.). Federal Plain Language Guidelines: Use simple words and phrases (the 'dirty dozen'). GSA GitHub source of the former plainlanguage.gov page. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Government Digital Service (n.d.). GOV.UK A to Z style guide: words to avoid. guidance.publishing.service.gov.uk. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Plain English Campaign (2001). The A to Z of alternative words. PDF; copyright notice, quoted selectively. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
US Securities and Exchange Commission (1998). A Plain English Handbook, Chapter 6: Writing in Plain English. sec.gov PDF; hidden verbs, superfluous words, shotgunning. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Hemingway Editor (2026). Improving how Hemingway detects weakeners. hemingwayapp.com blog, 19 Aug 2026 (vendor); the 'partially blocked' reversal. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Grammarly (2022). What Are Filler Words, and How Do You Cut Them?. grammarly.com (vendor); the 'just got out of the shower' test. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Grammarly (n.d.). Hedging language. grammarly.com (vendor); hedge types table. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Wikipedia editors (2026). Metadiscourse. en.wikipedia.org; hedges, boosters and attitude markers after Hyland; quotes Williams and Colomb 2012. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Gopen, G. D., & Swan, J. A. (1990). The Science of Scientific Writing. American Scientist 78; reprint PDF. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Leech, G., Rayson, P., & Wilson, A. (2001). Word Frequencies in Written and Spoken English: companion lists (BNC). UCREL, Lancaster University; adverb rank list and spoken-versus-written list. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Davies, M. (n.d.). Corpus of Contemporary American English: free sample of the top 60,000 lemmas. wordfrequency.info. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Hyland, K., & Jiang, F. K. (2019). Academic naming: Changing patterns of noun use in research writing. accepted manuscript, UEA eprints; nominalizations per 10,000 words, 1965 to 2015. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Oxford Dictionaries (Lexico) (2021). Avoiding clichés. archived copy of the Lexico grammar page. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Hargraves, O. (2014). It's Been Said Before: A Guide to the Use and Abuse of Clichés (excerpt). Oxford University Press; excerpt on Vocabulary.com. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026
Leddy, C. (2012). Exorcising the curse of knowledge (report of Steven Pinker's lecture). Harvard Gazette, 8 Nov 2012; secondary for Pinker. SourceOpened 23 Oct 2026

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APA

Orwellix. (2026). The Cut List: Weasel Words, Qualifiers, Intensifiers, Nominalizations and Filler, Defined. Orwellix. https://orwellix.com/resources/cut-list-reference

Plain

The Cut List: Weasel Words, Qualifiers, Intensifiers, Nominalizations and Filler, Defined (Orwellix, 2026): https://orwellix.com/resources/cut-list-reference

First published 25 Oct 2026. Reuse the tables and charts with attribution under CC BY 4.0.

Changelog

25 Oct 2026First edition: ten categories defined from primary sources with when-to-keep rules, 666 entries with replacements and examples, and frequency evidence from the BNC, COCA and Hyland and Jiang.

Questions

The questions this page gets asked.

01What are weasel words?

Words and phrases that give a vague claim the sound of evidence: 'some people say', 'it is believed', 'experts agree', 'research has shown' with no research named. The term appeared in print in 1900 and Theodore Roosevelt popularised it in 1916: a weasel sucks the meat out of an egg and leaves the shell. The fix is to name the source or make the claim in your own voice.

02What is the difference between a qualifier and an intensifier?

Both are modifiers that change the force of a claim. A qualifier or hedge weakens it ('somewhat', 'perhaps', 'sort of', 'I think'); an intensifier strengthens it ('very', 'really', 'absolutely', 'clearly'). Both are habits of speech: the British National Corpus shows 'really' five times and 'actually' eight times more frequent in conversation than in writing. Cut the ones that carry no information; keep a hedge that marks real uncertainty and an intensifier that marks a real difference.

03What is a nominalization?

A verb or adjective turned into a noun: 'decide' becomes 'make a decision', 'investigate' becomes 'conduct an investigation', 'careless' becomes 'carelessness'. The US federal plain-language guidelines call them hidden verbs because the action is buried in the noun and a weak verb is needed to carry it. Research articles run about 300 of them per 10,000 words. Williams lists four cases where a nominalization is the right choice.

04Should I cut every adverb?

No. Hemingway Editor, whose adverb highlighting started the habit, reversed it in 2026: 'an adverb is a grammatical category, not automatically a writing problem', and it now flags only intensifiers and adverbs propping up weak verbs. 'The road was partially blocked' loses its meaning without the adverb.

05Where do the entries come from?

The ten categories are defined from the primary texts: Strunk, Orwell, Williams, Lanham, Gopen and Swan, the SEC handbook, the federal and GOV.UK guidelines, Wikipedia's style guideline, and the two editing tools, each quoted on this page. The entries, replacements and examples are Orwellix's own cut list, the same one the editor's highlighter uses; the full 666-row sheet with find-and-replace patterns is the downloadable Cut List.

06Can I reuse the lists?

Yes, with a link to this page. Definitions quoted from other sources are theirs and are cited; the entries, replacements and examples are CC BY 4.0.

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The Cut List

666 phrases that weaken writing, with replacements

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All resources · The downloadable Cut List sheet · Self-editing checklists