Three kinds of weak words
Intensifiers try to add emphasis but end up diluting it: very, really, extremely, totally, so much. “A very important meeting” is weaker than “a crucial meeting”.
Hedges soften a claim: kind of, sort of, somewhat, perhaps, I think, it seems, arguably. Some hedging is honest and necessary (in academic writing it signals appropriate caution). Too much makes writing sound unsure.
Fillers add length without meaning: just, actually, basically, literally, simply, needless to say, at the end of the day, the fact that, in terms of.
Removing them
Each highlight has a Remove button that deletes the phrase and tidies the spacing around it, capitalising the next word if you removed the start of a sentence. Read the sentence afterwards: sometimes the word was carrying meaning (“just two people came” means “only”), and Ignore keeps it.
Filler words are especially common in speech transcripts, emails written in a hurry and first drafts. They’re worth a sweep before anything is published or sent to a client.
Worked example
Here is what the Filler Word Finder returns for its built-in example. Click Try an example in the tool above to load it, then change it as you like.
In order to succeed, the report was written by the team in a timely manner. It is important to note that the results were very, very good.
Basically, at the end of the day, we really need to think outside the box and leverage our synergy. Their is a lot of work to do, and the the deadline is close.
The chairman said that you guys should of known better. Its a fact that the data was analysed carefully and the color of the charts was chosen for clarity.| Found | Type | Suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| “very” | Intensifier | remove |
| “very” | Intensifier | remove |
| “Basically” | Filler | remove |
| “at the end of the day” | Filler | remove |
| “really” | Intensifier | remove |
Questions
What are filler words in writing?
Words that add length without meaning, such as “just”, “basically”, “actually”, “really” and phrases like “at the end of the day”.
Should I remove every hedge?
No. Hedges are appropriate when you genuinely are uncertain, and expected in scientific writing. Remove the ones that only make you sound unsure.
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