If you’re creating your own content, it’s easy to fall into repetitive word usage. This makes for lousy reading, but it’s a common pitfall for all writers.
Something my wife always reminds me; “If you read more, you will write better.” But with social media forming a sizable part of our reading material, our quality of reading is not always beneficial.
Here’s a list of 25 substandard, overused words that we found on Twitter – and some downright marvellous alternatives!
Glance over them and let me know if you find them helpful!
1. Interesting– noteworthy; thought-provoking: fascinating, attracting, appealing, attention-grabbing; captivating: gripping, invigorating; engrossing: engaging, electrifying
2. Beautiful– striking; stunning; magnificent, lovely; charming, gorgeous; radiant, dazzling.
3. Good– acceptable, wonderful, exceptional; positive, brilliant, first-rate, notable; stellar, favourable, superb; marvellous; prime.
4. Bad– awful; lousy, poor: unacceptable crummy, dreadful, rough: inferior, substandard, atrocious; appalling; dreadful; defective.
5. Look– glance; fixate; observe; stare gaze; peer, scan; watch; study; browse, eye; glimpse; review, inspect.
6. Nice– lovely; superior, pleasant, satisfying, delightful; likeable; agreeable: correct, adequate; swell; fair, okay; approved.
7. Very– extremely: exceedingly, exceptionally; immensely; tremendously: abundantly, particularly, remarkably.
8. Fine– satisfactory, worthy; respectable; exquisite, suitable; well; imposing, decent; admirable; praise-worthy, decent.
9. Happy– cheerful; delighted; pleased content, amused; thrilled; elated; thrilled; ecstatic; on cloud 9
10. Really-genuinely; truly, honestly, actually; undoubtedly, certainly; remarkably; incredibly, downright; unquestionably; extremely
11. Sad– miserable: gloomy, devastated, down at heard; distraught, distressed; dispirited: sorrowful; downcast; feeling blue; desolate.
12. Big– massive, huge; giant, gigantic, enormous: large; colossal; immense, bulky, tremendous; hefty; sizable, extensive, great substantial
13. Shocked– taken aback; lost for words, flabbergasted; staggered, outraged; astonished; astounded; stunned, speechless, appalled.
14. Small– tiny, petite, mini, miniature, microscopic; minuscule, compact, pocket-sized, cramped, puny; undersized; limited, meagre, modest, minute; pint-sized. 15. Angry-irate, enraged, touchy, cross, resentful; indignant, infuriated; wound up; worked-up; seething, raging, heated; bitter; bad-tempered, offended; frustrated
16. Know– understand comprehend: realize, learn, perceive; recognize, grasp: sense.
17. Change– alter, transform; replace; diversify, adjust adapt; modify, remodel; vary, evolve transfigure, redesign, refashion; advance transition; shift adjustment
18. Old-aged, ancient, matured, elderly; senior, veteran, decrepit; seasoned, venerable: past one’s prime; doddering, senile.
19. Think-ponder, reflect, conceive, imagine, contemplate; consider; determine; realize, visualize, guess/assume, conclude; envision.
20. Funny-comical; ludicrous, amusing, droll; entertaining, absurd, hilarious: silly; whimsical, hysterical; joking, witty; facetious; slapstick, side-splitting, knee-slapping
21. Go- move; proceed, advance; progress, travel; walk; journey, depart: exit; flee; make one’s way, clear out; get underway.
22. Give- grant; donate; hand-out; present; provide; deliver; hand over, offer, award; bestow, supply with; contribute to send entrust.
23. Get– acquire; obtain, receive; gain, earn; gather, collect; buy; purchase, attain; score; secure; take possession of grab.
24. Easy– effortless; simple, clear; smooth; straightforward, uncomplicated, painless, accessible; apparent; basic: plain; child’s play, facile, elementary; cinch
25. Fast– agile, brisk; rapid; nimble; swift, accelerated; fleeting: high-speed; active; dashing: winged; hurried, turbo.
Take some time to reflect on how you’re communicating, often the words that we use in our social media and blogs are all people ‘hear’ from us.
