Avoiding Wordiness: 330 Examples & What to Use Instead

“A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”
―William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, The Elements of Style

You’ve probably come across more than one article, blog post, or product description that took way longer to get to the point.

In your frustration, you may have started skimming the piece, missing important information along the way.

Alternatively, you may have turned the page or clicked away.

Either way, you’ve wasted time, and the writer has wasted both their time and yours.

Creative writing offers a little more leeway with the use of language.

Depending on the genre in question, the setting of a story (fictional or real), or the character, flowery phrases may be appropriate to convey authenticity.

Song lyrics require an occasionally awkward turn of phrase to keep a line’s length and beat consistent with the others. The same goes for poetry in general.

Most other writing―be it journalism, business writing, or web writing―lends itself to a spare, even Spartan, style.

Unless a reader wants to be transported to another world, they probably just want you to get to the point. It’s not that they don’t want to hear what you have to say; it’s that they DO want to hear you. Right away.

Sandwiching your message between unneeded verbiage helps no one. It doesn’t make you sound smarter, clearer, or more persuasive. It’s. Just. Noise.

The next time you sit down to write, the burning question running through your mind after each period should be, “Do I really need to tell them this?”

Without further ado, here are 330 examples of common cases of wordiness (as of Nov. 12, 2020), along with shorter alternatives.

BUT: Keep a word or phrase if …

• removing it ruins the grammatical structure.
• it’s a key idea, fact, feeling, or description.

Number	Example	Use instead
1	a little bit	“a bit” or “a little”
2	a number of	some, many
3	a total of 12 items	12 items
4	a variety of different things	a variety
5	accomplish	do
6	accrue	gain
7	add together	add
8	add up	add
9	added bonus	bonus
10	addressee	you
11	advance forward	advance
12	advance planning	planning
13	advance reservation	reservation
14	advance warning	warning
15	after the conclusion of	after
16	all of	all
17	all-time record	record
18	annoyingly frustrating	frustrating, annoying
19	anonymous stranger	stranger
20	any and all	any or all
21	apparently	(Delete)
22	apportion out	apportion
23	are representative of	represent
24	as a matter of fact	in fact
25	as far as [X] is concerned	regarding (or reword the sentence)
26	as of this writing	now, currently
27	as per	per
28	as regards	about
29	ascend up	ascend
30	ask a question	ask
31	at the current time	now, currently
32	at the present time	now, currently
33	at the same time as	as
34	at the time of publication	now, currently
35	at this point in time	now, currently
36	ATM machine	ATM
37	based on the fact that	because
38	basic essentials	essentials
39	basic fundementals	fundementals
40	basic necessities	necessities
41	basically	(Delete)
42	be aware of the fact that	note, understand
43	beat out	beat
44	biography of her life	biography
45	both agree	agree
46	both of them	both
47	brief jaunt	jaunt
48	brief moment	moment
49	brief summary	summary
50	by means of	by, via
51	by way of	by, via
52	cameo appearance	cameo
53	cheaper price	cheaper or “lower price”
54	check and see	check
55	circle around	circle
56	clean up	clean
57	click on	click
58	climb up	climb
59	close intimates	intimates
60	close proximity	near, proximity
61	close scrutiny	scrutiny
62	cluster together	cluster
63	colder temperature	colder or “lower temperature”
64	collaborate together	collaborate
65	collide into each other	collide
66	combine together	combine
67	come to an end	end
68	comes equipped with	includes, comes with, is preinstalled, is preloaded
69	comes with it right out of the box	includes, comes with, is preinstalled, is preloaded
70	commence	start
71	compete with each other	compete
72	completely destroyed	destroyed
73	completely finished	finished
74	completely opposite	opposite
75	completely surrounded	surrounded
76	completely unanimous	unanimous
77	components that make up	components
78	concerning the matter of	about
79	consensus of opinion	consensus
80	consequently	so
81	considering the fact that	because, since
82	continue on	continue
83	cooperate together	cooperate
84	crammed close together	crammed
85	currently at this time	currently, now
86	dark, black sky	black sky
87	debris left behind	debris
88	debut of a new product	product debut
89	deceptive lie	lie
90	decrease in size	shrink
91	Definitely	(Delete)
92	depart from	depart
93	descend down	descend
94	describe in words	describe
95	despite the fact that	although, even though
96	detrimentally affect	harm, hurt
97	dry desert	desert
98	due to the fact that	because
99	during the period	during
100	each and every	each
101	elements that are a part of	elements
102	emit out	emit
103	empty out	empty
104	empty void	void
105	encounter	meet
106	end result	result
107	endure for <length of time>	endure <length of time>
108	ensure the largest amount	maximize
109	ensure the least amount	minimize
110	enter into (buildings)	enter
111	escape from	escape
112	essentially	(Delete)
113	exact same	same
114	exactly the same	the same
115	exactly word for word	exactly or “word for word” (pick one)
116	exit out of	exit
117	expedite	speed up
118	extremely	(Delete)
119	factor that plays a role	factor
120	fade away	fade
121	famous celebrity	celebrity
122	far away from	far from
123	fill up	fill
124	finish up	finish
125	first and foremost	foremost
126	flee from	flee
127	following on	after
128	for all intents and purposes	(Delete)
129	for the purpose of (+ gerund)	to
130	for the reason that	because
131	foreign imports	imports
132	forward progress	progress
133	free gift	gift
134	fundamental basis	basis
135	fuse together	fuse
136	future ahead	future
137	generally	(Delete)
138	give the opportunity to	let, allow
139	glide smoothly	glide
140	good-quality	quality
141	grab onto	grab
142	grow larger	grow
143	has enough space on the inside to fully accommodate	fits
144	has the ability to	can
145	has the capacity to/for	can
146	have an effect on	affect, influence
147	have an impact on	affect, influence
148	have got (e.g., I’ve got)	have
149	have the capability to	can
150	he is a man who is	he is
151	head up	head
152	help out	help
153	high up in	high in
154	hotter temperature	hotter or “higher temperature”
155	how-to tutorials	tutorials
156	human artifact	artifact
157	I believe	(Delete)
158	I feel	(Delete)
159	I think that	(Delete)
160	impacts that result from	impacts, results
161	In a place where	where
162	in a similar manner	similarly
163	in a situation in which	when
164	in advance of	before
165	in an effort to	to
166	in close proximity to	close to
167	in connection with	about
168	in excess of	more than, over
169	in light of the fact that	considering
170	in my own personal opinion	in my opinion
171	in order for	for
172	in order to	to
173	in reference to	about
174	In some ways	(Delete)
175	in spite of the fact that	although or though
176	in terms of	regarding (or recast the sentence)
177	in the amount of	for
178	in the amount of <specific amount>	for <specific amount>
179	in the direction of	toward (U.S.) or towards (UK)
180	in the event that	if
181	in the near future	soon (or be more specific about the time)
182	in view of the fact that	because
183	inadvertent error	error
184	increase in size	grow
185	insist adamantly	insist
186	is able to	can
187	is capable of	can
188	is located in	is in
189	it could happen that	may, might, can, could
190	it is often the case that	often
191	it is possible that	may, might, can, could
192	it is requested	please
193	it’s important to note that	notably
194	Jewish rabbi	rabbi
195	join together	join
196	jump up	jump
197	laptop computer	laptop
198	last for <length of time>	last <length of time>
199	leak out	leak
200	leave from	leave
201	less than great	subpar, mediocre, OK
202	less than spectacular	subpar, mediocre, OK
203	lift up	lift
204	linger around	linger
205	lower down	lower
206	mail out	mail
207	make a choice	choose
208	make a contribution to	contribute
209	make a decision	decide
210	match up	match
211	merge together	merge
212	methodology	method
213	middle ground in between	middle ground
214	minor tweaks	tweaks
215	minute details	minutiae
216	more better	better
217	more often than not	usually
218	more ways than one	multiple ways
219	morph for the worse	deform
220	mutual agreement	agreement
221	new innovation	innovation
222	not too long from now	soon (or be more specific about the time)
223	not very good	subpar, mediocre, OK
224	notification alert	notification or alert
225	notwithstanding the fact that	although, even, though
226	now pending	pending
227	numerous	many
228	on sale for a discounted rate	“on sale,” “on discount,” or discounted
229	on the grounds that	because
230	on the occasion of	when
231	on the part of	by
232	once used to do	did (or used to)
233	one and the same	the same
234	orbit around	orbit
235	over the course of	throughout
236	overexaggerate	exaggerate
237	owing to the fact that	because
238	past history	history
239	period of four days	four days
240	permeate through	permeate
241	pick and choose	pick, choose, select
242	plan out	plan
243	precisely adjust	fine-tune
244	present incumbent	incumbent
245	prior to	before
246	proceed forward	proceed
247	progress forward	progress
248	provide the ability to let, allow	let, allow
249	provided that	if
250	raise up	raise
251	rarely ever	rarely
252	really	(Delete)
253	reconsider again	reconsider
254	reflect back on	reflect on
255	regardless of the fact that	although, even, though
256	regress backward	regress
257	rejected outcast	outcast
258	related to each other	related
259	relative to	about
260	repeat again	repeat
261	retain the same	retain
262	retreat back	retreat
263	return back	return
264	revert back	revert
265	rise up	rise
266	roasting in heat	roasting
267	sad lament	lament
268	safe haven	haven
269	same identical	identical
270	scrutinize very carefully	scrutinize
271	send out	send
272	share in common	share together
273	share the same	share (or have the same)
274	shift around	shift
275	shorter/longer in length	shorter/longer
276	shout out	shout
277	shrink smaller	shrink
278	simultaneously with	as
279	sink down	sink
280	sit down	sit
281	slam forcefully	slam
282	small bits	bits
283	soar up	soar
284	specific details	details
285	specific enough to say exactly	specify
286	specific to your wants and needs	customized
287	spin around	spin
288	start off	start
289	still remain	remain
290	subsequent to	after
291	sudden impulse	impulse
292	tailored to fit	tailored
293	take into consideration	consider
294	tall skyscraper	skyscraper
295	tap on	tap
296	tend to	(Delete)
297	test out	test
298	the fact that	Delete “the fact”” and/or reword the sentence.
299	the fact that it doesn’t have	”its lack of,” “its omission of” or reword the sentence.
300	the majority of	most
301	the place at which	where
302	the reason for	because, since
303	the reason why is that	because
304	the thing is that	(Delete)
305	the time at which	when
306	the truth is that	(Delete)
307	the way in which	how
308	there are times when	sometimes
309	there is a chance that	may, might, can, could
310	tragically sad	tragic
311	trailing behind	trailing
312	true fact	fact
313	two opposites	opposites
314	under circumstances in which	when
315	unexpected surprise	surprise
316	urban city	city
317	used to at one time	used to
318	used to in the past	used to
319	utilize	use
320	various	(Delete)
321	vast majority	majority
322	very	Delete or replace with with a stronger, more accurate adjective.
323	virtually	(Delete)
324	when it comes to	regarding (or reword the sentence)
325	where . . . is concerned	about
326	whether or not	whether (unless it means regardless of whether)
327	which was when	when
328	with regard to	about
329	with the exception of	except
330	yearly annual	annual or annually

This page is constantly updated and further words and phrases are added from time to time.

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• If you want an example added to the list, feel free to comment below.