1
Weak: The policy is very important for many different reasons. Stronger: The policy matters because it determines who can appeal a rejected application and how quickly the appeal must be filed.
8 Words to Avoid in Writing Examples
Use these examples to study structure, specificity, tone, and variation. They are demonstrations—not claims about a real person or organization unless the example itself makes that explicit.
Before you copy
What to notice in the examples
A strong editing pass does not replace ordinary words simply to sound sophisticated. It identifies why a word is weakening this sentence—vagueness, redundancy, unsupported intensity, unnecessary hedging, imprecise meaning, or awkward register—then deletes it, keeps it, or replaces it with language that better matches the claim.
- Check vague intensifiers such as very or really when a more exact description would help.
- Check filler phrases that delay the main point without adding relationship or evidence.
- Check abstract nouns and weak verb phrases when a direct verb would make responsibility clearer.
- Check clichés and stock transitions when they substitute for a specific logical relationship.
- Check hedges and certainty words against the actual strength of the evidence before changing them.
2
Weak: It is important to note that the survey included only current customers. Stronger: The survey included only current customers, so the findings do not describe people who stopped using the service.
3
Weak: The team made a decision to postpone the launch. Stronger: The team postponed the launch.
4
Weak: The new process is really better. Stronger: The new process reduces duplicate review steps from three to one.
5
Weak: In today’s modern world, remote communication is becoming increasingly common. Stronger: Remote teams rely on written communication to preserve context across time zones.
6
Weak: Obviously, the character is angry. Stronger: The character answers without looking up and folds the letter twice before speaking.
7
Weak: The results prove that the program works. Stronger: The results are consistent with improved retention during the six-month pilot.
8
Keep the qualifier: The change may reduce delays when requests arrive before the daily processing cutoff. Removing may would overstate what the current evidence establishes.
Keep the underlying decision or pattern, then replace the subject, evidence, relationship, constraints, and tone with details that belong to your situation. If your final line still works after swapping only one noun, it may be too close to the example.