{"id":1275,"date":"2020-02-13T13:55:22","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T18:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/?p=1275"},"modified":"2020-05-16T12:43:19","modified_gmt":"2020-05-16T16:43:19","slug":"7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Over-used Adjectives and How to Replace Them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Adjectives are incredibly useful words because they help us describe exactly what we are talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\"Linguix<\/a>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I have a talkative, older<\/em> sister and a shy, younger<\/em> brother.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

With a few simple words, I have described in considerable detail my position in the family and the personality of my sister and brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, some adjectives are pretty non-descriptive, and totally over-used too. As a result, these adjectives end up telling us close to nothing. Let\u2019s look at a couple of examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018How was your day?\u2019<\/p>

\u2018<\/em>Good!\u2019<\/strong><\/p>

\u2018What\u2019s your new teacher like?\u2019<\/p>

\u2018Nice!\u2019<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Now, there is a reason that conversation reminds you of one you might have with a surly teenager because good<\/em> and nice<\/em> are words that reveal next to absolutely nothing. How about these nice<\/em> alternatives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018How was your day?\u2019<\/p>

\u2018Informative!\u2019<\/em><\/p>

\u2018What\u2019s your new teacher like?\u2019<\/p>

\u2018Open-minded!\u2019<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Much better. Just with a simple change in the adjective, you can make the detail you provide so much more revealing and\u2026informative!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n

Here are five more classically overused (and non-informative) adjectives that could be easily replaced:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The U.S.A. is a big<\/em> country. Sure it is. But what does big <\/em>actually mean? It\u2019s certainly vast <\/em>(nearly 10 million km\u00b2), and has a massive<\/em> population (nearly 330 million), but parts of it are deserted <\/em>while some of the big cities are teeming<\/em> with people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big<\/em> just doesn\u2019t do it justice, does it?<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So next time you want to say that a 4×4 truck is a big<\/em> car or basketball players are mostly big<\/em> men (and women), why not substitute that word for something a little more descriptive under the circumstances. Monster<\/em> trucks are so much more appealing (although obviously not quite the same), while most star basketball players are towering<\/em> to say the least. Especially over us mere mortals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ironically, the original meaning of great<\/em> is big<\/em>, and would actually be a far more interesting word if it was used that way, instead of coming to mean something a little more than good, and in fact, becoming a byword for \u2018conversation over\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018How was your holiday?\u2019<\/p>

\u2018Great!\u2019<\/em><\/p>

Where can the conversation go from there?<\/p>

\u2018How are you?\u2019<\/p>

\u2018Great!\u2019<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Again, it\u2019s a conversation over. Although this word should have a positive connotation, it\u2019s come to mean something that doesn\u2019t quite get there. Why not try something else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018How was your holiday?\u2019<\/p>

\u2018Restful!\u2019<\/em><\/p>

\u2018How are you?\u2019<\/p>

\u2018Surviving!\u2019<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And from there, the conversation can develop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My phone is old<\/em>. My grandfather is old<\/em>. So are dinosaur bones. The earth is old<\/em>. But so is our galaxy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s compare some of those numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My phone = 3 years<\/p><\/p>

My grandfather = 83 years<\/p>

Dinosaur Bones = 68 \u2013 245 million years<\/p>

The earth = 4.543 billion years<\/p>

Our galaxy = 13.51 billion years<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Yep, definitely deserving of the same adjective. So while my phone is outdated<\/em>, my grandfather is elderly<\/em>. Dinosaur bones are prehistoric<\/em>, while the earth and our galaxy are primordial<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old?<\/em> Forget about it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ha, and then there is the opposite of good-old old<\/em>, which is just as useless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some things that can be classified as new<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My phone. Technology. A scientific approach. A theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while my phone is the latest<\/em> model, it uses cutting-edge<\/em> technology, and while a scientific approach may be innovative<\/em>, a theory may be novel<\/em>, or even original<\/em> and unique.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You get the point!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Important<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When translated from many Latin languages into English, important can mean famous. And then if you think about the word ‘famous’<\/em> in English you could be speaking about someone who is infamous<\/em>, or even notorious<\/em>. That same person could be renowned<\/em> or revered.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as for things, discoveries, news or any other item you care to declare as important,<\/em> just think a little bit about why it\u2019s important, and then you immediately have an adjective to use to replace a word that is subjective in any case. After all, what is important<\/em> to you may not be to me, and vice versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there we go. Just a little bit of creativity can go a long way. Become a better communicator, and drop those tired<\/em>, over-used<\/em> adjectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adjectives are incredibly useful words because they help us describe exactly what we are talking about. \u2018I have a talkative, older sister and a shy, younger brother.\u2019 With a few simple words, I have described in considerable detail my position in the family and the personality of my sister and brother. However, some adjectives are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[26,577,568,571],"class_list":["post-1275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vocabulary","tag-adjectives","tag-learning-new-words","tag-vocabulary","tag-vocabulary-enhancement"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n7 Over-used Adjectives and How to Replace Them - Linguix Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7 Over-used Adjectives and How to Replace Them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Adjectives are incredibly useful words because they help us describe exactly what we are talking about. \u2018I have a talkative, older sister and a shy, younger brother.\u2019 With a few simple words, I have described in considerable detail my position in the family and the personality of my sister and brother. However, some adjectives are […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Linguix Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-13T18:55:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-16T16:43:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/37.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Samantha Ruff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Samantha Ruff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/\",\"name\":\"7 Over-used Adjectives and How to Replace Them - Linguix Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/37.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-13T18:55:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-16T16:43:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ac57263f1721a7acff5ec232620d844c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/37.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/37.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"7 Over-used Adjectives and How to Replace Them\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Linguix Blog\",\"description\":\"Writing about using technology to create content and build effective communications.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ac57263f1721a7acff5ec232620d844c\",\"name\":\"Samantha Ruff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72856d95764d7d89e74d94dd9f35a391?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72856d95764d7d89e74d94dd9f35a391?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Samantha Ruff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/author\/samantha\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"7 Over-used Adjectives and How to Replace Them - Linguix Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"7 Over-used Adjectives and How to Replace Them","og_description":"Adjectives are incredibly useful words because they help us describe exactly what we are talking about. \u2018I have a talkative, older sister and a shy, younger brother.\u2019 With a few simple words, I have described in considerable detail my position in the family and the personality of my sister and brother. However, some adjectives are […]","og_url":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/","og_site_name":"Linguix Blog","article_published_time":"2020-02-13T18:55:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-16T16:43:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/37.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Samantha Ruff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Samantha Ruff","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/","url":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/","name":"7 Over-used Adjectives and How to Replace Them - Linguix Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/37.png","datePublished":"2020-02-13T18:55:22+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-16T16:43:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ac57263f1721a7acff5ec232620d844c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/37.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/37.png","width":1024,"height":683},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/7-over-used-adjectives-and-how-to-replace-them\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"7 Over-used Adjectives and How to Replace Them"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/","name":"Linguix Blog","description":"Writing about using technology to create content and build effective communications.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ac57263f1721a7acff5ec232620d844c","name":"Samantha Ruff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72856d95764d7d89e74d94dd9f35a391?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72856d95764d7d89e74d94dd9f35a391?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","caption":"Samantha Ruff"},"url":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/author\/samantha\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1275"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1890,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1275\/revisions\/1890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}