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When writing an academic essay, research paper, or report, your choice of words directly impacts the clarity and credibility of your work. To write effectively, it’s crucial to know what should you always avoid in formal writing and which essay words weaken your arguments. This guide outlines the words to avoid in an essay, so your writing remains clear, professional, and persuasive. This is where tools like a plagiarism checker and an AI detector become valuable, ensuring your work is both original and authentically written while avoiding the common words and phrases that weaken essays
Here are the key areas covered:
- Personal Pronouns
- Vague Wording
- Informal Language
- Clichés and Overused Expressions
- Weak Modifiers & Overused Adverbs
- Passive Voice
- Absolute or Overgeneralized Terms
- Redundant Words and Phrases
- Filler Words
Whether in high school or already attending college, you have many academic writing assignments ahead of you. You’ll write research papers, opinion pieces, argumentative essays, lab reports, thesis statements, analyses, and more. Improving your writing is a must if you want to be successful.
When writing an academic paper, you’re expected to use formal, academic language and write well-cited content. There are many words to avoid in academic writing. Follow the writing tips below to figure out which words not to use in a research paper and formal writing.
Personal Pronouns
One of the most important words to not use in an essay are personal pronouns like I, me, my, and our. In most cases, your work will be research- or evidence-based. Inserting yourself into the argument reduces your paper’s credibility, as professors want ideas you can source.
Even most opinion pieces should not contain personal pronouns. Again, you’re arguing using research-backed logic, not your personal opinions.
Vague Wording
Vagueness is one of the key words to avoid in formal writing. Vague wording includes any words that create ambiguity by talking around the point instead of giving information directly.
Vague wording can confuse readers, preventing them from reading your whole essay and muddling your point. This can damage your credibility as a writer for the future.
Ambiguity works against the point of writing an essay, which is to deliver information and defend one side of an argument. The confusion created by vague wording takes away from your argument and can invalidate your research.
Vague wording can present itself in a variety of ways. One way is failing to identify who did something. The writer might use the word “it” without a clear antecedent or use a pronoun without clarifying who they mean, leaving the reader unsure to whom the writer is referring.
Then there is what is happening, which can be vague if the writer uses vague quantifiers (some, many, few) or “this” or “that” without specific references. If you can ask, “Who did this?” or “What is this?” and the answer isn’t in the text, you need to clarify it for the reader.
Informal Language
With the exception of rare circumstances which your professor would alert you to, informal language should be avoided in academic writing and essay writing. While both informal and formal language have their purpose and their audience, it’s important to know when those circumstances are.
Informal language is spontaneous and casual, with a very unfocused tone. You use it to communicate with friends, family, and coworkers to get immediate feedback or message them. It would seem strange or wrong to be too formal with a close friend and equally strange to be too informal with a stranger or person of authority.
Informal language uses many of the words on this list. It uses personal pronouns and has cliches, contractions, and slang. Using informal language often leads to text that jumps from thought to thought in the same way it would if someone were having a conversation.
Cliches and Overused Expressions
Cliches are phrases that have been so overused that they feel bland and boring. Some common examples of wordy cliches that don’t add to the text are “thinking outside the box” and “better safe than sorry.”
When you use a cliche, it makes it hard for your professor to take you seriously. Cliches aren’t original, and since they don’t add anything to the essay, they can weaken any research you’ve done and your credibility as a writer. The more cliches you use, the worse it gets.
Common cliches can be replaced to convey the same information without relying on overused expressions.
“At the end of the day” and “the fact of the matter” are ways of concluding or ending a thought. It can be replaced with “in conclusion” or “this proves.”
“Think outside the box,” “on the same page,” and “in this day and age” can be omitted completely. They are conversational and would be obvious based on the rest of the essay. If you had never heard these phrases before, would it be confusing? What box? What page? Don’t assume your reader knows the same cliches as you.
“Needless to say” and “time will tell” offer no information to an essay and shift the tone from academic to informal writing.
“Paradigm shift” means a sudden change to fundamental properties, but it’s been overused. If you use this cliche for its intended meaning, explain what a paradigm is and then how the shift relates to your research.
Cliches also often make your essays wordier than they have to be. Look for other ways to get your point across, and try to stick to your own voice as much as possible.
Weak Modifiers & Overused Adverbs
Weak modifiers and overused adverbs often seem helpful when you’re using them but do nothing to strengthen your points. A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause used to strengthen, clarify, or intensify meaning in a sentence. Weak modifiers do not add to the meaning of a sentence and can even detract from it. Examples include “merely,” “rather,” and “fairly.”
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Below is a list of words considered overused adverbs:
- Really
- Very
- Totally
- Usually
- Typically
Professors consider weak modifiers and overused adverbs filler words because they add to the word count but don’t add meaning. You can often improve a sentence by taking out these words. If the sentence still lacks meaning, try a stronger adjective or verb.
Passive Voice
Understanding passive voice can be challenging. In a sentence, you will often have an actor and a receiver of the action. When you make the receiver the subject of a sentence and the actor the object, it doesn’t read well and is wordier than the active version.
Consider these two sentences:
- Active voice: Liam took Jakob to the movies.
- Passive voice: Jakob was taken to the movies by Liam.
You’ll notice that in the active example, the first person mentioned is the one doing the action. The second person is the one receiving the action. It reads much more clearly than the second example.
It’s crucial to avoid passive voice when possible. You should try to avoid passive voice in informal writing, as it almost always makes your writing awkward and difficult to read.
Absolute or Overgeneralized Terms
Absolute and overgeneralized terms are words or phrases like “always,” “literally,” and “never” that are used in everyday conversation to emphasize a point. The person speaking usually doesn’t intend for the absolute definition to be believed.
However, essays are arguments that you are attempting to defend or prove with evidence, and using those terms in an essay without proof of the absolute weakens your argument and credibility. The true meaning of these words should be honoured, and they are virtually impossible to prove and should be used cautiously when you can confidently prove them.
Some common absolute/overgeneralized terms are:
- Always – With rare exceptions, it is very difficult to prove that something is true without any exceptions. Say that something happens often and show evidence.
- Never – Like “always,” it only takes one time to prove this word wrong. Use words like rarely or show proof that something hasn’t happened yet.
- Every or all – Quantify the term and use data to show your point rather than use a general term. Instead of writing every volunteer or all volunteers, show what the research says and give the reader a mental picture. For example, a group of twelve volunteers conducted the experiment and twelve experienced changes.
- None – Like “never,” show the proof you have that shows the opposite. Then, the onus is placed on the reader to prove otherwise.
- Absolutely or undoubtedly – Again, to use these terms requires you to prove that the contrary has never happened, which is virtually impossible. Instead, say that the opposite has yet to be shown.
Redundant Words and Phrases
Redundant words and phrases like absolutes are often used in conversation to emphasize a point. In academic writing, they are repetitive, and unnecessary, and can impact the clarity of your writing.
Using them can confuse readers, and as they say the same thing more than once, redundant words can require the reader to re-read something multiple times to understand it fully.
- In my opinion – in academic writing, everything is assumed to be your opinion which needs to be backed by proof. Replace this with “research shows,” or simply state your findings.
- The reason is because – reason makes because redundant, so just state your findings and give proof.
- Due to the fact that – this can be shortened to because or “due to” and follow it with your evidence.
- For all intents and purposes – this means “essentially” or something has the same result as something else and would be clearer to just state the result.
- Each and every – this is redundant because both “each” and “every” means the same thing and an absolute that would be almost impossible to prove. Stick to the facts and use data to support your argument.
- Absolutely essential – Absolute and redundant. Show how essential it is and back up your argument.
- Past history – Just say history which is understood to be in the past.
- Advance planning – Like history, the word planning is done before something happens.
- Repeat again – Repeat means to do something again. The word repeat is sufficient.
- End result – A result occurs at the end, so only “result” needs to be used.
Filler Words
In conversation, filler words (also called discourse markers) are used to fill silence and to show that the speaker is pausing to think of what to say next. They serve an important purpose and help to keep people from speaking over each other.
Informal writing uses a more conversational tone and includes filler words to mimic natural dialogue.
Academic writing, however, is less of a conversation and more of a presentation, so it requires conciseness. They may lead to inserting cliches into your writing, which can further dilute your message. Filler words also remove the focus from your argument and bloat your word count.
By eliminating filler words, your essay is more likely to come across as professional, convey information directly, and demonstrate an understanding of a topic.
However, be careful when editing your essay to leave in important words that may appear to be filler words at first glance. Words like “however,” and “additionally” may be filler words in speech, but in text, they act as transitional words that allow the reader to move from one idea or topic to another.
While this isn’t an exhaustive list, frequently used filler words include:
- Just – This word adds hesitation to the rest of the sentence and can take away from your argument. Remove it and rephrase the sentence so it’s a strong, confident statement.
- Actually – Redundant and can come across as condescending in some instances, “actually” can be removed and phrased directly.
- Basically – This term simplifies ideas and explanations but tends to oversimplify things and is too informal for academic purposes. Instead of using “basically,” choose concise words to make your point.
- Literally – An absolute word that can be misused. This word can be used but only in appropriate situations where something is exactly the same. Otherwise, omit it and construct the sentence without it.
- Somewhat – Like “basically,” this word is uncertain and weakens the statement around it. Pick strong words that describe the impact the statement or fact has.
- Kind of – This phrase is informal and appears indecisive compared to a more direct statement. If a statement cannot be described in a definite way, use data to show the degree to which it’s true.
- Sort of – Similar to “kind of,” this phrase diminishes the statement, is vague, and is considered informal. Omit it and use data to express the degree.
- In order to – This phrase implies intention, but it’s a very wordy way to do so. It can be shortened to just “to” when implying a purpose.
- That – A common word often used to connect clauses. Check to see if “that” can be removed without affecting the meaning of the sentence. Often, you can move the word, and the sentence will read more smoothly.
The Impact of Word Choice in English Essay Writing
Your writing doesn’t have to suffer because you have to use academic and formal language. Although it is more formal and precise than informal language, your essays can still be interesting to write and to read. Formal language keeps your thoughts organized and concise.
Focus on delivering a professional-sounding thesis that has a solid argument, explains all terms and ideas, and cites all its sources. Using a citation generator to format your sources correctly can help you save time and ensure that your bibliography is consistent for the citation style.
Avoid allowing your academic writing to suffer by sticking with academic language. Choose your words carefully to support your argument, and don’t forget these key writing tips:
- Personal Pronouns: Let your research speak for itself, and don’t put “I,” “me,” and “our” in your paper. Speaking to the reader as yourself in a paper can weaken your research-based evidence and distract from the argument.
- Vague Wording: Avoid words or phrases that don’t strengthen your argument or immediately explain what they are. Every word should bring something to the sentence.
- Informal Language: Contractions and slang are great for conversations, but leave them out of your essay. Use more formal language to demonstrate the strength of your argument.
- Cliches and Overused Expressions: Cliches don’t add anything to writing because they are overused and bland. They’re also not formal enough for a college essay. These words deserve to be replaced with stronger, original words that can convey your thoughts properly.
- Weak Modifiers & Overused Adverbs: These words, which attempt to add to words, are unnecessary, and their use may imply that you’re trying to pad your word count. If you choose strong words instead, they will be able to stand alone. If support is needed, use data to support your ideas.
- Passive Voice: Passive voice adds unnecessary words and makes your writing difficult to understand. Writing in an active voice makes the statements direct, clear, and engaging.
- Absolute or Overgeneralized Terms: Absolute terms like “every,” “always,” and “never” are inaccurate because they can’t be proven to always be true. Rely on data and specific terms to back up your statements.
- Redundant Words and Phrases: Phrases like “in my opinion” and “past history” are repetitive and don’t add anything to your essay. Remove redundant phrases and choose specific words that are concise and support your argument.
- Filler Words: While they are important parts of a conversation, filler words don’t offer much to academic writing. Take out words like “just” and “basically” for a more impactful essay.
Before submitting your assignment, check for formatting and do some proofreading. You should also use a plagiarism checker. Even if you didn’t copy, you may sometimes unintentionally plagiarize. Check your school’s style guide because you will probably need to use APA or MLA. Quetext’s software helps students strengthen their academic writing by ensuring clarity, originality, and credibility while guiding them on which words should not be used in this essay.
