Most advice on wasted words in writing focuses on removing weak modifiers, unnecessary adverbs, and empty sentence starters.
The usual targets are words like just, really, very, and actually, along with phrases such as “With that in mind…” or “Just to be clear…”
When I use my writing checker, it highlights plenty of words and phrases that are potentially wasteful or unnecessary.
But if I accepted every suggested deletion, how would my text read? Very bland, probably.
Many wasted words in writing are necessary
Just because you can delete a word or phrase from a sentence and it remains logical and complete doesn’t mean that it’s always a good idea.
Here’s a simple example: “Martin did extremely well in his exam.”
Yes, you can delete “extremely” and the sentence remains intact.
But does it work?
“Martin did well in his exam.”
No, not really, because without “extremely” we don’t know how well Martin did. Did he do just well, very well, or superbly well?
If I said, “I arrived just before the start of the concert,” the sentence tells you I was on time, but possibly by only a few minutes or even seconds.
When I remove “just” from the sentence, I’m left with: “I arrived before the start of the concert.”
What does that mean? Two hours before, or a few minutes?
With these two basic examples, you can see why wasted words are not always wasted at all. Very often, they are necessary.
Every word in the dictionary can have its place
No word is unusable, but if one occurs too often, is out of place, or creates confusion, you can usually delete or replace it.
If four sentences on a page start with “actually,” it’s a problem. But replacing one or two with “in fact” isn’t necessarily a fix.
Whether you call them dead words, filler words, or wasted words, they are candidates for removal.
The only way to judge is to decide if a word or phrase is necessary, useful, or adds something to the sentence.
If it’s not crucial, then it’s possibly a wasted word.
“I’ve got a lot of things to do today.” / “I’ve got a lot of stuff to do today.”
The two sentences use vague words that don’t add much. They don’t tell us what the things or stuff actually are, so the simplest option is to remove those words.
“I’ve got a lot to do today.”
Another situation is when a word is misused or redundant.
“When I arrived home from my vacation, all the plants on my balcony were very dead.”
Dead is generally treated as an absolute adjective, so using “very” with it is questionable. You could say “completely dead,” but in this sentence, dead is perfectly clear on its own.
One classic example of a potentially wasted phrase is “there is/was/were.” It means something exists, so it can often be unnecessary filler.
Before: “There were one hundred guests at the wedding.”
After: “One hundred guests attended the wedding.”
Yes, every word in the dictionary can have its place. But in the wrong place, it can become a wasted word.
Should you replace, rewrite, or delete?
Because wasted words in writing are generally those that are overused or fail to add meaning, precision, or degree, they are easy to spot.
If you use an online grammar or style checker, it makes the task of finding them quick and easy.
But what do you do with a suggestion? Instantly clicking “accept” is often a bad move.
My checker highlights every single adverb, so accepting all suggestions would not help me at all. In fact, it would ruin my text and lose my voice.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t check. I look quickly at each highlighted word or phrase and decide what to do.
For most, I don’t make any changes. But some are worth considering before deciding what to do.
The three options are almost always to delete, replace, or rewrite the sentence.
I’ll take a simple example like the one below because “it’s important” is a common short phrase that can be unnecessarily modified.
“It’s very/really important to protect yourself from the sun in high summer.”
Delete option: “It’s important to protect yourself from the sun in high summer.”
Replace option: “It’s essential to protect yourself from the sun in high summer.”
Rewrite option: “Protecting yourself from the sun in high summer is vital.”
Any words that you might see in lists of dead or wasted words are only possible candidates, not certainties.
“Thank you very much, and we really appreciate all the help you gave us.”
The words “really” and “very” appear on almost every wasted word list I have seen. But would the sentence above make any sense if you removed the two?
“We have a lot on our meeting agenda, but we have one very important issue we need to address today.”
You could delete or replace “very” with “extremely” or “vitally,” but does it need the extra grading?
“Some of the small cobblestone lanes in our village are very steep.”
You could use the adjective “precipitous” to replace “very steep” and remove “some of.”
“The small cobblestone lanes in our village are precipitous.”
But it now says all lanes, and not only some, and the adjective might not suit the style if it’s informal writing.
Summary – making decisions, not deletions
The lists of wasted words in writing that you often find online are useful, but only for awareness.
Just because you use literally, simply, or quite in a text doesn’t mean that you have to instantly hit delete.
Yes, you could find alternatives or rewrite the sentences, but are they realistic or practical options? Perhaps the sentences are just fine as they are.
And that’s a writer’s decision, not a decision for a writing tool to make.
Whenever you come across words in your writing that you believe are unnecessary, redundant, or doing nothing to add clarity or precision to a sentence, they are indeed wasted words.
However, that’s up to you, not because a word appears on a list.
Related Reading: Writing Advice I Pretend To Follow To The Letter
English teacher, writer, and author. Passionate about grammar, creative writing, and self-publishing. Always exploring new tools and tech to help writers succeed.
