Do you feel like you use words like “great” or “awesome” too much? Use these adjective swaps to add some flavour to content and copy on even the blandest of topics.
Why Adjectives Make Your Copy Stronger
The words we choose add a lot of context and personality to our writing. Some words pack a larger punch than others. And sometime,es words get overused and lose their meaning.
The key to standing out in an oversaturated online space is to write copy and content with a unique voice. This includes having a consistent brand voice and perspective. It also includes choosing strong words that allow you to get a lot of meaning across in fewer words.
Strong adjectives will capture your ideal client’s attention and trap it in emotive imagery until the end of the piece of copy. They will sell your coaching course in fewer words. Instead of talking about the “informative insights” or “great lessons” of your coaching cour,se you could say “mind-blowing insights” and “transformative lessons.”
Examples of Over-Used Adjectives to Avoid
The opposite of strong and descriptive adjectives are basic or over-used adjectives. These adjectives aren’t b,ad and you’re not a poor writer if you use them. There are just adjectives that can communicate a lot more.
Here are some over-used adjectives that you can look to swap out:
- Awesome
- Great
- Big
- Small
- Amazing
- Difficult
- Hard
- Nice
- New
- Best
- Important
- Interesting
- Many
- Other
- Incredible
- Good
Strong adjectives give more than surface-level information. “Great” and “amazing” indicate a positive, but adjectives like “staggering” or “divine” give a little more information. They give a little more information about your brand and personality. They also give a little more information about the thing you are describing. “Divine,” for example, adds connotations of goodness, otherworldliness, and high standards.
How to Swap Over-Used Adjectives for Strong Adjectives
An effective way to weave strong adjectives into your copy is to create a list of adjectives that align with your brand and your message before you start writing. Think about the emotions and imagery you want to invoke. This list will direct your sales messaging and guide your word choice while you write.
Here are some suggestions for strong adjective alternatives you can swap.
| Great/Good/Awesome/Amazing/Nice | High calibre Drool-worthy One of a kind Magnetic Electric Eye-opening Popular Favourite Winning Irresistible Staggering Promising Breath-taking Immense |
| Big | Epic Ultimate Grand Big-time Comprehensive Value-packed Complete Momentous Giant Immense Vast Significant Far-reaching Eminent |
| Small | Miniscule Pocket-sized Modest Trivial Slight Negligible Unpretentious Slim Intimate Boutique Youthful Petty Minor Humble Measly Paltry Limited Narrow |
| Best | Elevated Best in class Top Superlative Leading Dominant Major league Finest Unsurpassed Principal Utmost Superior |
| Important | Vital Life-changing Weighty Esteemed Core Foundational Crucial Significant High-ranking Game-changing Paramount Necessary Grave Critical Meaningful Farreaching Valuable Precious Cherished Influential Authoritative Premier |
| New | Fresh Latest Revitalised Modern New-fangled Advanced Original Ground-breaking State of the art Improved Rejuvenated Trendy Current Novel Fashionable Culty Restored |
| Other/Different | Contrasting Distinctive Clashing Diverse Special Unique Singular Extraordinary Special Unconventional Bizarre Atypical Left of field Alternative Unrelated |
| Hard/Difficult | Gruelling Rigorous Back-breaking Complicated Intricate Unyielding Resistant Hostile Painful Demanding Tough Complex Involved Baffling Exhausting Puzzling Strenuous Burdensome Fatiguing Harsh Cruel Grim Disastrous Taxing Perplexing |
| Old | Mature Ancient Decayed Worn-out Antique Obsolete Archaic Outmoded Cliché-ridden Unfashionable One-time Past Former Ex- Established Long-standing Enduring Seasoned Qualified Time-honoured Fixed Enduring Primitive Bygone Pristine Stale Over-used Time-worn Vintage Adept Accomplished Tried and tested |
| Interesting | Contagious Bold Quirky Unique Enthralling Riveting Beguiling Eccentric Comical Eclectic Clever Whimsical Not your average Intriguing Gripping Compelling Entertaining Thought-provoking Attractive |
Do any of those adjectives match your intention and how you want your ideal coaching clients to see you? Drop them into a Google Doc to have a list of ready-made adjectives so you can write stronger copy. You can add to this list over time as you write more copy and research more adjective swaps.
If you want to swap an adjective that isn’t on the list, use a thesaurus like Collins Thesaurus to browse a list of alternative adjectives and see which one fits the message you are trying to convey. It can help to cross reference possible options in a dictionary to ensure it means what you think it does. At best, misusing a word will result in confusion or weaken your copy; at worst, it could be offensive or have unintended connotations.
How to Choose the Right Adjectives for Your Brand Voice
Before we write copy, we create a brand voice cheat sheet that puts all the context for the copy down on paper. This includes:
- Brand values
- How the coach wants their ideal clients to perceive them
- How the coach wants to be seen in their industry
- The value of their coaching courses and products
On this cheat sheet will be a list of adjectives that match the vibe of the brand. Each coaching course or product will have a list of adjectives too. When we write copy, we choose adjectives directly from the list or use the list of adjectives to inspire us when searching for strong adjectives. This helps us to write copy faster because we’re not getting stuck trying to think of the right word. That could be something that may work for you too.