Most academic writing is strengthened by eliminating adverbs. To emphasize a point, provide more evidence to support it. Avoid unnecessary words and in particular, adverbs. Instead, choose more precise verbs.
An adverb modifies or describes:
- A verb (e.g. He runs quickly.)
- An adjective (e.g. His writing is extraordinarily descriptive.)
- Another adverb (e.g. He runs extraordinarily quickly.)
Often, but not always, adverbs in English end in –ly. Here are 50 adverbs that I have seen in academic papers that you can eliminate and your writing will be better for it:
- Adroitly
- Amazingly
- Awesomely
- Badly
- Basically
- Carefully
- Clearly
- Completely
- Convincingly
- Deftly
- Desperately
- Dexterously
- Effortlessly
- Extremely
- Faithfully
- Fundamentally
- Generally
- Goodly
- Honestly
- Inherently
- Instantly
- Interestingly
- Narrowly
- Naturally
- Nearly
- Necessarily
- Obviously
- Precisely
- Previously
- Preposterously
- Quite
- Really
- Relentlessly
- Simply
- Spectacularly
- Successfully
- Suddenly
- Surely
- Truthfully
- Ubiquitously
- Unequivocally
- Ungodly
- Unnecessarily
- Unquestionably
- Utterly
- Unwittingly
- Usually
- Very
- Widely
- Zealously
Often, when writers make a conscious choice to eliminate adverbs and instead find stronger and more precise verbs, the result is writing that is clearer and more powerful.
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Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D. 
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