Adjectives, if wisely used, give desirable color to a story. A thesaurus will brighten up a reporter's adjectival vocabulary. These are suggestions for possible substitutions of fresh words for more or less hackneyed words:
- fast—fleet, swift
- good—meritorious, laudable
- repentant—penitent, contrite
- temperate—abstemious
- intemperate—penitent, contrite
- modest—decorous
- distressing—piteous, pitiable, rueful
- witty—jocose, nimble-witted
- fearful—timid, apprehensive, tremulous
- crafty—cunning, artful
- frank—ingenuous, guileless
Prefer agreeable to nice, which means accurate; and long to lengthy.
Words like perfect and unique cannot be compared. Never write, more perfect, most perfect, most unique.
Eschew the word very. It seldom strengthens a sentence.
It is better to use such words as feline, bovine, canine, human as adjectives only.
Prefer several or many to a number of.
Healthy means possessing health, as, a healthy man. Healthful means conducive to health, as, healthful climate, surroundings, employment. Do not use healthful in speaking of food, but wholesome.
Parlous is archaic. Don't use the phrase in these parlous times. The word in good usage is perilous.
Nobody has explained the difference between actual photographs and photographs.