Word tiers
112 single-word and short-phrase entries across three tiers, plus 10 multi-word boilerplate phrases. The tier says how much weight a hit carries, not how hard the fix is. Counts here are derived from the upstream tables and enforced against them in the upstream CI.
Match inflected forms. Each entry covers the listed word and its morphological
variants: adverb, gerund, plural, comparative, and verb conjugations. delve covers
delving, leverage covers leveraging. When a variant carries a separate honest
sense (real meaning factual rather than the intensifier in "a real improvement"),
judge by context instead of matching blindly.
The tiering is adapted from brandonwise/humanizer's vocabulary research, which reduces false positives on words that are fine alone and suspicious in clusters.
Tier 1: always replace
Tier 1 splits into two bands. Both get replaced and the edit is identical. What differs is what a hit means.
1A, AI frequency markers. Words claimed to appear far more often in machine text than in human writing. A cluster of these is evidence about how a passage was produced.
1B, clarity edits. Wordiness and inflated formality. Replacing them is good writing
regardless of who wrote the sentence, and a 1B hit is not evidence of machine
authorship. Measured against 257 paragraphs of verified pre-2023 human prose, 1B entries
fire on ordinary professional writing at a meaningful rate: in order to, utilize,
commence, ascertain, and endeavor are simply the words some people reach for.
Weight them like Tier 2 and keep them out of any density signal, so a wordiness fix can
never push a document toward an AI classification. In detect mode, report the two bands
separately.
Caveat worth keeping visible: the "appears far more often in AI text" claim behind 1A is inherited rather than measured. It traces to brandonwise/humanizer, which states a 5 to 20x ratio without publishing a method or dataset. Treat 1A as a well-supported convention until someone measures the ratios against a machine-written corpus.
Tier 1A: AI frequency markers (49 entries)
| Replace | With |
|---|---|
| delve / delve into | explore, dig into, look at |
| landscape (metaphor) | field, space, industry, world |
| tapestry | (describe the actual complexity) |
| realm | area, field, domain |
| paradigm | model, approach, framework |
| embark | start, begin |
| beacon | (rewrite entirely) |
| testament to | shows, proves, demonstrates |
| robust | strong, reliable, solid |
| comprehensive | thorough, complete, full |
| cutting-edge | latest, newest, advanced |
| leverage (verb) | use |
| pivotal | important, key, critical |
| underscores | highlights, shows |
| meticulous / meticulously | careful, detailed, precise |
| seamless / seamlessly | smooth, easy, without friction |
| game-changer / game-changing | describe what specifically changed and why it matters |
| hit differently / hits different | (say what specifically changed, or cut) |
| watershed moment | turning point, shift (or describe what changed) |
| marking a pivotal moment | (state what happened) |
| the future looks bright | (cut — say something specific or nothing) |
| only time will tell | (cut — say something specific or nothing) |
| nestled | is located, sits, is in |
| vibrant | (describe what makes it active, or cut) |
| thriving | growing, active (or cite a number) |
| despite challenges… continues to thrive | (name the challenge and the response, or cut) |
| showcasing | showing, demonstrating (or cut the clause) |
| deep dive / dive into | look at, examine, explore |
| unpack / unpacking | explain, break down, walk through |
| bustling | busy, active (or cite what makes it busy) |
| intricate / intricacies | complex, detailed (or name the specific complexity) |
| complexities | (name the actual complexities, or use "problems" / "details") |
| ever-evolving | changing, growing (or describe how) |
| enduring | lasting, long-running (or cite how long) |
| daunting | hard, difficult, challenging |
| holistic / holistically | complete, full, whole (or describe what's included) |
| actionable | practical, useful, concrete |
| impactful | effective, significant (or describe the impact) |
| learnings | lessons, findings, takeaways |
| thought leader / thought leadership | expert, authority (or describe their actual contribution) |
| best practices | what works, proven methods, standard approach |
| at its core | (cut — just state the thing) |
| synergy / synergies | (describe the actual combined effect) |
| interplay | relationship, connection, interaction |
| keen (as intensifier) | interested, eager, enthusiastic (or cut — just state the interest) |
| genuinely / genuine (as intensifier) | (cut — just state the fact) |
| symphony (metaphor) | (describe the actual coordination or combination) |
| embrace (metaphor) | adopt, accept, use, switch to |
| load-bearing (metaphor) | essential, critical, necessary — or say what breaks if you remove it |
Hyphen required: unhyphenated "load bearing" is ordinary English ("the load bearing down on the bridge"). Only the hyphenated compound is the tell.
Construction carve-out: load-bearing before a literal structural noun (wall, beam,
column, joist, truss, footing, slab, stud, masonry, lintel, rafter,
girder, capacity), optionally with one material or position adjective in between, is
standard building terminology. Abstract-capable nouns (structure, element, frame,
foundation) stay flaggable, so "the load-bearing structure of his argument" still fires.
Tier 1B: clarity edits (10 entries)
Wordiness and formality, not authorship evidence. Same fix, weaker claim.
| Replace | With |
|---|---|
| utilize | use |
| in order to | to |
| due to the fact that | because |
| serves as | is |
| features (verb) | has, includes |
| boasts | has |
| presents (inflated) | is, shows, gives |
| commence | start, begin |
| ascertain | find out, determine, learn |
| endeavor | effort, attempt, try |
Tier 2: flag when two or more appear in one paragraph (40 entries)
These words are legitimate alone. Two or more together usually means the paragraph needs a rewrite.
| Replace | With |
|---|---|
| harness | use, take advantage of |
| navigate / navigating | work through, handle, deal with |
| foster | encourage, support, build |
| elevate | improve, raise, strengthen |
| unleash | release, enable, unlock |
| streamline | simplify, speed up |
| empower | enable, let, allow |
| bolster | support, strengthen, back up |
| spearhead | lead, drive, run |
| resonate / resonates with | connect with, appeal to, matter to |
| revolutionize | change, transform, reshape (or describe what changed) |
| facilitate / facilitates | enable, help, allow, run |
| underpin | support, form the basis of |
| nuanced | specific, subtle, detailed (or name the actual nuance) |
| crucial | important, key, necessary |
| multifaceted | (describe the actual facets, or cut) |
| ecosystem (metaphor) | system, community, network, market |
| myriad | many, numerous (or give a number) |
| plethora | many, a lot of (or give a number) |
| encompass | include, cover, span |
| catalyze | start, trigger, accelerate |
| reimagine | rethink, redesign, rebuild |
| galvanize | motivate, rally, push |
| augment | add to, expand, supplement |
| cultivate | build, develop, grow |
| illuminate | clarify, explain, show |
| elucidate | explain, clarify, spell out |
| juxtapose | compare, contrast, set side by side |
| paradigm-shifting | (describe what actually shifted) |
| transformative / transformation | (describe what changed and how) |
| cornerstone | foundation, basis, key part |
| paramount | most important, top priority |
| poised (to) | ready, set, about to |
| burgeoning | growing, emerging (or cite a number) |
| nascent | new, early-stage, emerging |
| quintessential | typical, classic, defining |
| overarching | main, central, broad |
| quietly | cut, or name the concrete contrast |
| deeply (significance collocations only — "deeply integrated," "deeply committed," "deeply rooted"; literal uses like "deeply nested" or "cares deeply" never count toward a cluster) | cut, or name what specifically runs deep |
| underpinning / underpinnings | basis, foundation, what supports |
Tier 3: flag only at high density (13 entries)
Normal words. Flag them only when the text is saturated, which signals that vague praise filled the space where specifics belonged. Roughly 3 percent of total words is the threshold worth a second look.
| Word | What to do |
|---|---|
| significant / significantly | Replace some with specifics: numbers, comparisons, examples |
| innovative / innovation | Describe what's actually new |
| effective / effectively | Say how or cite a metric |
| dynamic / dynamics | Name the actual forces or changes |
| scalable / scalability | Describe what scales and to what |
| compelling | Say why it compels |
| unprecedented | Name the precedent it breaks (or cut) |
| exceptional / exceptionally | Cite what makes it an exception |
| remarkable / remarkably | Say what's worth remarking on |
| sophisticated | Describe the sophistication |
| instrumental | Say what role it played |
| world-class / state-of-the-art / best-in-class | Cite a benchmark or comparison |
| verbatim | Usually redundant with the verb ("copies X verbatim" = "copies X") — cut it. If the exactness marks a contrast, name it: byte-for-byte, word for word, unchanged. Term of art in legal/research/QA registers ("verbatim transcript / record / testimony"), so weigh density in that context before flagging |
Tier 3 phrases: flag at density or in clusters (10 entries)
Multi-word boilerplate that is individually unobjectionable and stacks heavily in generated content. Crypto, web3, DePIN, and AI infrastructure reviews are the worst offenders. Two rules apply: the same phrase used twice, and three or more distinct phrases from this table in one piece even when each appears once. The second rule catches the shape models take when they vary their own boilerplate to seem less repetitive.
| Phrase | What to do |
|---|---|
| emerging sector / emerging space / emerging category | Name the actual sector or what's emerging about it |
| the integration of (X with Y) | Describe what's being integrated and what changes for the user |
| the intersection of (X and Y) | Pick the specific overlap that matters or cut the framing |
| community-driven | Name what the community does. "Community-driven" alone is filler |
| long-term sustainability | Cite the time horizon and the constraint. "Long-term" is hand-waving |
| user engagement | Name the action. "Engagement" is a wrapper around clicks/comments/retention |
| decentralized compute | Specify the architecture or cut. The phrase has become a category label, not a claim |
| (sustainable) reward emissions | Cite the emission schedule and the sink |
| tokenized incentive structures | Describe the actual mechanism (vesting, gauge, bonded LP, etc.) |
| designed for long-term [X] | Cut "designed for" — either it is or it isn't. Then state the property |
Context adjustments
technical-blog gives legitimate technical meaning back to robust, comprehensive,
seamless, ecosystem, leverage (actual platform leverage or APIs), facilitate,
underpin, and streamline. Still flag delve, tapestry, beacon, embark,
testament to, game-changer, and harness there.
docs relaxes the full table. casual drops to P0 patterns only. See
references/profiles.md for the whole matrix.