Weasel Word Detection Rule

Description

This Vale rule identifies and flags adverbs and other modifying words often considered "weasel words" in writing. These words can weaken your prose and make your writing less direct and impactful. Weasel words often add unnecessary qualification or vagueness to statements that would be stronger without them.

The motivation behind this rule is to help writers create more direct, clear, and confident prose. When writers rely on weasel words, they often dilute their message or unconsciously hedge their statements, making their writing less persuasive and more verbose than necessary.

Examples

This rule will flag words like:

  • "We extremely need to fix this bug" ➔ Better: "We need to fix this bug"
  • "The solution is basically working" ➔ Better: "The solution works"
  • "The feature is very important" ➔ Better: "The feature is important"
  • "The system is currently running" ➔ Better: "The system is running"
  • "Users will presumably want to..." ➔ Better: "Users want to..."

The rule checks for over 200 common adverbs and modifiers, including:

  • Time-based modifiers (currently, eventually, finally)
  • Intensity modifiers (very, extremely, absolutely)
  • Qualifying words (presumably, approximately, relatively)
  • Common adverbs (-ly words like carefully, quickly, easily)

Rule Source

This rule comes from: https://github.com/mesosphere/dcos-docs-site

Rule Definition

extends: existence
message: "'%s' is a weasel word!"
ignorecase: true
level: warning
tokens:
  - absolutely
  - accidentally
  - additionally
  - allegedly
  - alternatively
  - angrily
  - anxiously
  - approximately
  - awkwardly
  - badly
  - barely
  - beautifully
  - blindly
  - boldly
  - bravely
  - brightly
  - briskly
  - bristly
  - bubbly
  - busily
  - calmly
  - carefully
  - carelessly
  - cautiously
  - cheerfully
  - clearly
  - closely
  - coldly
  - completely
  - consequently
  - correctly
  - courageously
  - crinkly
  - cruelly
  - crumbly
  - cuddly
  - currently
  - daily
  - daringly
  - deadly
  - definitely
  - deliberately
  - doubtfully
  - dumbly
  - eagerly
  - early
  - easily
  - elegantly
  - enormously
  - enthusiastically
  - equally
  - especially
  - eventually
  - exactly
  - exceedingly
  - exclusively
  - extremely
  - fairly
  - faithfully
  - fatally
  - fiercely
  - finally
  - fondly
  - few
  - foolishly
  - fortunately
  - frankly
  - frantically
  - generously
  - gently
  - giggly
  - gladly
  - gracefully
  - greedily
  - happily
  - hardly
  - hastily
  - healthily
  - heartily
  - helpfully
  - honestly
  - hourly
  - hungrily
  - hurriedly
  - immediately
  - impatiently
  - inadequately
  - ingeniously
  - innocently
  - inquisitively
  - interestingly
  - irritably
  - jiggly
  - joyously
  - justly
  - kindly
  - largely
  - lately
  - lazily
  - likely
  - literally
  - lonely
  - loosely
  - loudly
  - loudly
  - luckily
  - madly
  - many
  - mentally
  - mildly
  - monthly
  - mortally
  - mostly
  - mysteriously
  - neatly
  - nervously
  - nightly
  - noisily
  - normally
  - obediently
  - occasionally
  - openly
  - painfully
  - particularly
  - patiently
  - perfectly
  - politely
  - poorly
  - powerfully
  - presumably
  - previously
  - promptly
  - punctually
  - quarterly
  - quickly
  - quietly
  - rapidly
  - rarely
  - really
  - recently
  - recklessly
  - regularly
  - remarkably
  - relatively
  - reluctantly
  - repeatedly
  - rightfully
  - roughly
  - rudely
  - sadly
  - safely
  - selfishly
  - sensibly
  - seriously
  - sharply
  - shortly
  - shyly
  - significantly
  - silently
  - simply
  - sleepily
  - slowly
  - smartly
  - smelly
  - smoothly
  - softly
  - solemnly
  - sparkly
  - speedily
  - stealthily
  - sternly
  - stupidly
  - substantially
  - successfully
  - suddenly
  - surprisingly
  - suspiciously
  - swiftly
  - tenderly
  - tensely
  - thoughtfully
  - tightly
  - timely
  - truthfully
  - unexpectedly
  - unfortunately
  - usually
  - very
  - victoriously
  - violently
  - vivaciously
  - warmly
  - waverly
  - weakly
  - wearily
  - weekly
  - wildly
  - wisely
  - worldly
  - wrinkly
  - yearly