- articulate – able to express your thoughts, arguments, and ideas clearly and effectively; writing or speech is clear and easy to understand
- chatty – a chatty writing style is friendly and informal
- circuitous – taking a long time to say what you really mean when you are talking or writing about something
- clean – clean language or humour does not offend people, especially because it does not involve sex
- conversational – a conversational style of writing or speaking is informal, like a private conversation
- crisp – crisp speech or writing is clear and effective
- declamatory – expressing feelings or opinions with great force
- diffuse – using too many words and not easy to understand
- discursive – including information that is not relevant to the main subject
- economical – an economical way of speaking or writing does not use more words than are necessary
- elliptical – suggesting what you mean rather than saying or writing it clearly
- eloquent – expressing what you mean using clear and effective language
- emphatic – making your meaning very clear because you have very strong feelings about a situation or subject
- emphatically – very firmly and clearly
- epigrammatic – expressing something such as a feeling or idea in a short and clever or funny way
- epistolary – relating to the writing of letters
- euphemistic – euphemistic expressions are used for talking about unpleasant or embarrassing subjects without mentioning the things themselves
- flowery – flowery language or writing uses many complicated words that are intended to make it more attractive
- fluent – expressing yourself in a clear and confident way, without seeming to make an effort
- formal – correct or conservative in style, and suitable for official or serious situations or occasions
- gossipy – a gossipy letter is lively and full of news about the writer of the letter and about other people
- grandiloquent – expressed in extremely formal language in order to impress people, and often sounding silly because of this
- idiomatic – expressing things in a way that sounds natural
- inarticulate – not able to express clearly what you want to say; not spoken or pronounced clearly
- incoherent – unable to express yourself clearly
- informal – used about language or behaviour that is suitable for using with friends but not in formal situations
- journalistic – similar in style to journalism
- learned – a learned piece of writing shows great knowledge about a subject, especially an academic subject
- literary – involving books or the activity of writing, reading, or studying books; relating to the kind of words that are used only in stories or poems, and not in normal writing or speech
- lyric – using words to express feelings in the way that a song would
- lyrical – having the qualities of music
- ornate – using unusual words and complicated sentences
- orotund – containing extremely formal and complicated language intended to impress people
- parenthetical – not directly connected with what you are saying or writing
- pejorative – a pejorative word, phrase etc expresses criticism or a bad opinion of someone or something
- picturesque – picturesque language is unusual and interesting
- pithy – a pithy statement or piece of writing is short and very effective
- poetic – expressing ideas in a very sensitive way and with great beauty or imagination
- polemical – using or supported by strong arguments
- ponderous – ponderous writing or speech is serious and boring
- portentous – trying to seem very serious and important, in order to impress people
- prolix – using too many words and therefore boring
- punchy – a punchy piece of writing such as a speech, report, or slogan is one that has a strong effect because it uses clear simple language and not many words
- rambling – a rambling speech or piece of writing is long and confusing
- readable – writing that is readable is clear and able to be read
- rhetorical – relating to a style of speaking or writing that is effective or intended to influence people; written or spoken in a way that is impressive but is not honest
- rhetorically – in a way that expects or wants no answer; using or relating to rhetoric
- rough – a rough drawing or piece of writing is not completely finished
- roundly– in a strong and clear way
- sententious – expressing opinions about right and wrong behaviour in a way that is intended to impress people
- sesquipedalian – using a lot of long words that most people do not understand
- Shakespearean – using words in the way that is typical of Shakespeare’s writing
- stylistic – relating to ways of creating effects, especially in language and literature
- succinct – expressed in a very short but clear way
- turgid – using language in a way that is complicated and difficult to understand
- unprintable – used for describing writing or words that you think are offensive
- vague – someone who is vague does not clearly or fully explain something
- verbose – using more words than necessary, and therefore long and boring
- well-turned – a well-turned phrase is one that is expressed well
- wordy – using more words than are necessary, especially long or formal words
Source for Words: Macmillan Dictionary on writerswrite.co.za.