Find every crutch word in your sentence. One click to swap.
5,536 editor-curated alternatives across 162 of fiction's most overused words. Calibrated by intensity, register, and tone. Try it on a sentence below.
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She into the room and at him. He but and .
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162
Crutch words
5,536
Alternatives
9
Categories
27
Tone tags
The complete library
Browse all 162 entries
Every crutch word with its full set of alternatives, craft notes, and editorial guidance. Search by word, filter by emotional tone.
Tone
Dialogue tags
Stronger alternatives to said, asked, replied. Organized by emotion and rhetorical purpose.
Movement verbs
Specific, evocative replacements for walked, ran, went. Each option shows what kind of movement it implies.
Perception verbs
Replace looked, saw, watched with verbs that pull readers into deep POV.
Cognition verbs
Alternatives to thought, knew, realized. Most are classic telling-not-showing flags.
Body language
Replace generic gestures like nodded, smiled, frowned with character-revealing physicality.
Weak verbs
Action-verb alternatives to is, was, got, made. Tighten prose and find the verb hiding underneath.
Weak adjectives & vague nouns
Precise replacements for nice, good, bad, plus diversification guidance for overused body parts (eyes, hands, face) and vague nouns (thing, stuff, something).
Filter words
When to delete just, really, very, actually, suddenly. Each entry shows the deletion pattern and the rare cases the word earns its place.
Emotion tells
Show-don't-tell guidance for felt, sensed, experienced. How to convert the same emotional beat into action, sensation, or dialogue.