Truly Over It: The Buzzwords We Need to Retire
Somewhere in the early 2010s, truly crept into our emails, captions, and press releases as the polished—very demure, very mindful (🙄)—cousin of very or really. It was meant to invoke sincerity—a way of saying I deeply mean this.
Now it does anything but.
Overuse has hollowed it out. Instead of signaling sincerity, it signals autopilot. A filler word we reach for when we want to sound polished but end up sounding predictable. Truly honored. Truly inspired. Truly grateful. These phrases aren’t heartfelt anymore—they’re placeholders.
And “truly” isn’t alone. It’s part of an entire buzzword crew—words that once felt powerful but now skim right past the reader because they’ve been sanded down by repetition.
The problem isn’t that these words are bad. It’s that they’ve stopped meaning anything. They no longer carry sincerity, specificity, or weight. They just make your audience’s eyes slide to the next tab.
So here’s my hit list of overused words—starting with truly—and the sharper swaps that actually say something.
1. Truly
Once meant: Sincere, heartfelt, deeply felt.
Now means: Generic filler.
Try instead: Genuinely, wholeheartedly, undeniably—or better yet, skip the intensifier and let the statement stand.
2. Curated
Once meant: Selected with taste and intention.
Now means: A fancy word for “picked.”
Try instead: Handpicked, assembled, chosen with care. Show process, not polish.
3. Bespoke
Once meant: A custom-made suit on Savile Row.
Now means: Anything vaguely tailored.
Try instead: Made-to-order, one-off, built for you.
4. Crafted
Once meant: Handmade, skillful, artisanal.
Now means: Slapped on everything from beer to PowerPoints.
Try instead: Built, forged, shaped, designed.
5. Innovative / Cutting-edge
Once meant: Genuinely new.
Now means: “Please believe this is new.”
Try instead: First-of-its-kind, pioneering, ahead of the curve, experimental.
6. Premium
Once meant: Higher quality, higher price.
Now means: Nothing at all.
Try instead: Top-tier, rare, high-grade, select.
7. Immersive
Once meant: Fully absorbing, multi-sensory.
Now means: Dim lighting and a projector.
Try instead: Layered, atmospheric, experiential, transportive.
8. Elevated
Once meant: Raised in standard.
Now means: A vague promise of altitude.
Try instead: Refined, sophisticated, heightened, advanced.
9. Inspire
Once meant: To breathe life into.
Now means: To vaguely encourage.
Try instead: Spark action, ignite change, fuel creativity, provoke thought.
10. Exclusive
Once meant: Limited access.
Now means: Overused in every invite.
Try instead: Invite-only, insiders-only, limited release.
11. Synergy
Once meant: Two forces combining to create more than the sum of their parts.
Now means: Corporate jargon wallpaper.
Try instead: Partnership, collaboration, alignment, shared momentum.
12. Disruptive
Once meant: Actually shaking up an industry.
Now means: You built an app.
Try instead: Rule-breaking, game-changing, challenger, category-defining.
13. Best-in-class
Once meant: A benchmark of excellence.
Now means: A cliché in pitch decks.
Try instead: Leading, benchmark-setting, award-winning, recognized standard.
14. Unparalleled
Once meant: Without equal.
Now means: Just another equalizer.
Try instead: Unmatched, unrivaled, rare, singular.
15. Seamless
Once meant: Effortless and intuitive.
Now means: A UX claim waiting to be disproved.
Try instead: Frictionless, fluid, intuitive, natural.
The takeaway
The through-line is this: words that once signaled sincerity or weight have been drained of both. “Truly” was meant to mean genuine. “Curated” was meant to mean thoughtful. “Disruptive” was meant to mean radical. But repeated to death, they now do the opposite—they dull the message, seem inauthentic, and make the reader think “is it really?”
The fix isn’t to ban these words forever. It’s to pause before you reach for them and ask: what do I actually mean here? What’s the detail, the proof, the texture that would make this come alive?
Because if you want to be truly different… stop saying truly.
