List of Descriptive Words and Phrases For Book Reviews

List of Descriptive Words and Phrases For Book Reviews

 

Negative Vocabulary Word List for Book Reviews
(This List will be updated with definition soon)

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a bore
uninteresting or tedious talk or dull.

arrogant
having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities.

average
having qualities that are seen as typical of a particular person or thing.

banal
so lacking in originality as to be obvious and boring.

blasé
unimpressed or indifferent to something because one has experienced or seen it so often before.

blather
talk long-windedly without making very much sense.

boring
not interesting; tedious.

catastrophe
the denouement of a drama, especially a classical tragedy.

childish
silly and immature.

cliché
a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.

common
occurring, found, or done often; prevalent. not rare.

commonplace
a book into which notable extracts from other works are copied for personal use.

conceited
excessively proud of oneself; abilities, appearance, etc.; vain and egotistical.

confusing
bewildering or perplexing. make (something) more complex or less easy to understand.

contrived
created or arranged in a way that seems artificial and unrealistic.

copied
make a similar or identical version of; reproduce.

crude
simple and not skillfully done or made. (of figures) not adjusted or corrected. 

dated
old-fashioned.

depressing
causing or resulting in a feeling of miserable dejection.

disappointing
failing to fulfill someone’s hopes or expectations.

disjointed
lacking a coherent sequence or connection.

dissatisfying
fail to satisfy (someone).

distracting
preventing concentration or diverting attention; disturbing.

drab
lacking brightness or interest; drearily dull.

dreadful
causing or involving great suffering, fear, or unhappiness; extremely bad or serious.

drivel
silly nonsense.

dry
bare or lacking adornment. / forget one’s lines.

dull
lacking interest or excitement.

empty
lacking meaning or sincerity. / having no value or purpose.

ennui-inspiring
ennui: a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction: boredom.

esoteric
intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with specialized knowledge or interest. obscure, cryptic, mysterious

needs editing
A copy editor has the expertise needed to find and correct errors in spelling, grammar, continuity, flow, and punctuation.

obnoxious
extremely unpleasant

obvious
easily perceived or understood; clear, self-evident, or apparent

offensive
actively aggressive; attacking

one-dimensional characters
-The term one-dimensional character in a book review or story refers to a character who lacks depth and who never seems to learn or grow. When a character is one-dimensional, he or she does not demonstrate a sense of learning in the course of a story

-A one-dimensional character is one who does not have an arc throughout the story. They are the same at the end as they are at the beginning. Many characters in a typical novel or screenplay are one-dimensional. They fill small roles and are minor components that reflect the changes the main characters go through

overly-complicated
overly difficult to understand or explain

overrated
have a higher opinion of (someone or something) than is deserved

paper-thin plot
insubstantial / lacking strength and solidity

pedestrian
lacking inspiration or excitement; dull

poorly-conceived
not carefully planned or considered, ill-conceived

poorly-executed
not done correctly from a technical point of view

poorly-written
-refers more to failings of technique than of concept
synonym: carelessly, defectively, erroneously, faultily, imperfectly, inadequately, incorrectly, ineptly, poorly, shoddily, wrong, wrongly

predictable
behaving or occurring in a way that is expected.

pretentious
-attempting to impress by affecting greater importance
-making usually unjustified or excessive claims

rambling
-(of writing or speech) lengthy and confused or inconsequential
-(of a person) traveling from place to place; wandering

raw
-(of information) not analyzed, evaluated, or processed for use
-frank and realistic in the depiction of unpleasant facts or situations

redundant
-(of words or data) able to be omitted without loss of meaning or function
-not or no longer needed or useful; superfluous

self-absorbed
-preoccupied with one’s own feelings, interests, or situation
-egocentric, egoistic. (also egoistical)

senseless
lacking common sense; wildly foolish.

sentimentalized
-treated, regarded, or portrayed in a sentimental way
-(of a work of literature, music, or art) dealing with feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia, typically in an exaggerated and self-indulgent way

silly

skeletal development

slanted

slow

slow-going

so-so

sophomoric

stereotype

stereotyped

sterile

stiff

failure

forced

formulaic

frantic

frustrating

gimmicky

grating

holes in the plot

hollow

horrible

implausible

in poor taste

inconsistent

inexperienced

innocuous

insincere

intimidating

irrelevant

irritating

juvenile

lacking

lacking literary merit

lacking talent

lackluster

lifeless

little character development

meaningless

mechanical

mediocre

misinformed

misunderstood

stock plot

superficial

tasteless

taxing

tedious

tiresome

too long

tragic

transparent

trash

trivial

unaffecting

unapproachable

unconvincing

underwhelming

uneven

unimaginative

unimportant

uninspired

unintelligent

uninteresting

unoriginal

unpracticed

unreadable

unrefined

unresolved

unsatisfactory

unsatisfying

untalented

vacuous

void

 

 

Words used to describe writing or speech style provided by Macmillan Dictionary.

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