List of Descriptive Words and Phrases For Book Reviews

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)


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
Words used to describe writing or speech style

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


articulate
-able to express your thoughts, arguments, and ideas clearly and effectively
-articulate writing or speech is clear and easy to understand

be couched in something
to be expressed a particular way

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 humor does not offend people, especially because it does not involve sex

compendious
formal short but containing all that is necessary

conversational
a conversational style of writing or speaking is informal, like a private conversation

crisp
crisp speech or writing is clear and effective

declamatory
formal expressing feelings or opinions with great force

diffuse
formal 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
literary 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

formally
in a correct or conservative style or manner that is 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
formal expressed in an extremely formal language in order to impress people, and often sounding silly because of this

have something/a lot/nothing etc to say for yourself
to be fair/very/not at all keen to talk, especially about yourself and your reasons for doing something

idiomatic
expressing things in a way that sounds natural

in
using a particular type or style of writing

inarticulate
not able to express clearly what you want to say

inarticulate
not spoken or pronounced clearly

incoherent
unable to express yourself clearly

informal
used about language or behavior 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

literary
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
very formal containing extremely formal and complicated language intended to impress people

parenthetical
not directly connected with what you are saying or writing

pejorative
formal 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
formal using or supported by strong arguments

ponderous
mainly literary ponderous writing or speech is serious and boring

portentous
formal trying to seem very serious and important, in order to impress people

prolix
very formal 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
-given to moralizing in a pompous or affected manner.
-formal expressing opinions about right and wrong behavior in a way that is intended to impress people

sesquipedalian
very formal 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

slangy
informal containing or using a lot of slang

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
does not clearly or fully explain something

vaguely
in a way that is not clear

verbose
formal using more words than necessary, and therefore long and boring

well-turned
a well-turned phrase is one that is expressed well

with tongue in cheek
-intend it to be humorous and do not mean it seriously
-in an ironic, flippant, or insincere way

worded
expressed in a particular way

wordy
using more words than are necessary, especially long or formal words

 

I always write my reviews on Amazon, 3ee, Goodreads, LibraryThing, and Social Media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linked In, Telegram, and Google+.

If you also have read this book, please share your review below, we greatly appreciate your comment, and let’s talk about it!

Amin Rezaei

View posts by Amin Rezaei
I love Books and Blogging.

4 Comments

  1. Miguel
    January 21, 2020

    Thank you very much. It´s goins to be very helpful to prepare english C2 exam.

  2. Donna
    December 17, 2020

    Thank you – some reminders of what to do, and what not to do, whilst drafting a first novel.

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