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450+ Adjective Words To Describe Research

Adjective For Research

In any academic writing, it is important to use language that is precise and accurate. This is especially true when writing about research, where a small change in wording can result in a major change in meaning. Adjectives are one of the most important tools for making writing precise and accurate.

By carefully selecting the right adjectives, writers can ensure that their readers understand exactly what they are trying to say. In this article, we will provide a list of adjectives that can be used when writing about research. We hope that this will help make your writing more precise and accurate.

Table of Contents

Adjectives For Research

This article provides a list of adjectives that can be used to describe research. The adjectives are grouped into different categories, such as positive, negative, and neutral adjectives. The article also includes examples of how to use each adjective in a sentence.

Adjectives For Research

Some of the positive adjectives include “ valuable ,” “ beneficial ,” and “ important .” Negative adjectives include “ flawed ,” “ invalid ,” and “ irrelevant .” And finally, neutral adjectives include “ objective ,” “ unbiased ,” and “ impartial .” These adjectives can be useful in a variety of contexts, such as when writing about research findings or discussing research methods.

Adjectives For Research

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Adjectives for Research

Top 30 Adjectives for Research (Negative & Positive Words)

Research, the backbone of many disciplines, can vary widely in quality and depth. This post provides adjectives that can help portray the nature and quality of any research endeavor.

Table of Contents

Description of Research

Research refers to the systematic investigation into and study of materials or sources to establish facts and reach conclusions.

Words to Describe Research

Here are the 30 most common words to describe Research:

  • Comprehensive

Groundbreaking

Superficial.

  • Qualitative
  • Unsubstantiated
  • Quantitative
  • Experimental
  • Hypothetical
  • Speculative
  • Theoretical
  • Inconsistent
  • Peer-reviewed

Positive Words to Describe Research

Negative words to describe research, adjectives for research (meanings and example sentences).

  • Meaning: Covering all areas.
  • Sentence: The study was comprehensive in scope.
  • Meaning: Done completely.
  • Sentence: The review was thorough and detailed.
  • Meaning: Strict and precise.
  • Sentence: The testing was rigorous and exact.
  • Meaning: Having defects.
  • Sentence: The theory was flawed and misleading.
  • Meaning: Innovative.
  • Sentence: Their findings were groundbreaking in nature.
  • Meaning: Lacking depth.
  • Sentence: The analysis was superficial at best.
  • Meaning: Examining in detail.
  • Sentence: An analytical approach was employed.
  • Meaning: Showing favoritism.
  • Sentence: The results seemed biased and skewed.
  • Meaning: Detailed study.
  • Sentence: An in-depth review was conducted.
  • Meaning: Giving a wrong idea.
  • Sentence: The data was misleading to readers.

Other Related Words to Describe Research

Words to describe research skills.

  • Inquisitive
  • Detail-oriented
  • Investigative

Words to Describe Research Paper

  • Informative
  • Well-structured

Words to Describe Research Project

  • Collaborative
  • Multi-disciplinary
  • Time-consuming
  • Longitudinal
  • Cross-sectional
  • Exploratory

Words to Describe Research Work

  • Foundational
  • Cutting-edge
  • Paradigm-shifting
  • Incremental

Words to Describe Research Methodology

  • Ethnographic
  • Statistical
  • Observational
  • Comparative

How to Describe Research in Writing?

When describing research in writing, focus on its quality, scope, methodology, and relevance. Make use of appropriate adjectives to convey the depth, accuracy, and reliability of the research. Highlight its contributions, limitations, and the methods employed, providing a clear and balanced overview of the work done.

Adjectives for Review

Adjectives for Scientist

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Adjectives for Research

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adjectives to describe a research paper

50 Useful Academic Words & Phrases for Research

Like all good writing, writing an academic paper takes a certain level of skill to express your ideas and arguments in a way that is natural and that meets a level of academic sophistication. The terms, expressions, and phrases you use in your research paper must be of an appropriate level to be submitted to academic journals.

Therefore, authors need to know which verbs , nouns , and phrases to apply to create a paper that is not only easy to understand, but which conveys an understanding of academic conventions. Using the correct terminology and usage shows journal editors and fellow researchers that you are a competent writer and thinker, while using non-academic language might make them question your writing ability, as well as your critical reasoning skills.

What are academic words and phrases?

One way to understand what constitutes good academic writing is to read a lot of published research to find patterns of usage in different contexts. However, it may take an author countless hours of reading and might not be the most helpful advice when faced with an upcoming deadline on a manuscript draft.

Briefly, “academic” language includes terms, phrases, expressions, transitions, and sometimes symbols and abbreviations that help the pieces of an academic text fit together. When writing an academic text–whether it is a book report, annotated bibliography, research paper, research poster, lab report, research proposal, thesis, or manuscript for publication–authors must follow academic writing conventions. You can often find handy academic writing tips and guidelines by consulting the style manual of the text you are writing (i.e., APA Style , MLA Style , or Chicago Style ).

However, sometimes it can be helpful to have a list of academic words and expressions like the ones in this article to use as a “cheat sheet” for substituting the better term in a given context.

How to Choose the Best Academic Terms

You can think of writing “academically” as writing in a way that conveys one’s meaning effectively but concisely. For instance, while the term “take a look at” is a perfectly fine way to express an action in everyday English, a term like “analyze” would certainly be more suitable in most academic contexts. It takes up fewer words on the page and is used much more often in published academic papers.

You can use one handy guideline when choosing the most academic term: When faced with a choice between two different terms, use the Latinate version of the term. Here is a brief list of common verbs versus their academic counterparts:

Although this can be a useful tip to help academic authors, it can be difficult to memorize dozens of Latinate verbs. Using an AI paraphrasing tool or proofreading tool can help you instantly find more appropriate academic terms, so consider using such revision tools while you draft to improve your writing.

Top 50 Words and Phrases for Different Sections in a Research Paper

The “Latinate verb rule” is just one tool in your arsenal of academic writing, and there are many more out there. But to make the process of finding academic language a bit easier for you, we have compiled a list of 50 vital academic words and phrases, divided into specific categories and use cases, each with an explanation and contextual example.

Best Words and Phrases to use in an Introduction section

1. historically.

An adverb used to indicate a time perspective, especially when describing the background of a given topic.

2. In recent years

A temporal marker emphasizing recent developments, often used at the very beginning of your Introduction section.

3. It is widely acknowledged that

A “form phrase” indicating a broad consensus among researchers and/or the general public. Often used in the literature review section to build upon a foundation of established scientific knowledge.

4. There has been growing interest in

Highlights increasing attention to a topic and tells the reader why your study might be important to this field of research.

5. Preliminary observations indicate

Shares early insights or findings while hedging on making any definitive conclusions. Modal verbs like may , might , and could are often used with this expression.

6. This study aims to

Describes the goal of the research and is a form phrase very often used in the research objective or even the hypothesis of a research paper .

7. Despite its significance

Highlights the importance of a matter that might be overlooked. It is also frequently used in the rationale of the study section to show how your study’s aim and scope build on previous studies.

8. While numerous studies have focused on

Indicates the existing body of work on a topic while pointing to the shortcomings of certain aspects of that research. Helps focus the reader on the question, “What is missing from our knowledge of this topic?” This is often used alongside the statement of the problem in research papers.

9. The purpose of this research is

A form phrase that directly states the aim of the study.

10. The question arises (about/whether)

Poses a query or research problem statement for the reader to acknowledge.

Best Words and Phrases for Clarifying Information

11. in other words.

Introduces a synopsis or the rephrasing of a statement for clarity. This is often used in the Discussion section statement to explain the implications of the study .

12. That is to say

Provides clarification, similar to “in other words.”

13. To put it simply

Simplifies a complex idea, often for a more general readership.

14. To clarify

Specifically indicates to the reader a direct elaboration of a previous point.

15. More specifically

Narrows down a general statement from a broader one. Often used in the Discussion section to clarify the meaning of a specific result.

16. To elaborate

Expands on a point made previously.

17. In detail

Indicates a deeper dive into information.

Points out specifics. Similar meaning to “specifically” or “especially.”

19. This means that

Explains implications and/or interprets the meaning of the Results section .

20. Moreover

Expands a prior point to a broader one that shows the greater context or wider argument.

Best Words and Phrases for Giving Examples

21. for instance.

Provides a specific case that fits into the point being made.

22. As an illustration

Demonstrates a point in full or in part.

23. To illustrate

Shows a clear picture of the point being made.

24. For example

Presents a particular instance. Same meaning as “for instance.”

25. Such as

Lists specifics that comprise a broader category or assertion being made.

26. Including

Offers examples as part of a larger list.

27. Notably

Adverb highlighting an important example. Similar meaning to “especially.”

28. Especially

Adverb that emphasizes a significant instance.

29. In particular

Draws attention to a specific point.

30. To name a few

Indicates examples than previously mentioned are about to be named.

Best Words and Phrases for Comparing and Contrasting

31. however.

Introduces a contrasting idea.

32. On the other hand

Highlights an alternative view or fact.

33. Conversely

Indicates an opposing or reversed idea to the one just mentioned.

34. Similarly

Shows likeness or parallels between two ideas, objects, or situations.

35. Likewise

Indicates agreement with a previous point.

36. In contrast

Draws a distinction between two points.

37. Nevertheless

Introduces a contrasting point, despite what has been said.

38. Whereas

Compares two distinct entities or ideas.

Indicates a contrast between two points.

Signals an unexpected contrast.

Best Words and Phrases to use in a Conclusion section

41. in conclusion.

Signifies the beginning of the closing argument.

42. To sum up

Offers a brief summary.

43. In summary

Signals a concise recap.

44. Ultimately

Reflects the final or main point.

45. Overall

Gives a general concluding statement.

Indicates a resulting conclusion.

Demonstrates a logical conclusion.

48. Therefore

Connects a cause and its effect.

49. It can be concluded that

Clearly states a conclusion derived from the data.

50. Taking everything into consideration

Reflects on all the discussed points before concluding.

Edit Your Research Terms and Phrases Before Submission

Using these phrases in the proper places in your research papers can enhance the clarity, flow, and persuasiveness of your writing, especially in the Introduction section and Discussion section, which together make up the majority of your paper’s text in most academic domains.

However, it's vital to ensure each phrase is contextually appropriate to avoid redundancy or misinterpretation. As mentioned at the top of this article, the best way to do this is to 1) use an AI text editor , free AI paraphrasing tool or AI proofreading tool while you draft to enhance your writing, and 2) consult a professional proofreading service like Wordvice, which has human editors well versed in the terminology and conventions of the specific subject area of your academic documents.

For more detailed information on using AI tools to write a research paper and the best AI tools for research , check out the Wordvice AI Blog .

Learn Adjectives

Adjectives for Research-Words to Describe Research

A research is a systematic and in-depth study of a particular subject, usually conducted over a long period of time. It’s conducted to gain a new understanding or revise an existing one.

Some common adjectives used to describe research are:

List of Adjectives for Research | Words for Research

1. Extensive

2. Time-consuming

3. Thorough

4. Detailed

Adjectives for Research

7. Objective

8. In-depth

9. Comprehensive

10. Intensive

11. Exhaustive

12. Rigorous

13. Serious

14. Careful

15. Conclusive

16. Significant

17. Valuable

18. Reliable

19. Original

20. Creative

22. Productive

23. Important

24. Fascinating

25. Insightful

26.enlightening

28. beneficial

29. accurate

30. up-to-date.

>>>> Read Also : ” Adjectives For Desert Animals “

Adjectives for res earch Skills

1. Methodical

2. Analytical

3. Critical

5. Creative

6. Innovative

8. Persistent

9. Skeptical

10. Open-minded

11. Flexible

Adjectives for Research Paper

1. Academic

2. Peer-reviewed

3. Scholarly

4. Scientific

5. Theoretical

6. Practical

7. Empirical

8. Statistical

9. Methodological

10. Systematic

12. Objective

Adjectives for Research Title

1. groundbreaking

2. revolutionary

3. innovative

4. important

5. significant

6. influential

9. extensive

10. detailed

11. comprehensive

12. exhaustive

Adjectives for research Center

1. Advanced

2. State-of-the-art

3. World-class

5. Renowned

6. Esteemed

7. Prestigious

8. Highly respected

9. Acclaimed

10. Notable

Adjectives for qualitative Research

1. In-depth

2. Detailed

3. Intensive

4. Comprehensive

5. Extensive

6. Thorough

7. Rigorous

8. Methodical

9. Systematic

10. Careful

Adjectives for Quantitative Research

1. Rigorous

2. Systematic

3. Methodical

4. Quantitative

5. Statistical

6. Empirical

7. Experimental

8. Controlled

9. Replicable

11. Reliable

Adjectives for good researcher

1. Creative

2. Innovative

3. Original

4. Critical

5. Analytical

6. Methodical

7. Systematic

8. Thorough

9. Rigorous

10. Persistent

11. Open-minded

12. Flexible

Therefore, these are some of the adjectives that are commonly used to describe research, research skills, papers, centers, and researchers. These adjectives can be useful in conveying the nature and quality of your research to others.

>>>> Read Also : ” Adjectives For Sunset “

What are some adjectives to describe a scientist?

Some adjectives to describe a scientist are: creative, innovative, original, critical, analytical, methodical, systematic, and thorough.

What kind of words should be used in scientific writing?

In scientific writing, words that accurately and precisely convey the meaning of the research are important. Adjectives that describe the research in detail are often used in scientific writing.

What are some good words to use in a research paper?

Some good words to use in a research paper are: academic, peer-reviewed, scholarly, scientific etc.

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Using Adjectives Effectively in Academic and Scientific Writing

Posted by rene | Jul 25, 2020 | Help with Perfecting Grammar in Academic & Scientific Writing | 0 |

Using Adjectives Effectively in Academic and Scientific Writing

Using Adjectives Effectively in Academic and Scientific Writing Some authors claim that adjectives are virtually unnecessary. Choosing the correct noun in any given situation is the key, they would argue, and with the right noun, who needs an accompanying adjective? Well, to be honest, every successful writer uses adjectives to some extent, and academics and scientists who write sophisticated scholarly prose often require adjectives. In many cases, for instance, there is no noun that precisely and thoroughly represents a concept or situation under discussion. In others, a noun requires a range of modifications to provide exact descriptions that effectively differentiate slight variations in study conditions, participants, findings and so on.

There is no doubt, then, that adjectives are an essential aspect of scholarly writing, yet there is also no doubt that adjectives are often overused by academic and scientific authors. Such overuse tends to be the product of a positive intention to be precise, but long strings of adjectives preceding nouns can be the awkward results of this impulse. Proofreading your writing with your eyes open to excessive use of such modifiers will catch most problematic instances, but it can be difficult to decide how to resolve the problem. In almost all cases, it is best to use as few adjectives as possible, and such a policy can lead to choosing more precise or expressive adjectives, which is always preferable. However, if several adjectives are absolutely necessary to express a concept or situation accurately, it may be wise to explain the concept or situation carefully when it is introduced and invent an abbreviation to represent it. Once defined, the abbreviation can be used throughout the document instead of the noun and all those adjectives, which may prove smoother reading for your audience.

When you decide that several adjectives are definitely required, be sure to punctuate them effectively and in a consistent manner. Commas can be used between two or more adjectives preceding a noun, but rules and conventions vary considerably. The Chicago Manual of Style (2003), for instance, explains that if the adjectives ‘could, without affecting the meaning, be joined by [the word] and, the adjectives are normally separated by commas,’ but ‘if the noun and the adjective immediately preceding it are conceived as a unit…, no comma should be used’ (p.250). Following this method, ‘faithful, sincere friend’ bears a comma, but ‘many young friends’ does not.

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New Hart’s Rules (Ritter, 2005, Section 4.3.4), on the other hand, suggests an approach based on the type of adjective used, with adjectives such as ‘big,’ ‘tiny,’ ‘happy’ and ‘sad’ being gradable or qualitative adjectives, while adjectives such as ‘white,’ ‘black,’ ‘English’ and ‘treacherous’ are classifying adjectives. According to this system (Ritter, 2005, Section 4.3.4), ‘a comma is needed to separate two or more qualitative adjectives’ (a short, thick tree) but ‘no comma is needed to separate adjectives of different types’ (a big black cat) or to separate classifying adjectives that ‘relate to different classifying systems’ (annual environmental damage). Whichever system of punctuation is used, when an adjective is repeated before a noun, as in ‘many, many tourists visit the Tower of London,’ a comma should be inserted between the two instances.

Exceptions can be made to these rules, with technical writing, for example, often keeping commas to a bare minimum, and some authors using none at all between adjectives. If there are no specific guidelines to follow, it is often better to use fewer commas than more, much as it is better to use one or two adjectives perfect for the context rather than a long string of them.

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Home » Research Paper Title – Writing Guide and Example

Research Paper Title – Writing Guide and Example

Table of Contents

Research Paper Title

Research Paper Title

Research Paper Title is the name or heading that summarizes the main theme or topic of a research paper . It serves as the first point of contact between the reader and the paper, providing an initial impression of the content, purpose, and scope of the research . A well-crafted research paper title should be concise, informative, and engaging, accurately reflecting the key elements of the study while also capturing the reader’s attention and interest. The title should be clear and easy to understand, and it should accurately convey the main focus and scope of the research paper.

Examples of Research Paper Title

Here are some Good Examples of Research Paper Title:

  • “Investigating the Relationship Between Sleep Duration and Academic Performance Among College Students”
  • “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Employment: A Systematic Review”
  • “The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis”
  • “Exploring the Effects of Social Support on Mental Health in Patients with Chronic Illness”
  • “Assessing the Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
  • “The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Consumer Behavior: A Systematic Review”
  • “Investigating the Link Between Personality Traits and Leadership Effectiveness”
  • “The Effect of Parental Incarceration on Child Development: A Longitudinal Study”
  • “Exploring the Relationship Between Cultural Intelligence and Cross-Cultural Adaptation: A Meta-Analysis”
  • “Assessing the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Chronic Pain Management”.
  • “The Effects of Social Media on Mental Health: A Meta-Analysis”
  • “The Impact of Climate Change on Global Crop Yields: A Longitudinal Study”
  • “Exploring the Relationship between Parental Involvement and Academic Achievement in Elementary School Students”
  • “The Ethics of Genetic Editing: A Review of Current Research and Implications for Society”
  • “Understanding the Role of Gender in Leadership: A Comparative Study of Male and Female CEOs”
  • “The Effect of Exercise on Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
  • “The Impacts of COVID-19 on Mental Health: A Cross-Cultural Comparison”
  • “Assessing the Effectiveness of Online Learning Platforms: A Case Study of Coursera”
  • “Exploring the Link between Employee Engagement and Organizational Performance”
  • “The Effects of Income Inequality on Social Mobility: A Comparative Analysis of OECD Countries”
  • “Exploring the Relationship Between Social Media Use and Mental Health in Adolescents”
  • “The Impact of Climate Change on Crop Yield: A Case Study of Maize Production in Sub-Saharan Africa”
  • “Examining the Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: A Meta-Analysis”
  • “An Analysis of the Relationship Between Employee Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment”
  • “Assessing the Impacts of Wilderness Areas on Local Economies: A Case Study of Yellowstone National Park”
  • “The Role of Parental Involvement in Early Childhood Education: A Review of the Literature”
  • “Investigating the Effects of Technology on Learning in Higher Education”
  • “The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges”
  • “A Study of the Relationship Between Personality Traits and Leadership Styles in Business Organizations”.

How to choose Research Paper Title

Choosing a research paper title is an important step in the research process. A good title can attract readers and convey the essence of your research in a concise and clear manner. Here are some tips on how to choose a research paper title:

  • Be clear and concise: A good title should convey the main idea of your research in a clear and concise manner. Avoid using jargon or technical language that may be confusing to readers.
  • Use keywords: Including keywords in your title can help readers find your paper when searching for related topics. Use specific, descriptive terms that accurately describe your research.
  • Be descriptive: A descriptive title can help readers understand what your research is about. Use adjectives and adverbs to convey the main ideas of your research.
  • Consider the audience : Think about the audience for your paper and choose a title that will appeal to them. If your paper is aimed at a specialized audience, you may want to use technical terms or jargon in your title.
  • Avoid being too general or too specific : A title that is too general may not convey the specific focus of your research, while a title that is too specific may not be of interest to a broader audience. Strive for a title that accurately reflects the focus of your research without being too narrow or too broad.
  • Make it interesting : A title that is interesting or provocative can capture the attention of readers and draw them into your research. Use humor, wordplay, or other creative techniques to make your title stand out.
  • Seek feedback: Ask colleagues or advisors for feedback on your title. They may be able to offer suggestions or identify potential problems that you hadn’t considered.

Purpose of Research Paper Title

The research paper title serves several important purposes, including:

  • Identifying the subject matter : The title of a research paper should clearly and accurately identify the topic or subject matter that the paper addresses. This helps readers quickly understand what the paper is about.
  • Catching the reader’s attention : A well-crafted title can grab the reader’s attention and make them interested in reading the paper. This is particularly important in academic settings where there may be many papers on the same topic.
  • Providing context: The title can provide important context for the research paper by indicating the specific area of study, the research methods used, or the key findings.
  • Communicating the scope of the paper: A good title can give readers an idea of the scope and depth of the research paper. This can help them decide if the paper is relevant to their interests or research.
  • Indicating the research question or hypothesis : The title can often indicate the research question or hypothesis that the paper addresses, which can help readers understand the focus of the research and the main argument or conclusion of the paper.

Advantages of Research Paper Title

The title of a research paper is an important component that can have several advantages, including:

  • Capturing the reader’s attention : A well-crafted research paper title can grab the reader’s attention and encourage them to read further. A captivating title can also increase the visibility of the paper and attract more readers.
  • Providing a clear indication of the paper’s focus: A well-written research paper title should clearly convey the main focus and purpose of the study. This helps potential readers quickly determine whether the paper is relevant to their interests.
  • Improving discoverability: A descriptive title that includes relevant keywords can improve the discoverability of the research paper in search engines and academic databases, making it easier for other researchers to find and cite.
  • Enhancing credibility : A clear and concise title can enhance the credibility of the research and the author. A title that accurately reflects the content of the paper can increase the confidence readers have in the research findings.
  • Facilitating communication: A well-written research paper title can facilitate communication among researchers, enabling them to quickly and easily identify relevant studies and engage in discussions related to the topic.
  • Making the paper easier to remember : An engaging and memorable research paper title can help readers remember the paper and its findings. This can be especially important in fields where researchers are constantly inundated with new information and need to quickly recall important studies.
  • Setting expectations: A good research paper title can set expectations for the reader and help them understand what the paper will cover. This can be especially important for readers who are unfamiliar with the topic or the research area.
  • Guiding research: A well-crafted research paper title can also guide future research by highlighting gaps in the current literature or suggesting new areas for investigation.
  • Demonstrating creativity: A creative research paper title can demonstrate the author’s creativity and originality, which can be appealing to readers and other researchers.

About the author

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Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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100+ Research Vocabulary Words & Phrases

adjectives to describe a research paper

The academic community can be conservative when it comes to enforcing academic writing style , but your writing shouldn’t be so boring that people lose interest midway through the first paragraph! Given that competition is at an all-time high for academics looking to publish their papers, we know you must be anxious about what you can do to improve your publishing odds.

To be sure, your research must be sound, your paper must be structured logically, and the different manuscript sections must contain the appropriate information. But your research must also be clearly explained. Clarity obviously depends on the correct use of English, and there are many common mistakes that you should watch out for, for example when it comes to articles , prepositions , word choice , and even punctuation . But even if you are on top of your grammar and sentence structure, you can still make your writing more compelling (or more boring) by using powerful verbs and phrases (vs the same weaker ones over and over). So, how do you go about achieving the latter?

Below are a few ways to breathe life into your writing.

1. Analyze Vocabulary Using Word Clouds

Have you heard of “Wordles”? A Wordle is a visual representation of words, with the size of each word being proportional to the number of times it appears in the text it is based on. The original company website seems to have gone out of business, but there are a number of free word cloud generation sites that allow you to copy and paste your draft manuscript into a text box to quickly discover how repetitive your writing is and which verbs you might want to replace to improve your manuscript.

Seeing a visual word cloud of your work might also help you assess the key themes and points readers will glean from your paper. If the Wordle result displays words you hadn’t intended to emphasize, then that’s a sign you should revise your paper to make sure readers will focus on the right information.

As an example, below is a Wordle of our article entitled, “ How to Choose the Best title for Your Journal Manuscript .” You can see how frequently certain terms appear in that post, based on the font size of the text. The keywords, “titles,” “journal,” “research,” and “papers,” were all the intended focus of our blog post.

research words and phrases word cloud

2. Study Language Patterns of Similarly Published Works

Study the language pattern found in the most downloaded and cited articles published by your target journal. Understanding the journal’s editorial preferences will help you write in a style that appeals to the publication’s readership.

Another way to analyze the language of a target journal’s papers is to use Wordle (see above). If you copy and paste the text of an article related to your research topic into the applet, you can discover the common phrases and terms the paper’s authors used.

For example, if you were writing a paper on  links between smoking and cancer , you might look for a recent review on the topic, preferably published by your target journal. Copy and paste the text into Wordle and examine the key phrases to see if you’ve included similar wording in your own draft. The Wordle result might look like the following, based on the example linked above.

research words and phrases word cloud, cancer study

If you are not sure yet where to publish and just want some generally good examples of descriptive verbs, analytical verbs, and reporting verbs that are commonly used in academic writing, then have a look at this list of useful phrases for research papers .

3. Use More Active and Precise Verbs

Have you heard of synonyms? Of course you have. But have you looked beyond single-word replacements and rephrased entire clauses with stronger, more vivid ones? You’ll find this task is easier to do if you use the active voice more often than the passive voice . Even if you keep your original sentence structure, you can eliminate weak verbs like “be” from your draft and choose more vivid and precise action verbs. As always, however, be careful about using only a thesaurus to identify synonyms. Make sure the substitutes fit the context in which you need a more interesting or “perfect” word. Online dictionaries such as the Merriam-Webster and the Cambridge Dictionary are good sources to check entire phrases in context in case you are unsure whether a synonym is a good match for a word you want to replace. 

To help you build a strong arsenal of commonly used phrases in academic papers, we’ve compiled a list of synonyms you might want to consider when drafting or editing your research paper . While we do not suggest that the phrases in the “Original Word/Phrase” column should be completely avoided, we do recommend interspersing these with the more dynamic terms found under “Recommended Substitutes.”

A. Describing the scope of a current project or prior research

B. outlining a topic’s background, c. describing the analytical elements of a paper, d. discussing results, e. discussing methods, f. explaining the impact of new research, wordvice writing resources.

For additional information on how to tighten your sentences (e.g., eliminate wordiness and use active voice to greater effect), you can try Wordvice’s FREE APA Citation Generator and learn more about how to proofread and edit your paper to ensure your work is free of errors.

Before submitting your manuscript to academic journals, be sure to use our free AI proofreader to catch errors in grammar, spelling, and mechanics. And use our English editing services from Wordvice, including academic editing services , cover letter editing , manuscript editing , and research paper editing services to make sure your work is up to a high academic level.

We also have a collection of other useful articles for you, for example on how to strengthen your writing style , how to avoid fillers to write more powerful sentences , and how to eliminate prepositions and avoid nominalizations . Additionally, get advice on all the other important aspects of writing a research paper on our academic resources pages .

Your new research website

Building an online presence for your research group that is easy to maintain in the long term, describing your research project.

The goal in trying to improve the web site is to show off the work of the department. This document describes how to write a short piece (extended abstract length) that will allow you to do that. We don’t expect what you produce to perfectly fit the guidelines described here, just for you to keep this specification (and the philosophy behind it) in mind as you compose. If you have any questions at all about this, please don’t hesitate to contact Sunny Bains < [email protected] >.

You should not think of your research project summary as a technical paper, but as an advertisement for your work and your expertise (so that people want to read your publications, collaborate with you, and give you money). The main thing is to get across the importance of what you’re doing, how you are doing it, and the expertise that you and your group have that make you qualified to be able to succeed at it.

However, we don’t want it to be too fluffy. When people within your own field read about the project, we want them to have some idea of how your work differs from your competitors, which may involve getting a little bit technical and/or referring to your publications.

Essentially, you are having to address three different audiences at once. First is a general technical audience (we’ll call it G) consisting of people from very different disciplines: if you are an computer scientist, it may be useful to think of a reader who is a microbiologist. This class of people is important because it includes industrial managers, sponsors, civil servants etc.: people who have technical backgrounds but don’t necessarily have any knowledge that is relevant to your particular work. These are often people who hold purse strings and make employment decisions.

Second is the subset of readers within your general discipline (we’ll call this D): other computer scientists. They have degrees in CS (possibly from many years ago), but their work may be drastically different to yours (for instance, consider someone in machine vision trying to talk to someone working in quantum computing). Finally, there are those people who are actually specialists in your field who want to know the meat of your technological contribution (we’ll call them S).

The formula to please all your audience is very simple. A typical 500-word project description (plus one picture with a short caption and as many references as you want) will normally consist of about five roughly 100-word paragraphs that should be addressed to the following audiences: G, G, D, S, G. For fuller details, the actual content, see the outline—with examples—below.

Finally, as you go along, please think carefully about the publications you want to reference and also, if you can, about any pictures that could be used to illustrate your work. If it’s a diagram and you’re concerned it’s ugly, remember we can have it redrawn for you: the idea is to choose something that really communicates what you’re doing.

Name of the project with important acronyms spelled out  (General technical audience)

Keep it short (ten words or fewer), straightforward, and as free from jargon as you can.

FUSE: Floodplain underground sensors

Short description  (General technical audience)

This is not an abstract, just a sentence or two summing up what the project is about: the whole thing should be no longer than 35 words. It is going to show up in lists and will always be seen with the name of the project above it. For example:

We are creating enhanced algorithms that perform pattern matching for applications like medical screening and biometric identification. Novel coding allows them to operate orders of magnitude faster than current approaches and with a lower false-positive rate.

Paragraph 1: The problem (General technical audience)

Give the context of your work for a non-specialist. To what general field(s) does your work apply, and why is this field important? What could be achieved in these fields and what issues are holding back this progress? Remember to spell out all acronyms the first time you use them, and to explain all jargon terms that aren’t well understood outside your field.

Please write the main text in the active voice where possible, using the first person or first person plural (“we have developed…”). For instance:

Having to use ionizing radiation for body scans has many disadvantages, particularly related to the safety of both medical staff and patients. It would be ideal if we could use visible light instead: it is simple to generate, poses little risk to humans, and can captured easily using electronic cameras. Unfortunately, however, diffusion of light rays through body tissue mean that the images that emerge are unclear…

Paragraph 2: The set up (General Technical Audience)

From the issues you described in the first paragraph, now pick out the ones that directly relate to your work. How have people tried to solve this/these in the past? Why have these solutions fallen short? What is (briefly) your new solution? For example:

There have been many approaches to the development of micromechanical structures with very high aspect ratios. Most of those in two dimensions have problems of low-yield. For instance, with three-dimensional techniques, such as {techniques and problems here}. To get around these issues, we have been working on a new approach called hybrid structure formation (HSF), that attempts to incorporate the advantages of both and the disadvantages of neither.

Paragraph 3: Your approach (Audience in your discipline)

Having mentioned your approach in the last paragraph, you should now explain the basic concepts behind it and how it works. Here you can be a little more technical, but if you use words that can’t be looked up in a basic scientific dictionary, add some explanation. For example:

Neuromorphic engineering—the building of brain-like structures in silicon—was originally conceived by Carver Mead at the California Institute of Technology.6 It is based on the idea that it is more efficient to use the physics of electronic devices to implement functions directly, rather than to simulate these functions using digital algorithms. This is a particularly advantageous approach for building neural systems as the functions that transistors perform naturally are qualitatively very similar to those in biological neurons…

Paragraphs 4: What you’ve done (Audience in your discipline for paragraph 4, moving to a specialist audience for 5 and 6)

This is the most straightforward section of the article, and the one that is least likely to be a problem. Just very briefly outline what you’ve done and link to the papers where people can find out in detail what this has involved. An easy way to think about this is simply to use one sentence to describe the work that’s been published in a single paper, and to string all the papers/sentences together into a narrative. For example:

Our work has shown that, to maximize performance, AI in embodied systems must be optimized for the specific sensors and actuators of each individual body: not just as designed, but as they work in reality.1 Because sensors and actuators are not digital but analogue, this means that all machines, even built to the same specification, will be different.2 This means that the final optimization must take place through learning on the actual robot or other machine that the intelligence is to control.3 To achieve this we have developed an approach called…

Paragraph 7: Summary and further work (General audience)

Without restating from scratch and explain how the work you’ve just described has changed/progressed the problem you described at the top. Then tell us how you think you can make even further progress. For example:

To make the types of three-dimensional structures we need for next-generation batteries and other devices, the use of surfactants as templates seems promising. So far our results have shown that we can easily make structures at the right scale (5-10nm), in the right types of patterns (such as hexagonal cells), and that are solid enough to be viable in real devices. Our next step will be to show that the new materials can be fabricated in large-enough slabs to be useful in macroscopic products.

Home / Guides / Grammar Guides / Adjectives: Making Everything More Interesting

Adjectives: Making Everything More Interesting

With its multiple types, forms and rules of use, the  adjective  can be a slippery element of language to master. Get a firm grip on it, however, and you’ll be rewarded with the power to elevate your work to a more engaging, interesting and expressive level.

Adjectives are words that modify (describe) nouns. Adjectives give the reader more specific information about an object’s color, size, shape, material, and more. This guide will help you understand their function so you can use them effectively in your essays and papers.

Additionally, EasyBib Plus’s easy grammar check solution can help improve your essays. With a subscription, you can upload your paper to check for structural or grammatical errors and receive suggestions that may help improve your writing style. It can also check for unintentional plagiarism, help you to cite sources, and generate MLA or  APA format  citations. If you need to create citations in a different format, our library of resources contains free guides for many  more styles .

For information on the structural role these modifiers play in a sentence, you may find this  further reading  helpful.

Guide Overview

  • What is an adjective?
  • Types of adjectives
  • Which comes first?
  • Why they’ll never be lonely
  • The unspoken order
  • If in doubt, take it out!
  • What can an adjective add?
  • The wonder word
  • Flip reverse with adjectival opposites
  • Cool, cooler or the coolest?
  • A master of disguise
  • Unusual adjective examples
  • Still struggling?

What is an Adjective?

As a child, you might have learned that it is a describing word. This adjective definition is correct and, as mentioned above, it can be used to describe, modify or qualify a noun, essentially giving more information about the object, person, place, thing or idea in question.

In its most basic form, it is a single word. However, as the English language is anything but basic, you’ll also want to understand the adjectival clause and phrase—more on those later!

When used well, this essential part of the English language can become your most potent writing ally. They’ll make your writing more specific and lucid, enabling you to convey your ideas in a clear and appealing manner. They add the meat to the bare bones of a sentence!

Struggling with writing in general? Our  grammar checker , that comes with EasyBib Plus, can help. You’ll also find lots of additional free resources at EasyBib.com too, including guides for Chicago/Turabian, APA and  MLA format . It’s an easy, one-stop online toolkit that can help you understand tricky topics, such as creating an  MLA citation for a website or citing an image found online, to make sure that the work you’re handing in for marking doesn’t contain avoidable mistakes that could let you down.

Types of Adjectives

When it comes to learning the different types, some are more interesting than others—however, there’s no picking and choosing with grammar! Let’s take a look at both the fun and the functional, and the part they each play in the English language.

The Exciting

Descriptive adjectives are the grammatical icing on the cake or bubbles in the bathwater. They follow the classic adjective definition of a descriptive word that comes before or after a  noun  to modify it. Often, you can take them away and the sentence will still technically make sense, although it’s likely to be less informative, thought-provoking, and engaging for the reader.

For example:

The woman was wearing a dress. vs The  beautiful  woman was wearing a  long, white  dress.

When it comes before a noun it is known as an  attributive adjective .

When it comes after a noun it is known as a  predicate adjective . Note that these usually follow a linking verb.

  • Attributive  — the  beautiful   woman
  • Predicate (also known as predicative)  — the  woman  looked  beautiful

To learn more  click here  or check your paper with EasyBib Plus’s paper checker to ensure that you’re using different aspects of language, including spelling, punctuation, style and word choice, correctly. Otherwise, let’s continue on our exploration of describing words.

Did you know that describing words can also be  subjective  or  objective ?

Objective:  A descriptor, based in fact, that will often be quantifiable and measurable. Descriptors of age, color, pattern, size, shape, condition, type, purpose, origin and material are objective. For example:  old, red, checked, large, square, clean, four-sided, running  (to indicate purpose, e.g., running shoes),  French  and  paper .

Subjective:  These words provide opinion-based descriptions which may be open to interpretation. It could be an ‘in the eye of the beholder’ descriptor such as  beautiful  or  ugly . Or it could describe a relative measure such as  cheap, best, favorite  or  cold . Words used to describe an emotion or feeling such as  happy  or  hungry  are also subjective.

There are multiple objective and subjective sub-types, so you should be spoiled for choice when choosing that perfect describing word. Find a list of adjectives and the order they should follow further down.

The Essential

Words in this category are more likely to modify (or give information about) a noun than describe it. Take them away, and you’ll often find that you no longer have a fully formed sentence. These are the ‘toothbrush in the bathroom words’—nothing about them is exciting, but they perform an essential function, we use them daily, and we’d be lost without them.

Take  articles . They always come before the noun they’re indicating. There are three articles in the English language:  a, an,  and  the.   A  and  an  are used to denote non-specific things, while  the  indicates something specific.  The  is known as the definite article, while  a  and  an  are indefinite articles.

Pass me  the  book

The word  the  tells us that the request is for a specific book.

Pass me  a  book.

A,  however, shows that any book will do.

Demonstrative:  Similar to the definite article in that they indicate specific things. For example:  these, those, this  and  that.

Indefinite:  Similar to the indefinite article in that they indicate non-specific things. For example:  any, many, several  and  few.

Interrogative:  Used to ask questions. There are three in the English language:  which, what and  whose.

Possessive:  Indicate that a thing belongs to someone.  My, your, his , and  our  are examples of a possessive adjective.

Numerical:  Answer the question “how many?” in a sentence. For example:

She ate  six  cupcakes.

Which Comes First?

We’ve answered the question, ‘what is an adjective?’. Now let’s look at where they sit in a sentence. Typically, a describing word is a  pre-modifier , this means that it comes  before  the noun,  pronoun  or the noun phrase that it’s looking to modify. Also known as a prepositive (NOT a  preposition , that’s different!) or, as previously mentioned,  attributive.

A  lovely  day

In the case of an indefinite pronoun (someone, something, anybody), however, the descriptor comes  after .

Something  blue

We’ve also mentioned  predicatives  that come  after  the noun they modify and follow a linking verb.

The sky looked  blue .

Why They’ll Never Be Lonely

Although a describing word will always be singular (even if the noun is plural), it will never be lonely—it will always team up with a noun or pronoun in a sentence.

The  adjective phrase  is a phrase that performs the describing or modifying function in a sentence. It can be a string of describing words or it can be an intensifier plus descriptor.

String example:

It was a  cold but sunny  day.

Intensifier example:

She was  very happy.

Coordinates

When one just isn’t enough you can use  coordinate adjectives  separated by a comma or commas. These are a perfect pairing—or trio or full-on gang—of words used to describe or modify a single noun.

A  long, white, lacy  dress

Long, white  and  lacy  are coordinates: they are adjectives with a parallel function in describing the dress, and none carries more weight than the others. You can test this by replacing a comma with a  conjunction , such as  and  or  but , and checking if the sentence still makes sense.

A  long  and  white  and  lacy  dress A  beautiful  but  expensive  dress

Non-Coordinates

In some sentences, however, replacing the commas with conjunctions yields a sentence that no longer makes sense. When this occurs, the describing words are  non-coordinate.

If one word holds more weight than the other, they are non-coordinate—also known as cumulative. Another easy way to test this is to switch the words around to see if the sentence still makes sense.

My  two red  skirts were in the laundry. My  two  and  red  skirts were in the laundry. My  red two  skirts were in the laundry.

Non-coordinates don’t need to be separated by a comma.

The Unspoken Order (mess with this at your peril!)

Native English speakers intuitively follow a particular order when using describing words in a sentence. Intriguingly, many of us aren’t even aware that there is an order, let alone that we’re complying with it.

For those learning English as a foreign language, however, it’s a bit of an uphill battle. To help make sense of it, the following list of adjectives follows the order used when forming sentences:

  • Determiner  —  a, an, the, that, some, six
  • Opinion  —  beautiful, easy, expensive, happy, angry, boring, strange
  • Size  —  large, small, tiny, deep, medium
  • Condition/Physical Quality  —  broken, cold, smooth, rich, poor, sharp, slow, heavy, light
  • Age  —  new, old, seven-year-old, modern, antique
  • Shape  —  round, square, oval, flat
  • Color  —  red, blue, monochrome, bright, dull
  • Pattern  —  striped, spotty, flowery, chevron, plaid
  • Origin  —  American, French, English, public, private
  • Material  —  gold, silver, cotton, silk, wooden
  • Type  —  general, four-sided, wireless
  • Purpose/Qualifier  —  sleeping, frying, hunting, swimming
  • Noun  —  bag, pan, hat, pool, woman, house
  • That is a  beautiful American  house. (opinion + origin + noun)
  • It’s a  tiny silver  ring. (size + material + noun)
  • I love  smooth, round  pebbles. (condition + shape + noun)

Note, however, that the order isn’t entirely set in stone. For example, you might find a list of adjectives that places shape before age.

More  resources on this can be found online, including handy downloadable charts. You can also check your word choice, grammar and punctuation with EasyBib Plus.

If in Doubt, Take it Out!

Just because you can use several words to modify one noun doesn’t mean that you should. No one wants their work to be described as ‘wordy’ or ‘flowery’!

Exercise restraint with subjective descriptors like  lovely, interesting  and  beautiful.  The ‘show don’t tell’ rule is an oldie but a goodie—rather than telling your reader that something is beautiful, show them what makes it so and trust that they’ll reach the same conclusion.

What Can an Adjective Add?

When you’ve finished trying to say that tongue twister ten times fast, let’s look at what the right word can add to a sentence.

  • Opinion  — a  beautiful  dress
  • Relative information  — a  huge  house
  • Factual information  — a  red  car
  • Detail  — a  shiny  floor
  • Context  —  old  toys
  • Purpose  — the  dining  table
  • Character traits  — a  patient  teacher

The Wonder Word

To define adjective solely as a describing word may, arguably, do it a disservice. Used correctly, it’s one of the most capable tools of the English language.

In addition to providing us with the super functional determiners ( a, her, those, that, some, etc.), they can also: clarify and articulate information; alter the meaning or context of a sentence; and turn tedious, flat tales into riveting, page-turning prose.

Here are some examples:

Alter the Meaning of a Sentence

The woman was wearing a dress.
The woman was wearing a  long, white wedding  dress.

The words  long, white  and  wedding  add meaning and clarity in the revised sentence. You could even take away the word  wedding  and the connotations of a  ‘long white dress’  would still remain.

Alter the Context of a Sentence

The girl was playing with  old, broken  toys.
The girl was playing with  shiny, new  toys.

These two sentences paint very different pictures, by merely changing the modifiers. If they were the first line of a story, they’d instantly conjure very different assumptions and set different moods.

Convey Information

John opened the door to his apartment.
John opened the door to his  expensive, new  apartment.

Transform Dull Prose

John opened the door to the house.
A  nervous  John opened the  heavy, creaking  door to the  spooky, old  house.

These wonder words have the power to change the impact of a sentence entirely!

Need more information on a determiner? Check out our  determiner  page from EasyBib Plus.

Flip Reverse With Adjectival Opposites

These words are masters of transformation, and you’ll see one of their most impressive tricks when you employ them to achieve the opposite meaning or, to add a degree of negativity.

  • Positive  — my  favorite  show
  • Negative  — my  least favorite  show
  • Positive  — my teacher is  patient
  • Negative  — my teacher is  not patient

Interestingly, you can convey a scale of meaning with this method.

My art teacher is  less patient  than my music teacher.

Prefixes can also be used to achieve the same result.

  • Patient  —  impatient
  • Alcoholic  —  non-alcoholic
  • Kind  —  unkind

Cool, Cooler or the Coolest?

Not content to present themselves in only one form, the not-so-humble adjectives can also be used to compare two or more nouns. Adjectives have three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, and superlative.

Positive/Absolute:  This is the standard base form of the word. Positive adjectives don’t compare anything. These include words such as  sunny, messy,  and  great , which describe an object in its own right. Other examples are:  red, hot, angry .

Comparative:  Comparative adjectives compare two or more objects by degree. Adjectives such as sunnier, messier, and greater are comparative.

Most adjectives can be made comparative by adding  –er  or  –ier  to the end. You may also need to double the final consonants. For example:  Big, bigger, biggest .

In some cases, adjectives must be preceded by comparative terms like  more  or  less . For example:  more interesting, less intelligent .

Superlative:  Superlative adjectives indicate that a noun has the highest degree of the quality being described. Examples include  sunniest, messiest , and  greatest.

You can typically make adjectives superlative by adding  –est  or  –iest . Some adjectives, however, must be preceded by  most  to become superlative.

Irregulars:  As seen in the examples above, most degrees of comparison can be formed by adding:

  • er  and  est  —  bright, brighter, brightest
  • r  and  st  —  brave, braver, bravest
  • Removing the  y  and adding  ier  and  iest  —  dry, drier, driest
  • By adding words such as  more  and  most

Some, however, don’t like to follow the rules. These words, known as  irregulars , express degrees of comparison with sometimes drastic changes in form.

  • Little, less, least
  • Bad, worse, worst

Forming comparatives or superlatives of words that already express an extreme of comparison is also a sticky subject.

If something is already  perfect , can it be  more perfect  or the  most perfect ? There’s a puzzle for the language philosophers among you!

To learn more about and other parts of speech, review our  grammar quick guide .

A Master of Disguise

Now here’s where things can get really tricky! Grammar is full of sneaky double agents—a verb or a noun can become a describing word, and a describing word can become a noun or an adverb. Confused? Let’s break it down.

Noun as a Descriptor

Sometimes a noun is used to describe another noun. The first noun then functions as the descriptor.

  • Thing  — a bar of  gold
  • Descriptor  — a  gold  necklace
  • Thing  — basketball
  • Descriptor  — a  basketball  player

Compound Nouns

In some cases these then become  compound nouns , which are recognized as single words because they need both words to convey their meaning accurately.

  • Thing  — wedding
  • Descriptor  —  wedding  dress — the word wedding modifies the noun dress.
  • Compound Noun  — wedding dress

Compound nouns can also be formed from a descriptor plus noun or a descriptor plus verb.

  • dry -cleaning
  • public -speaking

Participles

A participle is a word that has been formed from a verb but functions as a describing word.

  • Verb  — to run
  • Participle  —  running water  — the word running modifies the noun water.

Nominals precede a describing word with  the  and function as nouns.

  • Descriptor  — the  best  singer
  • Nominal  —  the best  is yet to come

You’ll notice that the word  best  is not modifying a noun in this sentence. Instead it is acting as the noun.

Collectives

Collectives are a sub-type of nominals that refer to a group sharing a certain characteristic.

  • Descriptor  — the  old  man
  • Collective  —  the old  may suffer health problems

Again,  the old  is acting as a noun to identify a group of people.

Flat Adverbs

A flat adverb doesn’t have the distinctive  ‘ly’  on the end of it, which allows it a double function as both adjectives and adverbs.

  • the  fast  car
  • he drove  fast

The Adjective Clause

This clause functions as a descriptor in a sentence, and includes a  verb  and a subject. It always begins with a relative pronoun ( who, whom, which, whichever, that, etc ) or a relative  adverb  ( where, when, why ). It’s a dependent clause, which means that it cannot stand alone as a sentence.

The jacket  that Todd bought yesterday  looked smart.

Notice that a descriptive clause doesn’t even have to contain a describing word—go figure!

Unusual Adjective Examples

If you’re still struggling with the question ‘what is an adjective?”, seeing examples may help! Or are you searching for a wonder-word that’s sure to impress your lecturer? Our unusual adjectives list might have the inspiration you need.

Adjectives That Start With A

  • Abhorrent  — offensive
  • Abject  — unfortunate
  • Adamant  — unyielding
  • Adroit  — skilful, clever
  • Auspicious  — lucky

Adjectives Starting With D

  • Decrepit  — worn out, ruined
  • Dapper  — smart dress and mannerisms
  • Decorous  — good manners and conduct
  • Didactic  — instructive
  • Draconian  — harsh

Adjectives That Start With E

  • Effulgent  — radiant
  • Efficacious  — having a striking effect
  • Equanimous  — balanced, calm
  • Erratic  — prone to sudden change
  • Execrable  — detestable, very bad

Adjectives That Start With N

  • Nebulous  — vague, lacking definition
  • Necessitous  — poor and needy
  • Nescient  — ignorant
  • Nefarious  — wicked
  • Noxious  — harmful, corrosive

Adjectives Starting With P

  • Parsimonious  — frugal
  • Pernicious  — harmful, deadly
  • Piquant  — stimulates taste or mind
  • Plucky  — brave
  • Precipitate  — steep, sudden, hasty

Adjectives That Start With U

  • Ubiquitous  — everywhere at once
  • Unvanquishable  — invincible, unbeatable
  • Uppity  — self-important
  • Urbane  — courteous
  • Utilitarian  — useful, practical

A thesaurus is your friend! Use one to find an adjective list and stop using the same tired words over and over. You can also check your word choice using EasyBib.

Still Struggling?

If you don’t have adjectives 100% nailed down just yet, or are still finding it difficult to answer the question ‘what are adjectives?’, don’t worry. Grammar is one of the most challenging aspects of the English language to learn, and it’s a long road to mastery. This guide is here to help you along your way, along with others such as our  research paper  and  interjection  pages.

An EasyBib Plus subscription comes with a useful online tool for checking grammar . If you want to try it before subscribing, simply upload your paper or essay for a free review with up to 5 grammar suggestions. An EasyBib Plus subscription also allows you to check for information that may need a citation, and offers tools and resources to help you create an  MLA annotated bibliography ,  MLA works cited , and  MLA in-text citation .

Don’t let grammar or unintentional plagiarism let you down. EasyBib Plus can help you ensure that you’re handing in your best work every time.

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Use of Adjectives in Abstracts when Reporting Results of Randomized, Controlled Trials from Industry and Academia

M. soledad cepeda.

1 Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 1125 Trenton Harbourton Road, Titusville, NJ 08560 USA

Jesse A. Berlin

2 Johnson & Johnson Chief Medical Office, 410 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 USA

Susan C. Glasser

3 Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 920 Rt 202, Raritan, NJ 08869 USA

Wendy P. Battisti

Martijn j. schuemie.

Accurate representation of study findings is crucial to preserve public trust. The language used to describe results could affect perceptions of the efficacy or safety of interventions. We sought to compare the adjectives used in clinical trial reports of industry-authored and non-industry-authored research.

We included studies in PubMed that were randomized trials and had an abstract. Studies were classified as “non-industry-authored” when all authors had academic or governmental affiliations, or as “industry-authored” when any of the authors had industry affiliations. Abstracts were analyzed using a part-of-speech tagger to identify adjectives. To reduce the risk of false positives, the analysis was restricted to adjectives considered relevant to “coloring” (influencing interpretation) of trial results. Differences between groups were determined using exact tests, stratifying by journal.

A total of 306,007 publications met the inclusion criteria. We were able to classify 16,789 abstracts; 9,085 were industry-authored research, and 7,704 were non-industry-authored research. We found a differential use of adjectives between industry-authored and non-industry-authored reports. Adjectives such as “well tolerated” and “meaningful” were more commonly used in the title or conclusion of the abstract by industry authors, while adjectives such as “feasible” were more commonly used by non-industry authors.

Conclusions

There are differences in the adjectives used when study findings are described in industry-authored reports compared with non-industry-authored reports. Authors should avoid overusing adjectives that could be inaccurate or result in misperceptions. Editors and peer reviewers should be attentive to the use of adjectives and assess whether the usage is context appropriate.

Accurate understanding of the efficacy and safety of health interventions is crucial for public health. Major impediments to such understanding include selective reporting of trial results and inadequate reporting of trial results. Publication of only studies that show benefit, known as publication bias, leads to overestimation of the efficacy of interventions. Inadequate reporting of trial results limits the ability of the reader to assess the validity of trial findings [ 1 , 2 ]. The CONSORT initiative [ 3 ] has led to improvements in the quality of reporting of trial results [ 4 , 5 ]. In addition, mandatory registration of clinical trials and mandatory publication of trial results are strategies implemented to diminish the impact of publication bias [ 6 ].

How trial results are described in publications may influence the reader’s perception of the efficacy and safety of interventions. For example, an intervention can be portrayed as beneficial in the publication despite having failed to differentiate statistically from placebo. In this type of bias, called spin bias, the reader is distracted from the non-significant results [ 7 ]. The language used to describe trial results could also affect perceptions of the efficacy or safety of health interventions as well as the quality of the study. We studied the vocabulary used to report trial results and compared it between two authorship groups (industry versus non-industry).

The objective of this study was to compare the adjectives used to report results of clinical trials between industry and non-industry (academia and government). We focused on adjectives because their use adds “color” (potentially biasing interpretation) to the description of study findings.

Inclusion Criteria

We included studies indexed in PubMed that were randomized, controlled trials; assessed humans; had an abstract; and were published in English. The search was conducted on October 7, 2013, without any time limit (all articles present in PubMed until that time). The PubMed query used to identify the studies was “English[lang] AND Randomized Controlled Trial[ptyp] AND humans[MeSH Terms] AND has abstract[text]”.

Classification of Abstracts

Studies were classified as industry-authored or non-industry-authored (academia and government), depending on the affiliation of the authors, using an automated algorithm. To determine the affiliation of an author, the affiliation field in PubMed was used to scan for word patterns indicating an industry (e.g., “janssen”, “johnson & johnson”), academic affiliation (e.g., “university”, “school”) or government (e.g., “centers? for disease control”, “u\\.?s\\.? agency”). Because the PubMed affiliation field contains the affiliation of only one of the authors and therefore could not be used as conclusive evidence in papers written by multiple authors, we supplemented the search for the authors’ affiliation, using PubMed Central ® . PubMed Central is a free full-text archive of biomedical journals and therefore lists the affiliations of each one of the authors of a manuscript. Appendix 1 contains the complete list of patterns used for the abstract classification.

For the abstracts not included in PubMed Central, we developed an algorithm to predict the affiliation of the authors. We assumed that if an author had a particular affiliation in one manuscript, that author would also have that affiliation in any other manuscript written by that author in the same year. Because there are no unique identifiers for authors in PubMed, we used an author name disambiguation algorithm similar to Authority [ 8 ], which models the probability that two articles sharing the same author name were written by the same individual. The probability was estimated using a random forest [ 9 ] classifier using these features as input: length of author name, author name frequency in Medline, similarity in MeSH terms, words in the title or words in the abstract, whether the paper was in the same journal, overlap of other authors, and time between publication in years. The classifier was trained on a set where positive cases were identified using author e-mail addresses (only available for very few authors), and negative controls cases were identified based on mismatch in author first name. The probability was subsequently used in a greedy cluster algorithm to group all papers by an author.

An abstract was classified as non-industry-authored when all authors of the publication had academic or government affiliations. An abstract was classified as industry-authored when any of the authors in the publication had an industry affiliation. Publications in which the algorithm found none of the patterns to classify an author, or found an author with affiliations to both industry and academia or government, were excluded from the analysis.

To assess the accuracy of the algorithm that predicted author affiliation, we selected a random sample of 250 abstracts and manually checked the affiliation of each one of the authors in the full manuscript and compared these results with the algorithm’s classification.

Adjective Selection

To compare the use of language between industry and non-industry authors, we downloaded the Medline database. The abstracts that met the inclusion criteria were run through the part-of-speech tagger of OpenNLP [ 10 ], which allowed us to classify the adjectives. OpenNLP uses the Penn Treebank tagset, and we considered all tokens with tags JJ (adjective), JJR (adjective, comparative) and JJS (adjective, superlative) [ 11 ]. OpenNLP is an open-source machine learning-based toolkit for the processing of natural language text, made available by the Apache Foundation. It has an overall accuracy of around 97 % [ 12 ]. We focused on abstracts because more people read the abstract than the whole article, and because only abstracts are available in Medline.

After extracting all adjectives from the abstracts, we selected a set of adjectives we considered relevant to coloring the results of a trial. This selection was performed independently by two authors (MSC and MS), after which discrepancies were resolved in conference. All subsequent analyses were limited to this set to reduce the risk of false positives. Examples of excluded adjectives are “viscous” and “intellectual”. The list of adjectives included and excluded is shown in Appendix 2 .

Location in the Abstract

To locate where in the abstract the differences in adjective use occurred, we looked separately at the title and conclusion. The title is clearly identified in PubMed records. For unstructured abstracts, the conclusion was considered to be in the last two sentences of the abstract. Sentences were detected using the OpenNLP toolkit [ 10 ].

To determine whether an adjective was used more often by industry or non-industry authors, we used an exact test for contingency tables [ 13 ], stratifying by journal to adjust for any differences in language in the different journals. This test is similar to the well-known Mantel–Haenszel test in that it tests for an overall difference between groups through differences within strata, but it uses an exact method, making it more robust for small numbers within each stratum. We further restricted the adjectives to those that were present in at least 100 papers in our final data set. Because of the large number of tests, we corrected for multiple testing, using Holm’s technique [ 14 ].

We also calculated a relative estimate. Values >1 mean that industry uses that adjective more. Values <1 mean that the adjective is used more often by academia and government. A value of exactly 1.0 would indicate equal use by both groups of authors. We report 95 % confidence intervals (CIs), but these intervals are not adjusted for multiple testing.

We further computed the average number of “colored” adjectives used in the title and abstract, where any adjective that was used multiple times in an abstract was counted multiple times. For this analysis, we used all adjectives we considered relevant, including those that appeared in fewer than 100 articles.

Source of Funding

Using authors’ affiliation is one way to classify studies as either industry or non-industry. Funding of the study is another way. PubMed identifies financial support of the research, but it would only allow for a US-government and non-US-government funding classification. Sources of financial support are often listed in the full manuscript. For the subset of abstracts that had the full-text articles in PubMed Central, we identified the source of funding and then compared that classification with our affiliation-based classification to provide an estimate of the degree of potential discordance. For example, a trial conducted by an academic institute may be authored by academicians only but funded by a pharmaceutical company. Under the affiliation classification, the research would be considered as non-industry, while under the sponsorship classification, it would be considered as industry. Because the information was only available for a limited number of abstracts, we could not conduct sensitivity analyses, but we are reporting the findings.

A total of 306,007 publications met the inclusion criteria. We were able to classify 16,789 abstracts; 9,085 were classified as industry, and 7,704 were classified as non-industry. The algorithm correctly identified 235 of the 250 manuscripts sampled for accuracy (15 were incorrectly assessed as non-industry-authored), indicating that the accuracy of the classifying algorithm was 94 % with a Kappa value of 0.88 (Table  1 ).

Table 1

Assessment of the accuracy of the automated algorithm to classify abstracts as “industry-authored” and “non-industry-authored”, compared with a manual classification, in a subsample of abstracts

The abstracts were published from 1981 to 2013, and 92.5 % were published in 2000 or after. The abstracts were published in 1,788 journals, and 50 % were published in 98 journals. Appendix 3 provides the list of journals, with the number of abstracts by journal.

The 16,789 abstracts had a total of 4,690 adjectives: 298 were considered relevant by both of the authors (see Appendix 4 ), and 72 adjectives were present in at least 100 papers in our final data set and were analyzed (Table  2 ). With few exceptions, these were positive adjectives.

Table 2

Adjectives in the final analysis, with the numbers of abstracts in which each adjective appears

The use of adjectives differed between industry and non-industry (Table  3 ). Ten adjectives located in the title or conclusion, and 15 adjectives located anywhere in the abstract, had relative use values >1, indicating preferential use by industry. Most notably, adjectives such as “well tolerated” and “meaningful” were more commonly used by industry-authored reports in the title or conclusion of the abstracts [relative use 5.20 (CI 2.73–10.03) and 3.08 (CI 1.73–5.44), respectively], whereas adjectives such as “feasible” were more commonly used in abstracts classified as non-industry-authored [relative use 0.34 (CI 0.18–0.6)]. Adjectives such as “successful” and “usual” were also more commonly used by non-industry, when considering the abstract overall [relative use 0.46 (CI 0.31–0.68) and 0.40 (CI 0.30–0.53), respectively] (Table  3 ).

Table 3

Adjectives favored by industry or non-industry (academia and government) by location in the abstract

The numbers represent a relative estimate: >1 means favored by industry; <1 means favored by non-industry. The adjectives shown in bold text are more commonly used by non-industry authors

All of the adjectives in this table are statistically significant between industry and non-industry after adjustment for multiple testing

Confidence intervals are not adjusted for multiple testing

Results are stratified by journal to adjust for differences in language in the different journals

Examples of the contexts in which the adjectives were used in the title or conclusion of the abstract are presented in Table  4 .

Table 4

Selected examples of the context of adjective use in the abstract

On average, there were 2.6 “colored” adjectives in each abstract, and this number was the same for both industry-authored and non-industry-authored research.

When we estimated the degree of potential discordance between abstracts classified by author affiliation or by source of funding, we found that of the 16,789 abstracts that we could classify as industry-authored or non-industry-authored research, only 189 (1.1 %) had the full text available in PubMed Central and disclosed either partial or total funding by industry; 16 % of these studies were classified as being from non-industry when looking at authors’ affiliations.

There are differences in the adjectives used when study findings are described in industry-authored compared with non-industry-authored reports. Certain adjectives are five times more commonly used by industry, although, on average, both groups of authors use the same number of “colored” adjectives.

The differences in the adjectives used that were noted in the present study support anecdotal evidence about the way results of clinical trials are reported by industry. The Medical Publishing Insights and Practices (MPIP) initiative in 2012 recommended avoiding broad statements such as “generally safe and well tolerated” [ 15 ] when reporting trial results—precisely the type of adjectives we found were more commonly used by industry. The MPIP initiative was founded by members of the pharmaceutical industry and the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals to elevate trust, transparency, and integrity in publishing industry-sponsored studies. Describing an intervention as “well tolerated”, which is the adjective with the largest use in industry-authored manuscripts compared with academic or government-authored manuscripts—although accurate in certain circumstances, considering the nature of the trials conducted by industry—might not be generalizable to the broader population when the trial is small, when relatively “healthy” or “stable” participants are recruited (compared with the broader population with the target indication), or when the follow-up is short.

The use of those adjectives (such as “acceptable”, “meaningful”, “potent”, or “safe”) more commonly present in industry-authored reports than in non-industry-authored reports could suggest that industry-authored reports tend to focus on the positive aspects of the health intervention being evaluated. However, the differences in adjective use could also reflect variations in the types of trials conducted by industry and academic or governmental institutions. Industry studies tend to focus on drugs or devices, while non-industry work is likely to be more inclusive of other types of heath interventions. By controlling for journal, we adjusted partially for potential differences in the studies.

We used the affiliation of the authors to classify publications as industry-authored and non-industry-authored. Even if one author out of many was from industry, the paper was classified as industry-authored. Although this approach could seem extreme, it has also been recommended by others [ 16 ]. It might seem preferable to look at the source of funding instead of the author affiliation; however, this approach too has its shortcomings. Funding mechanisms are complex, some journals do not report funding sources, full reporting of all sources of financial support is not complete, and there are different levels of support, from unrestricted educational grants to support that includes input of the manufacturers into trial designs, conduct of the analysis and publication [ 16 , 17 ]. We assessed how many of the abstracts in which the full manuscript reported support from industry were classified as being non-industry in origin. We found that 16 % of those papers with industry support were classified as being from non-industry. It is difficult to predict the direction of bias related to any potential misclassification because of the shortcomings listed above, but in the worst-case scenario, it would lead to an underestimation of the relative measure and consequently to a smaller set of adjectives because of loss of power.

The results of this study are based on assessing the abstract instead of the full paper. Many readers just read the abstract of the published article and may be influenced by it, so we argue that it is an important place to look for differences in reporting style. The results of a study that assessed the impact of “spin” on interpretation of cancer trials showed that clinicians’ interpretation was affected by reading the abstracts of the trials [ 18 ]. In addition, the study focused on randomized, controlled trials, thus the findings may not apply to other types of study designs.

The present study was limited to counting adjectives and assessing the difference in those counts in industry-authored and non-industry-authored reports. Although we have provided some examples to illustrate how they were used, the study ignored the context of the usage. A thematic analysis could allow detection of patterns, and a critical review of the full text of the paper could determine whether the use of the adjectives was indeed appropriate in view of the data or what it is known in the field.

We assessed a very large number of abstracts and found differences in how study findings are described by industry-affiliated authors as compared with non-industry-affiliated authors. The language used to describe trial results could affect perceptions of the efficacy or safety of health interventions. Authors should avoid overusing adjectives that could be inaccurate or potentially lead to misperceptions. Editors and peer reviewers should be attentive to the use of adjectives in the abstract (and the manuscript in its entirety) and assess whether their use is appropriate.

Acknowledgments and declaration of competing interests

All authors are employees of Janssen Research & Development, LLC, except for Jesse A. Berlin, who is an employee of Johnson & Johnson, the parent company of Janssen Research & Development, LLC.

Author Contributions

MSC: study conception and design, interpretation of study findings, manuscript preparation.

JAB: interpretation of study findings, revising manuscript critically for important intellectual content.

SCG: interpretation of study findings, revising manuscript critically for important intellectual content.

WPB: interpretation of study findings, revising manuscript critically for important intellectual content.

MS: study design and execution, analysis, interpretation of study findings, manuscript preparation.

All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Appendix 1: Industry and academic/governmental affiliation patterns

Patterns with symbols represent standard regular expressions (a pattern used to search for text)

Appendix 2: All adjectives present in the analyzed abstracts

17beta-estradiol

1-compartment

25-hydroxyvitamin

2-compartment

3-dimensional

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl

3-treatment

5alpha-reductase

5-fluorouracil

5-hydroxyindoleacetic

5-hydroxymethyl

5-hydroxytryptamine

5-lipoxygenase

µ-opioid

abatacept-treated

abbreviated

abiraterone

accompanying

acetylsalicylic

acid-related

acid-suppressive

active-comparator-controlled

active-control

active-controlled

activity-related

acute-phase

adalimumab-treated

adjudicated

administrative

adp-induced

advantageous

aerosolized

aforementioned

african-american

age-adjusted

age-appropriate

age-dependent

age-matched

age-related

age-specific

alcohol-dependent

alcohol-free

alcohol-related

aldosterone

alendronate

allergen-specific

all-patients-treated

alpha-linolenic

alternative

amino-terminal

aminotransferase

amodiaquine

anaesthetic

anastomotic

anastrozole

anchor-based

anesthetized

angiographic

angioplasty

angiotensin-converting

ankle-brachial

antagonistic

anteroposterior

anthropometric

antianginal

anti-angiogenic

antiarrhythmic

anti-atherogenic

antibacterial

anticalculus

anticholinergic

anticipated

anticipatory

anti-circumsporozoite

anticoagulant

antidepressant

antidepressive

antidiabetic

anti-diabetic

antiepileptic

anti-factor

antifracture

antigen-specific

antihistamine

anti-hpv-16

antihyperglycaemic

antihyperglycemic

antihypertensive

anti-hypertensive

antiinflammatory

anti-inflammatory

anti-influenza

anti-interleukin-1ß

antimalarial

anti-malarial

antimicrobial

antimigraine

antimuscarinic

antimycobacterial

antineoplastic

antinociceptive

antioxidant

antioxidative

antiparkinsonian

anti-plaque

antiplatelet

anti-platelet

antipsychotic

antipyretic

antiresorptive

antiretroviral

anti-retroviral

antiretroviral-experienced

antiretroviral-naïve

antiretroviral-naive

antirheumatic

anti-rheumatic

antisecretory

antithrombin

antithrombotic

anti-tnf-alpha

anti-tumour

apolipoprotein

appreciable

appropriate

approximate

arachidonic

ar-c124910xx

arginine-stimulated

aripiprazole

aripiprazole-treated

artemether-lumefantrine

artemisinin-based

arteriovenous

artesunate-amodiaquine

arthroplasty

arthroscopic

as03a-adjuvanted

as03-adjuvanted

as04-adjuvanted

ascending-dose

aspirin-treated

assessor-blind

assessor-blinded

associative

asthma-related

asthma-specific

asymptomatic

atenolol-based

atherogenic

atherosclerotic

atherothrombotic

atomoxetine

atomoxetine-treated

atorvastatin

atp-binding

atrioventricular

attentional

attributable

autobiographical

ß

ß2-agonist

ß-cell

azithromycin

bactericidal

bacteriologic

bacteriological

basal-bolus

baseline-adjusted

baseline-corrected

baseline-to-endpoint

behavioural

best-corrected

beta2-agonist

beta-adrenergic

beta-agonist

beta-carotene

beta-haemolytic

between-patient

between-subject

bidirectional

biexponential

b-inactivated

binding-adjusted

bioavailable

biochemical

bioelectrical

bioequivalent

biomechanical

biopsy-confirmed

biopsy-proven

bioresorbable

bisphosphonate

biventricular

bladder-related

blend-a-med

blinded-endpoint

bone-specific

bp-lowering

brain-derived

broad-spectrum

bronchoalveolar

bronchodilatory

bronchopulmonary

bronchoscopic

bupivacaine

caffeinated

cancer-related

cancer-specific

cannabinoid

capsaicin-induced

carbohydrate

carcinoembryonic

cardiometabolic

cardioprotective

cardiopulmonary

cardiorespiratory

cardio-respiratory

cardiovascular

care-as-usual

castration-resistant

categorical

catheter-related

cause-specific

ccr5-tropic

cefaclor-treated

cell-derived

cell-mediated

centralised

centralized

cerebrospinal

cerebrovascular

cerivastatin

certolizumab

cervicovaginal

challenging

characteristic

chemotherapeutic

chemotherapy-induced

chemotherapy-naive

chiropractic

chi-squared

chloroquine

cholesterol-lowering

cholinergic

ciprofloxacin

circumferential

circumsporozoite

cisplatin-induced

clarithromycin

clinic-based

clinician-administered

clinician-rated

clopidogrel

clopidogrel-treated

closed-loop

cluster-randomised

cluster-randomized

coadministered

co-administered

cochran-mantel-haenszel

coefficient

cognitive-behavioral

cognitive-behavioural

cold-adapted

collaborative

collagen-induced

colonoscopy

colony-forming

colony-stimulating

colposcopic

comfortable

community-acquired

community-based

community-dwelling

community-living

comparative

comparator-controlled

comparator-treated

compartmental

compensated

compensatory

competitive

complementary

complicated

comprehensive

compromised

computational

computer-assisted

computer-based

computer-generated

computerised

computerized

computer-tailored

concentrated

concentration-dependent

concentration-effect

concentration-time

concentration-versus-time

concomitant

conditional

condition-specific

confirmative

confirmatory

conflicting

confounding

conjunctival

consecutive

consensus-based

conservative

considerable

constitutional

constraint-induced

contemporary

contraceptive

contradictory

contralateral

contrast-enhanced

controversial

conventional

cooperative

coordinated

corresponding

corticospinal

corticosteroid

cost-effective

cost-saving

counterbalanced

cross-clade

cross-cultural

cross-linked

cross-reactive

cross-sectional

crystalloid

culture-confirmed

culture-positive

cyclooxygenase-2

cyclo-oxygenase-2

cyclophosphamide

cyclosporine

cytogenetic

cytological

cytoplasmic

d-amphetamine

dapagliflozin

darifenacin

data-driven

d-conjugate

debilitating

decaffeinated

decision-making

declarative

decompensated

degenerative

deleterious

demographic

demonstrable

denosumab-treated

depression-related

dermatological

dermatology-specific

descriptive

desloratadine

desvenlafaxine

detrimental

devastating

developmental

dexlansoprazole

dextromethorphan

diabetes-related

diabetes-specific

dichotomous

diet-induced

diet-treated

differential

differentiate

differentiated

difficult-to-treat

dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine

diphtheria-tetanus-acellular

dipropionate

direct-acting

directional

dirithromycin-treated

disadvantaged

disappointing

discernible

discontinued

discriminant

discriminative

discriminatory

disease-free

disease-modifying

disease-related

disease-specific

dispersible

dispositional

disproportionate

dissatisfied

disseminated

dissociable

distinctive

distressing

distribution-based

docosahexaenoic

doctor-patient

dopaminergic

dorsolateral

dorzolamide

dorzolamide-timolol

dose-adjusted

dose-dependent

dose-effect

dose-escalating

dose-finding

dose-independent

dose-limiting

dose-linear

dose-normalized

dose-proportional

dose-ranging

dose-related

double-blind

double-blinded

double-dummy

double-masked

down-regulated

doxorubicin

drug-eluting

drug-induced

drug-naïve

drug-related

drug-resistant

dsm-iv-defined

dsm-iv-tr-defined

dual-chamber

dual-energy

dual-therapy

duloxetine-treated

dutasteride

dysfunctional

dyslipidemic

early-onset

early-phase

early-stage

echocardiographic

educational

effect-site

effervescent

efficacious

eicosapentaenoic

electrocardiographic

electrochemical

electroconvulsive

electroencephalographic

electrolyte

electromagnetic

electromyographic

electrophysiological

enantioselective

encapsulated

encouraging

end-diastolic

end-expiratory

end-of-study

endometrial

endothelial

endothelium-dependent

endotracheal

endovascular

end-systolic

energy-restricted

english-speaking

enteric-coated

enterohepatic

environmental

enzyme-linked

eosinophilic

epidemiological

equianalgesic

er-positive

erythrocyte

erythromycin

erythromycin-treated

erythropoiesis-stimulating

erythropoietic

esomeprazole

established

euglycaemic

euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic

evaluator-blind

evaluator-blinded

event-driven

event-related

every-2-week

evidence-based

evolutionary

exacerbated

exaggerated

examiner-blind

examiner-blinded

exercise-based

exercise-induced

exercise-related

experienced

experimental

explanatory

explorative

exploratory

exponential

extracellular

extracorporeal

extrahepatic

extrapyramidal

extravascular

face-to-face

facilitated

facility-based

fall-related

false-positive

family-based

family-focused

fda-approved

fenofibrate

fesoterodine

fexofenadine

fibrinolytic

fidaxomicin

fifty-eight

filamentous

film-coated

finasteride

first-degree

first-episode

first-generation

first-in-class

first-in-human

first-in-man

first-order

first-phase

five-period

flexible-dose

flow-mediated

fluconazole

fluorescent

fluoroscopic

fluoxetine-treated

follicle-stimulating

followed-up

food-effect

force-titrated

formula-fed

forty-eight

four-period

four-treatment

fractionated

free-living

free-radical

fulvestrant

fundamental

gag-specific

gamma-aminobutyric

gastroduodenal

gastroesophageal

gastrointestinal

gastro-intestinal

gastrointestinal-related

gastro-oesophageal

gelatinase-associated

gel-forming

genant-modified

gender-matched

generalisable

generalised

generalizable

generalized

gene-related

genome-wide

geographical

gestational

gh-deficient

gh-releasing

glaxosmithkline

glucagon-like

glucocorticoid

glucocorticoid-induced

glucodynamic

glucoregulatory

glucose-6-phosphate

glucose-dependent

glucose-lowering

glucose-related

glucose-stimulated

glutamatergic

glycosylated

goal-directed

g-protein-coupled

gram-negative

gram-positive

granulocyte

group-based

guideline-based

gynaecological

gynecological

h2-receptor

haematological

haemodynamic

haemoglobin

haemophilus

haemostatic

haloperidol

haloperidol-controlled

haloperidol-treated

hbeag-positive

hcv-infected

head-to-head

health-care

health-promoting

health-related

heartburn-free

heat-sensitive

hematological

hematopoietic

hemodynamic

hemorrhagic

hepatocellular

heptavalent

her2-negative

her2-positive

heterogeneous

heterologous

heterosexual

heterozygous

hierarchical

high-calcium

high-calorie

high-carbohydrate

high-density

high-energy

higher-dose

higher-order

high-intensity

high-performance

high-pressure

high-protein

high-quality

high-resolution

high-sensitivity

high-throughput

hippocampal

histological

histomorphometric

histopathological

hiv-1-infected

hiv-infected

hiv-negative

hiv-positive

hiv-related

hiv-seronegative

hiv-specific

homeopathic

homeostatic

homogeneous

hormone-receptor-positive

hormone-sensitive

hospital-acquired

hospital-based

hospitalized

human-bovine

hydrochloride

hydrochlorothiazide

hydrocodone

hydrophilic

hydroxyapatite

hydroxyapatite-coated

hydroxychloroquine

hydroxynefazodone

hypercholesterolaemic

hypercholesterolemic

hyperglycaemic

hyperglycemic

hyperinsulinaemic

hyperinsulinemic

hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic

hyperlipidemic

hypertensive

hypertrophic

hypocaloric

hypoglycaemic

hypoglycemic

hypogonadal

hypotensive

hypothalamic

hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal

hypothesized

hypothetical

ibandronate

ifnß-1b

ige-mediated

il-1ß

iloperidone

immediate-release

immune-mediated

immune-related

immunocompetent

immunocompromised

immunogenic

immunohistochemical

immunologic

immunological

immunomodulatory

immunoreactive

immunosorbent

immunostimulatory

immunosuppressant

immunosuppressive

immunotherapy

implantable

implementation

inactivated

inadvertent

inappropriate

inattentive

incompatible

inconclusive

incongruent

inconsistent

incontinent

incorporate

incorporated

incorporating

incremental

indacaterol

independent

indistinguishable

individualised

individualized

individual-level

individually-tailored

indocyanine

indomethacin

industrialized

ineffective

inefficient

inexpensive

inexperienced

infection-related

inflammatory

infliximab-treated

influential

influenza-like

informational

informative

infusion-related

inhalational

inhibitor-1

inhibitor-based

in-hospital

injection-site

insecticide-treated

insensitive

insignificant

inspiratory

instantaneous

institutional

instructional

instructive

instrumental

instrumented

insufficient

insulin-dependent

insulinemic

insulin-independent

insulin-induced

insulin-like

insulin-mediated

insulin-naïve

insulin-naive

insulinogenic

insulin-resistant

insulin-sensitizing

insulin-stimulated

insulin-treated

integrative

intellectual

intentional

intention-to-treat

intent-to-treat

interactive

intercellular

interchangeable

intercompartmental

intercostal

interdisciplinary

interesting

interferon-inducible

interindividual

inter-individual

interleukin

interleukin-1

interleukin-10

interleukin-1ß

interleukin-2

intermediate

intermediate-acting

intermittent

international

internet-based

internet-delivered

interpatient

inter-patient

interpersonal

interpretable

interproximal

interquartile

interrupted

interstitial

intersubject

inter-subject

interventional

interview-based

intolerable

intraabdominal

intra-abdominal

intra-arterial

intraarticular

intra-articular

intracellular

intracerebral

intracoronary

intracortical

intracranial

intractable

intracytoplasmic

intradermal

intraepithelial

intragastric

intrahepatic

intraindividual

intra-individual

intramuscular

intramyocellular

intraocular

intraoperative

intra-operative

intraperitoneal

intrapulmonary

intrasubject

intra-subject

intrathecal

intratumoral

intrauterine

intravaginal

intravascular

intravenous

intraventricular

intravitreal

in-treatment

investigational

investigative

investigator-administered

investigator-blind

investigator-blinded

investigator-initiated

investigator-rated

involuntary

iontophoretic

iop-lowering

ipsilateral

irrespective

irreversible

isoenergetic

isosorbide-5-mononitrate

kaplan-meier

ketoconazole

laboratory-based

laboratory-confirmed

lactobacilli

lactobacillus

lamotrigine

lansoprazole

laparoscopic

large-scale

laropiprant

laryngoscopy

last-observation-carried-forward

latanoprost

latin-square

ldl-cholesterol

ldl-c-lowering

least-square

leisure-time

lersivirine

life-threatening

lipid-altering

lipid-lowering

lipid-modifying

live-attenuated

locoregional

logarithmic

log-transformed

long-acting

longer-term

longitudinal

long-lasting

long-standing

loracarbef-treated

low-calorie

low-carbohydrate

low-density

low-glycemic

low-intensity

low-molecular-weight

lumiracoxib

lymphoblastic

lymphoproliferative

macronutrient

macrovascular

maladaptive

malaria-endemic

malaria-naïve

malnourished

mammographic

manipulative

mantel-haenszel

mathematical

maximum-tolerated

meal-induced

meal-related

mechanism-based

mechanistic

mediastinal

medication-free

medium-term

meningococcal

metered-dose

metformin-treated

methicillin-resistant

methicillin-susceptible

methodological

methotrexate

methotrexate-naive

metronidazole

metropolitan

mf59-adjuvanted

microbiologic

microbiological

microcirculatory

micronutrient

microscopic

microvascular

middle-aged

migraine-associated

migraine-related

migraine-specific

mild-moderate

mild-to-moderate

mindfulness-based

mini-mental

mitochondrial

mitogen-activated

mixed-effect

mixed-effects

mixed-model

mobile-bearing

model-based

moderate-dose

moderate-fat

moderate-intensity

moderate-to-severe

moderate-to-vigorous

moisturizing

monocentric

mononuclear

monotherapy

monounsaturated

monoxide-confirmed

montelukast

morphine-induced

morphological

morphometric

motivational

moxifloxacin

multicenter

multi-center

multicentered

multicentre

multi-centre

multicentric

multicompartmental

multicomponent

multi-component

multidimensional

multidisciplinary

multi-disciplinary

multidrug-resistant

multi-ethnic

multifaceted

multi-faceted

multifactorial

multi-factorial

multifunctional

multi-institutional

multikinase

multi-level

multinational

multinomial

multiple-ascending

multiple-choice

multiple-dose

multi-professional

multi-stage

multitargeted

multivalent

multivariable

multivariable-adjusted

multivariate

multivariate-adjusted

musculoskeletal

mycobacterial

mycophenolate

mycophenolic

myelodysplastic

myelogenous

naïve

nasogastric

nasopharyngeal

nateglinide

natriuretic

naturalistic

near-infrared

near-maximal

neoadjuvant

neovascular

neuraminidase

neurobehavioral

neurobiological

neurochemical

neurocognitive

neurodevelopmental

neuroendocrine

neurohormonal

neuroimaging

neuroleptic

neurological

neuromuscular

neuropathic

neurophysiological

neuroprotective

neuropsychiatric

neuropsychological

neurosensory

neurosurgical

neurotrophic

neurovascular

neutralizing

neutropenic

next-generation

niacin-induced

ninety-eight

nnrti-resistant

nociceptive

node-positive

nonadherent

nonadjuvanted

non-adjuvanted

nonalcoholic

non-alcoholic

non-blinded

non-clinical

non-communicable

noncomparative

noncompartmental

non-compartmental

non-coronary

nondepressed

nondiabetic

non-diabetic

non-disabled

non-dominant

non-elderly

non-exercise

non-hematological

non-high-density

non-hispanic

non-hodgkin

noninfectious

noninferior

non-inferior

non-inferiority

non-inflammatory

non-insulin

non-insulin-dependent

non-intervention

noninvasive

non-invasive

non-japanese

non-malignant

non-medical

nonmetastatic

non-neuropathic

nonnucleoside

non-nucleoside

non-palpable

nonparametric

non-parametric

non-peptide

non-pharmaceutical

nonpharmacological

non-pharmacological

non-platinum

nonpregnant

non-pregnant

non-prescription

nonprogressive

non-progressive

nonpsychotic

non-randomised

nonrandomized

non-randomized

non-responder

non-response

nonresponsive

nonselective

non-selective

non-serious

nonsignificant

non-significant

non-small-cell

non-smoking

nonspecific

non-specific

nonsquamous

non-squamous

nonsteroidal

non-steroidal

nonstructural

non-st-segment

non-supervised

nonsurgical

non-surgical

non-tailored

non-traumatic

non-treatment

nontypeable

non-typeable

non-vaccine

nonvertebral

noradrenergic

norepinephrine

norethindrone

norethisterone

norfloxacin

norgestimate

normal-weight

normotensive

no-treatment

n-telopeptide

nulliparous

nurse-delivered

nutritional

obesity-related

objectively

observational

observer-blind

observer-blinded

observer-masked

obsessive-compulsive

obstetrical

obstructive

occupational

oesophageal

office-based

olanzapine-fluoxetine

olanzapine-treated

oligonucleotide

omalizumab-treated

once-monthly

once-weekly

once-yearly

one-compartment

on-treatment

open-labeled

operational

opioid-induced

opioid-related

opportunistic

oppositional

opsonophagocytic

orbitofrontal

organisational

organizational

oropharyngeal

orthopaedic

orthostatic

oscillatory

oseltamivir

osteoporotic

out-of-pocket

out-patient

overlapping

over-the-counter

oxaliplatin

oxaliplatin-based

oxygen-derived

p450-mediated

pain-related

paliperidone

paper-based

paradoxical

parallel-arm

parallel-group

parasitological

parasympathetic

parent-child

parent-focused

parent-reported

paroxetine-controlled

particulate

patellofemoral

pathological

pathophysiological

patient-blinded

patient-centered

patient-centred

patient-controlled

patient-level

patient-perceived

patient-rated

patient-related

patient-reported

patient-specific

pcr-corrected

peak-to-trough

peak-trough

pedometer-based

pegfilgrastim

penetrating

pentavalent

perceptible

percutaneous

performance-based

periodontal

perioperative

peri-operative

periprocedural

periprosthetic

per-patient

per-protocol

personalised

personalized

pertussis-inactivated

p-glycoprotein

pharmaceutical

pharmacist-led

pharmacodynamic

pharmacoeconomic

pharmacogenetic

pharmacogenomic

pharmacokinetic

pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic

pharmacologic

pharmacological

pharmacoscintigraphic

ph-dependent

phospholipid

phosphorylated

photodamaged

photodynamic

photographic

physician-assessed

physician-patient

physicochemical

physiologic

physiological

physiotherapy

placebo-adjusted

placebo-controlled

placebo-corrected

placebo-subtracted

placebo-treated

platelet-rich

platinum-based

platinum-sensitive

pleiotropic

pneumococcal

point-of-care

polymorphic

polysomnographic

polyunsaturated

population-based

population-level

population-specific

posaconazole

positive-controlled

postabsorptive

post-baseline

post-brushing

post-challenge

post-discharge

post-dosing

posterolateral

post-exercise

post-exposure

postherpetic

post-intervention

postmenopausal

post-menopausal

postmenstrual

postoperative

post-operative

postoperatively

post-operatively

postprandial

post-prandial

post-primary

postprocedural

post-stroke

postsurgical

posttherapy

post-therapy

post-training

post-transplant

posttraumatic

post-traumatic

post-treatment

practice-based

pramlintide

pramlintide-treated

pravastatin

pre-brushing

precancerous

preclinical

pre-clinical

pre-defined

predetermined

pre-determined

predictable

prednisolone

predominant

pre-emptive

pre-erythrocytic

pre-exercise

pre-existing

preference-based

preferential

pregabalin-treated

prehospital

prehypertensive

pre-intervention

preliminary

premalignant

premenopausal

premenstrual

preoperative

pre-operative

prepandemic

preparatory

pre-planned

preprandial

pre-pregnancy

prepubertal

preservative-free

prespecified

pre-specified

pressurised

pressurized

presumptive

presystemic

pretreatment

pre-treatment

pre-vaccination

preventable

preventative

prime-boost

primiparous

print-based

probabilistic

problematic

problem-solving

procedure-related

professional

profibrinolytic

progression-free

progressive

proinflammatory

pro-inflammatory

prolactin-related

proliferative

proliferator-activated

propellant-free

prophylactic

proportional

proprietary

proprioceptive

prospective

prospectively

prostate-specific

protease-activated

prothrombin

protocol-defined

protocol-specified

prototypical

provisional

provocative

psychiatric

psychodynamic

psychoeducational

psycho-educational

psychological

psychometric

psychophysical

psychophysiological

psychosocial

psycho-social

psychotherapeutic

psychotropic

pylori-negative

quadrivalent

qualitative

quality-adjusted

quality-of-life

quantifiable

quantitative

quasi-experimental

questionable

rabeprazole

radioactive

radiographic

radiolabeled

radiolabelled

radiological

radiostereometric

radiotherapy

randomised-controlled

randomized-controlled

ranibizumab

ranibizumab-treated

ranitidine-treated

rapid-acting

reactogenic

reassortant

receiver-operating

recent-onset

receptor-mediated

receptor-positive

recombinant

recommended

recreational

recurrence-free

rehabilitative

relapse-free

relapsing-remitting

remifentanil

remifentanil-based

renoprotective

repeat-dose

repeated-dose

representative

reproducible

reproductive

residential

resistance-associated

resource-limited

respiratory

responsible

restorative

restrictive

retrospective

reward-related

right-handed

risedronate

rising-dose

risk-benefit

risperidone

risperidone-treated

ritonavir-boosted

rivaroxaban

rivastigmine

rizatriptan

role-emotional

role-physical

romiplostim

safety-related

satisfactory

scale-cognitive

scale-revised

schizoaffective

schizophrenic

school-aged

school-based

scintigraphic

screen-detected

second-generation

second-line

second-phase

second-year

seizure-free

self-administered

self-assessed

self-completed

self-directed

self-efficacy

self-esteem

self-identified

self-limited

self-limiting

self-management

self-monitored

self-monitoring

self-perceived

self-report

self-reported

self-selected

semi-automated

semiquantitative

semi-quantitative

semistructured

semi-structured

sensorineural

sepsis-induced

sequestered

serological

seronegative

seropositive

seroprotective

serotonergic

serotype-specific

seven-point

seventy-eight

seventy-five

seventy-one

seventy-two

sevoflurane

sex-matched

sex-related

sex-specific

sham-controlled

sham-treated

short-acting

short-course

short-lived

sick-listed

side-effect

signal-regulated

signed-rank

significant

simultaneous

simvastatin

single-agent

single-ascending

single-blind

single-blinded

single-center

single-centre

single-dose

single-item

single-level

single-masked

single-nucleotide

single-pill

single-rooted

single-site

sirolimus-eluting

site-specific

sixty-eight

skeletal-related

sleep-related

small-molecule

smear-positive

smoking-related

social-cognitive

sociodemographic

socio-demographic

socioeconomic

socio-economic

sodium-glucose

soft-tissue

solid-phase

somatosensory

sophisticated

spanish-speaking

spatiotemporal

specialised

specialized

spectrometric

spirometric

split-mouth

split-virion

spontaneous

stand-alone

standard-dose

standardised

standardized

standard-of-care

staphylococcal

statin-induced

statin-treated

statistical

steady-state

stereoselective

stereotactic

stimulating

stimulatory

strain-specific

streptococcal

stress-induced

stress-related

study-specific

subacromial

subarachnoid

subclinical

sub-clinical

subcutaneous

subepithelial

subject-reported

subject-specific

sub-optimal

sub-saharan

substantial

substantive

subthalamic

subtherapeutic

subthreshold

sub-threshold

sugar-sweetened

sumatriptan

superficial

superimposable

superimposed

supplemental

supplementary

supplemented

suppressive

supragingival

supratherapeutic

supraventricular

susceptible

sustainable

symmetrical

sympathetic

symptomatic

symptom-based

symptom-free

symptom-related

synchronous

synergistic

system-related

t1-weighted

tailor-made

target-controlled

task-related

t-cell-mediated

telephone-based

telephone-delivered

tension-type

terbinafine

terfenadine

teriparatide

test-of-cure

testosterone

tetravalent

theoretical

theory-based

therapeutic

therapeutical

therapy-naive

thermogenic

third-party

thirty-eight

threatening

three-armed

three-dimensional

three-month

three-period

three-treatment

thrice-daily

thromboembolic

thrombolytic

tibiofemoral

time-averaged

time-dependent

time-limited

time-matched

time-weighted

tissue-selective

t-lymphocyte

tocilizumab

tofacitinib

tolterodine

traditional

training-induced

transarterial

transcranial

transcriptional

transcutaneous

transdermal

transepidermal

transfusional

transitional

translational

transluminal

transmitted

transparent

transporter-mediated

transrectal

transtheoretical

transthoracic

transurethral

transvaginal

treatment-associated

treatment-as-usual

treatment-emergent

treatment-experienced

treatment-free

treatment-induced

treatment-naïve

treatment-naive

treatment-related

treatment-resistant

triple-blind

triple-therapy

troublesome

tuberculous

twelve-month

twenty-eight

twice-a-day

twice-daily

twice-weekly

two-compartment

two-dimensional

two-sequence

two-treatment

type-specific

ultra-long-acting

ultrasound-guided

unacceptable

unadjuvanted

unanticipated

unavailable

uncircumcised

uncomfortable

uncomplicated

unconditional

unconjugated

unconscious

uncontrollable

uncontrolled

uncooperative

uncorrected

undergraduate

under-represented

underserved

understudied

undertreated

undesirable

undetectable

undetermined

undiagnosed

undifferentiated

unexplained

unfavorable

unfavourable

unfractionated

unidentified

unintentional

uninterrupted

university-affiliated

university-based

unnecessary

unpredictable

unprotected

unrecognized

unresectable

unresponsive

unrestricted

unsatisfactory

unsaturated

unscheduled

unsolicited

unstimulated

unstructured

unsuccessful

unsupervised

unsupported

untranslated

unvaccinated

up-titrated

urate-lowering

ustekinumab

ustekinumab-treated

vaccine-homologous

vaccine-induced

vaccine-related

vaccine-type

varenicline

varicella-zoster

vasodilating

vasodilator-stimulated

vasodilatory

vasopressor

vehicle-controlled

venlafaxine

ventilator-associated

ventilator-free

ventilatory

ventricular

ventromedial

vertebroplasty

vildagliptin

vildagliptin-treated

virological

virus-infected

virus-specific

visuospatial

voriconazole

wait-listed

water-based

water-soluble

weight-adjusted

weight-based

weight-for-age

weight-related

well-accepted

well-characterized

well-controlled

well-defined

well-designed

well-documented

well-established

well-matched

well-tolerated

whole-blood

whole-mouth

willingness-to-pay

within-patient

within-subject

within-trial

work-related

ximelagatran

Appendix 3: Journals in which the abstracts were published, and number of abstracts by journal

Appendix 4: list of adjectives considered relevant and number of articles in which they were used.

EnglishBix

Adjective Words To Describe Research

Research is the careful and detailed study of a particular problem, concern, or issue using a scientific method.

It’s an adult approach to good science projects back in elementary school, where you’re trying to learn something by doing an experiment.

This is best accomplished by turning an issue into a question, with the aim of researching the question.

Research involves using a scientific method to take a careful, detailed study of a particular problem or issue.

Adjective Words to Describe Research

Following are some adjective words you can use for describing different types of Researches:

20+ Best Words to Describe Paper, Adjectives for Paper

Paper, a versatile material made from wood pulp or other fibers, has been an essential part of our lives for centuries. Its significance extends beyond its mere use for writing or printing; it serves as a canvas for creativity and a medium for sharing knowledge. In this blog post, we explore an intriguing concept – “words to describe paper.”

From its texture, weight, and color to its environmental impact and historical relevance, we unravel the myriad of words that beautifully capture the essence of this remarkable material.

Table of Contents

Adjectives for Paper

Here are the 20 Most Popular adjectives for paper:

  • Water-resistant
  • Eco-friendly
  • Transparent

Adjectives for Research Paper:

  • Informative
  • Well-researched
  • Comprehensive
  • Well-structured
  • Groundbreaking
  • Thought-provoking

Adjectives for Old Paper:

Adjectives for tissue paper:.

  • Lightweight
  • Translucent

Adjectives for Wrapping Paper:

  • Gift-worthy
  • Embellished
  • Tear-resistant

Words to Describe Paper with Meanings

  • Pliable : Easily bendable or flexible.
  • Smooth : Even and free from roughness.
  • Coarse : Rough or uneven in texture.
  • Recycled : Made from reused materials.
  • Crisp : Firm and easily folded.
  • Thin : Not thick; slender in form.
  • Sturdy : Strong and durable.
  • Glossy : Shiny and reflective.
  • Matte : Dull and non-reflective.
  • Embossed : Raised design or pattern.
  • Water-resistant : Repels water or moisture.
  • Eco-friendly : Environmentally friendly or sustainable.
  • Acid-free : Neutral pH to prevent degradation.
  • Rigid : Firm and inflexible.
  • Tear-proof : Resistant to tearing or ripping.
  • Flexible : Bendable or adaptable.
  • Grainy : Having a textured surface.
  • Lined : Marked with straight guidelines.
  • Textured : Having a distinct surface pattern.
  • Transparent : See-through and clear.

Example Sentences for Paper Adjectives

  • The artist created an embossed design on the paper.
  • Her essay was well-structured and informative .
  • The book cover had a glossy finish.
  • The old document had yellowed with time.
  • I prefer recycled paper for printing.
  • The tissue paper felt soft and delicate .
  • He tore the water-resistant paper accidentally.
  • The coarse texture of the paper scratched my hand.
  • The thin paper tore easily in transit.
  • The package was wrapped in festive wrapping paper.
  • We used acid-free paper for archiving important documents.
  • The tear-proof paper held up against rough handling.
  • Her letter was written on sturdy paper.
  • The matte paper provided a non-glare surface.
  • The flexible paper made origami easy.
  • The eco-friendly packaging reduced environmental impact.
  • The magazine cover had a grainy texture.
  • The gift was enclosed in transparent wrapping paper.
  • He used recycled paper to create art.
  • The smooth surface of the paper allowed effortless writing.

Explore More Words:

Words to Describe Pencil

Adjectives for Pen

Adjectives for Classroom

How to describe paper writing?

Paper writing involves conveying ideas, information, or stories through written words on a physical or digital sheet of paper.

What is paper made of?

Paper is typically made from wood pulp, but it can also be crafted using other plant fibers like cotton, hemp, or bamboo.

Why is paper so important?

Paper is essential for communication, education, documentation, and artistic expression, playing a crucial role in human civilization’s progress.

Adjectives for Paper

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Describing Words

adjectives to describe a research paper

This tool helps you find adjectives for things that you're trying to describe. Also check out ReverseDictionary.org and RelatedWords.org . Here are some adjectives for research papers : . You can get the definitions of these research papers adjectives by clicking on them. You might also like some words related to research papers (and find more here ).

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Click words for definitions.

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Words to Describe research papers

Below is a list of describing words for research papers . You can sort the descriptive words by uniqueness or commonness using the button above. Sorry if there's a few unusual suggestions! The algorithm isn't perfect, but it does a pretty good job for most common nouns. Here's the list of words that can be used to describe research papers :

Popular Searches

As you've probably noticed, adjectives for " research papers " are listed above. Hopefully the above generated list of words to describe research papers suits your needs.

If you're getting strange results, it may be that your query isn't quite in the right format. The search box should be a simple word or phrase, like "tiger" or "blue eyes". A search for words to describe "people who have blue eyes" will likely return zero results. So if you're not getting ideal results, check that your search term, " research papers " isn't confusing the engine in this manner.

Note also that if there aren't many research papers adjectives, or if there are none at all, it could be that your search term has an abiguous part-of-speech. For example, the word "blue" can be an noun and an adjective. This confuses the engine and so you might not get many adjectives describing it. I may look into fixing this in the future. You might also be wondering: What type of word is research papers ?

The idea for the Describing Words engine came when I was building the engine for Related Words (it's like a thesaurus, but gives you a much broader set of related words, rather than just synonyms). While playing around with word vectors and the " HasProperty " API of conceptnet, I had a bit of fun trying to get the adjectives which commonly describe a word. Eventually I realised that there's a much better way of doing this: parse books!

Project Gutenberg was the initial corpus, but the parser got greedier and greedier and I ended up feeding it somewhere around 100 gigabytes of text files - mostly fiction, including many contemporary works. The parser simply looks through each book and pulls out the various descriptions of nouns.

Hopefully it's more than just a novelty and some people will actually find it useful for their writing and brainstorming, but one neat little thing to try is to compare two nouns which are similar, but different in some significant way - for example, gender is interesting: " woman " versus " man " and " boy " versus " girl ". On an inital quick analysis it seems that authors of fiction are at least 4x more likely to describe women (as opposed to men) with beauty-related terms (regarding their weight, features and general attractiveness). In fact, "beautiful" is possibly the most widely used adjective for women in all of the world's literature, which is quite in line with the general unidimensional representation of women in many other media forms . If anyone wants to do further research into this, let me know and I can give you a lot more data (for example, there are about 25000 different entries for "woman" - too many to show here).

The blueness of the results represents their relative frequency. You can hover over an item for a second and the frequency score should pop up. The "uniqueness" sorting is default, and thanks to my Complicated Algorithm™, it orders them by the adjectives' uniqueness to that particular noun relative to other nouns (it's actually pretty simple). As you'd expect, you can click the "Sort By Usage Frequency" button to adjectives by their usage frequency for that noun.

Special thanks to the contributors of the open-source mongodb which was used in this project.

Please note that Describing Words uses third party scripts (such as Google Analytics and advertisements) which use cookies. To learn more, see the privacy policy .

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    In any academic writing, it is important to use language that is precise and accurate. This is especially true when writing about research, where a small change in wording can result in a major change in meaning. Adjectives are one of the most important tools for making writing precise and accurate. By carefully selecting the… Read More »450+ Adjective Words To Describe Research

  2. 20+ Best Words to Describe Research, Adjectives for Research

    Research, in simple terms, refers to the systematic investigation and study of a particular subject or topic in order to discover new knowledge or gain a deeper understanding. When embarking on a research journey, one encounters a plethora of words that aptly describe this process. From "exploration" which emphasizes the journey of discovery, to "inquiry" which underscores the pursuit ...

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    Research, the backbone of many disciplines, can vary widely in quality and depth. This post provides adjectives that can help portray the nature and quality of any research endeavor. Description of Research Research refers to the systematic investigation into and study of materials or sources to establish facts and reach conclusions. Words to Describe Research ... <a title="Top 30 Adjectives ...

  4. 130 Words To Describe Research

    A vocabulary for describing research. Research is a systematic investigation. This includes secondary research that studies existing sources and primary research that produces new observations. Research can follow a broad range of methodologies that can include experiments, natural experiments or the development of prototypes. The point of research can be to summarize the current state of ...

  5. 1000+ Words to Describe Research

    According to the algorithm that drives this website, the top 5 adjectives for "research" are: simian psychic, meteorological and geophysical, worthy and potentially fruitful, small, dynamic, and hard, extensive. There are 995 other words to describe research listed above. Hopefully the above generated list of words to describe research suits ...

  6. 50 Useful Academic Words & Phrases for Research

    Provides clarification, similar to "in other words.". Example The reaction is exothermic; that is to say, it releases heat. 13. To put it simply. Simplifies a complex idea, often for a more general readership. Example The universe is vast; to put it simply, it is larger than anything we can truly imagine. 14.

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    In scientific writing, words that accurately and precisely convey the meaning of the research are important. Adjectives that describe the research in detail are often used in scientific writing. What are some good words to use in a research paper? Some good words to use in a research paper are: academic, peer-reviewed, scholarly, scientific etc.

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    July 25, 2023 Rene Tetzner Help with Perfecting Grammar in Academic & Scientific Writing. Using Adjectives Effectively in Academic and Scientific Writing. Some authors claim that adjectives are virtually unnecessary. Choosing the correct noun in any given situation is the key, they would argue, and with the right noun, who needs an accompanying ...

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    Research Paper Title is the name or heading that summarizes the main theme or topic of a research paper. ... descriptive terms that accurately describe your research. Be descriptive: A descriptive title can help readers understand what your research is about. Use adjectives and adverbs to convey the main ideas of your research.

  10. 100+ Research Vocabulary Words & Phrases

    Wordvice provides high-quality English proofreading and editing services.We have helped thousands of researchers, students, writers, and businesses maximize the impact of their writing. Here are 100+ active verbs to make your research writing more engaging. Includes additional tops to improve word and phrase choices.

  11. What Is an Adjective?

    An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives can be used to describe the qualities of someone or something independently or in comparison to something else. Examples: Adjectives in a sentence I like old. houses. The boy is tall and skinny. Jane is smarter than her brother.

  12. Describing your research project

    The formula to please all your audience is very simple. A typical 500-word project description (plus one picture with a short caption and as many references as you want) will normally consist of about five roughly 100-word paragraphs that should be addressed to the following audiences: G, G, D, S, G. For fuller details, the actual content, see ...

  13. How to Write a Descriptive Essay

    Writing descriptively involves choosing your words carefully. The use of effective adjectives is important, but so is your choice of adverbs, verbs, and even nouns. It's easy to end up using clichéd phrases—"cold as ice," "free as a bird"—but try to reflect further and make more precise, original word choices.

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    Adjectives are words that modify (describe) nouns. Adjectives give the reader more specific information about an object's color, size, shape, material, and more. This guide will help you understand their function so you can use them effectively in your essays and papers.

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    The language used to describe results could affect perceptions of the efficacy or safety of interventions. We sought to compare the adjectives used in clinical trial reports of industry-authored and non-industry-authored research. ... one of the authors and therefore could not be used as conclusive evidence in papers written by multiple ...

  16. Adjective Words To Describe Research

    Following are some adjective words you can use for describing different types of Researches: American. high level. rigorous. archaeological. historical. scientifically. astronomical. immense.

  17. PDF Academic Phrasebank

    This paper will review the research conducted on …. This paper will focus on/examine/give an account of …. This paper seeks to remedy these problems by analysing the literature of …. This paper examines the significance of X in the rise of …. This essay critically examines/discusses/traces …. This account seeks to ….

  18. Qualitative Adjectives in Education Research Articles: The Case of

    knowledge, no past research investigated adjective use in re search papers, which may be the m ost common genre in the given discourse com munity. Much insight can be gained from describing how ...

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  20. 11+ Words to Describe Research papers

    Words to Describe research papers. Below is a list of describing words for research papers. You can sort the descriptive words by uniqueness or commonness using the button above. Sorry if there's a few unusual suggestions! The algorithm isn't perfect, but it does a pretty good job for most common nouns. Here's the list of words that can be used ...

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    Words to Describe Diction. In addition to the four most common types, there are dozens of adjectives that can describe a writer's diction. When describing diction, however, remember that it is not quite the same as tone (although some of the adjectives you use for one could apply to the other). 27 Words to Describe Diction

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    Vertex (or Node): A fundamental unit of a graph, representing a point or an entity. Edge: A connection between two vertices in a graph, representing a relationship or interaction. Directed graph (or Digraph): A graph in which edges have a direction, indicating a one-way connection from one vertex to another.