Cliché Detector

Flag three style weaknesses at once — tired clichés, vague weasel words and overused -ly adverbs. Write tighter in minutes.

0Issues found

0Clichés

0Weasel words

0Adverbs (-ly)

Start typing to find clichés, weasel words and adverbs.

More tools

Cliché Detector Clichés, weasels & adverbs Current Passive Voice Find passive sentences Repetition Finder Overused words Readability Grade level scores

Cliché Detector — Kill the Phrases Your Reader Skips

"At the end of the day, we need to think outside the box and move the needle." Every one of those clichés was fresh once. Now they signal lazy writing. This detector catches three style problems in one pass: clichés, weasel words and -ly adverbs.

What each category means

Clichés — tired phrases that readers skim. "Low-hanging fruit," "paradigm shift," "at the end of the day." Replace with the specific idea you meant.
Weasel words — vague qualifiers that duck specificity. "Many experts say," "generally," "various" — who, how many, which ones? Swap for numbers.
-ly adverbs — "really," "very," "extremely." Stephen King: "The road to hell is paved with adverbs." Use a stronger verb instead.

Not every flag is wrong — judgment matters. But each one is worth a second look. Pair with the passive voice detector for complete Hemingway-style editing.