crutch word

plural crutch words · alternative crutch-word · alternative crutchword

1. A word that becomes a filler in conversation, or is used for verbal emphasis, without adding any meaning to an utterance.

   2012 Jen Doll, ""A Literal Epidemic of Crutch Words," The Atlantic, 13 September 2012. Of course, we didn't list all the crutch words, because it appears we're living in a crutch word epidemic.

   2 more examples

   2016 O'Brian Gunn, ""Crutch Words that Hobble Your Writing," BKA Content, 29 December 2016. A crutch word is essentially a placeholder, something we say or sometimes even write when we can’t think of the right word to accurately describe what we want to convey.

   n.d. ""Words That Can Ruin Your Sentence: Actually," Dictionary.com: Everything After Z, 13 September 2012. Actually is the perfect example of a crutch word. It is meant to signify something that exists in reality, but it is more often used as a way to add punch to a statement (as in, "I actually have no idea").