Extreme Adjectives: Stop Saying Very Good at Work
In business English, one small habit makes people sound less confident:
using very + adjective all the time
very good
very bad
very big
very important
Grammatically correct? Yes.
Professional? Not always.
English prefers precise adjectives instead of intensifiers.
Instead of making the adjective louder…
we change the adjective.
Results
#1. The client discovered we lost their contract and became ______.
#2. After the 12-hour negotiation, everyone was ______.
#3. The office temperature was so low it was ______.
#4. The CEO heard the project failed completely and was ______.
#5. The new strategy increased profits by 300%. The results were ______.
#6. After three back-to-back meetings, the team felt ______
#7. The marketing campaign was creative and original — truly ______.
#8. The startup received a huge investment and the founders were ______.
#9. We discovered a critical legal error in the contract — a ______ mistake.
What Are Extreme Adjectives?
Extreme adjectives already contain the meaning of very.
So we don’t normally say very + extreme adjective.
❌ very excellent
❌ very terrible
❌ very freezing
Because they already mean “very”.
Replace the weak adjective
Rewrite using a stronger adjective from the list.
- The client is very angry → ______
- We are very happy with the results → ______
- The office is very cold → ______
- I am very tired after this week → ______
- The results are very good → ______
- The problem is very important → ______
Possible Answers
- furious
- delighted
- freezing
- exhausted
- excellent / remarkable
- crucial / serious
2️⃣ Business Context Practice — Choose the best adjective
- A report with unexpected positive results → remarkable / freezing / furious
- A customer shouting on the phone → exhausted / delighted / furious
- A team after a 14-hour project → fascinated / exhausted / tiny
- A problem that needs immediate action → hilarious / serious / freezing
Answers:
remarkable
furious
exhausted
serious
3️⃣ Personalisation
Complete the sentences:
This week at work was __________ because…
Our biggest challenge recently has been __________
A meeting I remember clearly was __________
I felt __________ after finishing a project
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