Shades of Meaning: Ranking Words by Intensity

Order related words from mild to strong to choose and interpret precise language.

Some words differ not in feeling but in strength. 'Warm', 'hot', and 'scorching' all describe heat, but at rising intensity. 'Dislike', 'resent', 'loathe' climb the scale of negative feeling. 'Glance', 'look', 'stare', 'glare' move from brief to long to hostile. Ranking words this way helps you read precisely and write precisely. In reading, intensity tells you how strongly a character feels or how serious a situation is. 'The coach was annoyed' and 'The coach was furious' predict very different next scenes.

In writing, choosing the right rung on the ladder makes your meaning exact. If a storm was merely windy, calling it 'catastrophic' exaggerates; if it flattened houses, calling it 'windy' understates. A useful strategy is to build an intensity ladder for a word you use too often, such as 'good' (adequate, good, excellent, outstanding), and then pick the rung that matches what you mean.

• 1Related words can rise in intensity: warm, hot, scorching.
• 2Intensity shows how strong a feeling or situation is.
• 3Pick the word whose strength matches what you mean.