Wikipedia:Needless words

This is a list of words that, in many contexts, indicate sloppy writing, deliberate padding, or promotional puffery. Unless they have an actual function, they should be removed.

• also usually can be either omitted or replaced by "and".
• cum laude: graduating cum laude is in most academic systems a nearly meaningless honor which typically implies merely a B average. In a very detailed biography, however, these may be appropriately given.
  • "summa cum laude" or its equivalent is meaningless in a doctorate degree; it is usually specified for most or all successful candidates.
  • The UK specification "first class honours", however, is normally considered significant. Lower classes, or just plain "honors" are not; "upper second" is sometimes significant.
• "etc.": always omit this. If they're important enough to be listed, list them. If not, don't.
• "featured in several news outlets": just say "described in" and list them. Include only the most important; including everything possible is citekill.
• "first ever" and even "first" always needs a 3rd party reliable published source, not a press release or blog. A general newspaper saying a scientific or technical accomplishment is the first is not reliable for the purpose. This especially applies to the first person to do something of any particular group or geography.
• "held the position as": replace by "was"
• "has held several .... positions": just list them.
• "leading" as in "the leading company": if it actually ranks first by some measure, then it needs a third party reliable published source, not press releases or blogs; otherwise it's meaningless.
• "prestigious" and "well-known": If it's notable in the sense of having a WP article, just linking it is enough; if it's not notable, then the designation is meaningless.
• "several awards such as" should be removed, and the awards just listed.
• "such as": just list them.
• "titled", as in "published a book titled XYZ", which should be "published a book XYZ" , or if no ambiguity, "published XYZ"
• "was recruited for" normally means just "joined" or "started work at" a company or other organization.
• "was appointed/elected to the position XYZ" should be "was appointed/elected XYZ"