word for a boring speech

Gave a boring speech: 2 wds. Crossword Clue

Gave a boring speech 2 wds Crossword Answer This Daily Commuter crossword clue could have been a head-scratching clue for you to solve. Don't worry, sometimes even the simplest questions could get us frustrated to solve. There are times when the answer simply doesn't click. We solved the clue and the solution(s) could be read below.

GAVE A BORING SPEECH 2 WDS Crossword

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

A Guide To Making Your Speech Interesting

Hrideep barot.

• Speech Writing

Everyone knows how to talk, but only a few know how to  speak . 

The words, however clichéd they might sound, are true. 

As is the fact that, even if you know how to  speak , no one’s really going to recognize it unless you manage to spark enough interest to make them actually  listen to  your speech. 

Listen to. Not  hear . 

Just like the words ‘talking’ and ‘speaking’, there’s a subtle but important difference between  listening to  something and merely  hearing  it. 

Delivering a speech that’s both powerful and persuasive is a tricky job. Add  interesting  to the mix and to most people (especially if you’re an introvert by nature) the task begins to sound downright torturous. 

But, worry not! 

The secret to both, delivering an interesting speech and cooking a lip-smacking dish is the same: it’s not a single ingredient, rather an amalgamation of them that makes it magnificent.

An interesting speech needs not only to pique your readers’ interest but also to sustain it. There are a variety of factors that go into its making, ranging from the length and phrasing of your speech to your skill with storytelling techniques and using props.

Still confused? Stick till the end of this article and I guarantee you’ll be out of your quandary. 

What Makes A Speech Boring?

Before we delve into how to deliver a speech that’s going to leave your audience speechless, let’s skim over the other side of the equation: what makes a speech boring?

Continuing with the lip-smacking dish metaphor, a boring speech isn’t the consequence of a single but multiple elements that go into the making of it. A few of them are:

You’ve messed up the beginning

The beginning of the speech is one of its most important components. It’s also where most people tend to mess up.

While introducing yourself is important, you don’t want to spend a quarter of your allotted time providing information about yourself or telling your life story. Try to get to the point as quickly as possible.

Many inexperienced speakers tend to start off their speech by thanking someone. While showcasing your gratitude as a speaker is important, save your thanks for the end of your speech instead of its beginning.

It’s Too Complex

Another factor that makes a speech boring is making it too long or too complex or worse: both. Try to keep your speech to the time limit or slightly under it. Whatever you do, don’t exceed the time limit.

You haven’t structured it properly

Another common ingredient in boring speeches is the structure. Or rather, a lack of structure. A lot of speakers tend to throw points around without tying them together.

Or they might end the speech abruptly, perhaps after realizing that they’ve run out of time, pilfering the audience of a satisfactory conclusion. Just like beginnings, endings matter too, and this is another area where most speakers tend to make mistakes–or downright ignore it.

There’s nothing unique about it

If there’s nothing in your speech that stands out or makes it unique, then the odds are in the favor of your viewers forgetting about the speech the moment you finish delivering it. You can practice your speech a hundred times, but if there’s nothing distinctive about it, then your efforts are for nothing as nobody’s going to be actually hearing it.

So, next time you’re practicing your speech in front of the mirror, ask yourself: what’s different about my speech than the hundreds of other speeches that are delivered everyday?

No Storytelling

Churning out information without giving it some form of a narrative structure is another factor that guarantees for a boring speech. If you’re simply mentioning facts and figures, you’re going to lose your reader’s interest before it’s even piqued. If you wish to captivate your audience’s attention, then one of the best ways to do it is delivering your speech like you’re telling a story.

After all, who doesn’t like a good story?

Steps To Make Your Speech Interesting

If you’ve ever daydreamed through a drab speech delivered by insert-the-name-of-a-random-authoritative-figure in your school days, you know exactly how long a thirty (or if it’s your lucky day,  sixty)  minute talk can be. 

I’ve been there. You’ve been there. We’ve all been there. 

And I’m certain that none of us want to be there again. 

Especially  not if  we’re  the ones delivering the speech. 

To make sure you land on the sweet spot named ‘the-most-interesting-speech-I’ve-ever-heard’ and keep you from stumbling into the deep, deep pit of ‘a lecture’, I’ve listed out some points for you below. 

1. Keep It Short & Sweet

Studies have shown that the optimal attention span for an audience (that is, the attention span that can be retained by an interested human listening to a speaker) is about twenty minutes. 

This doesn’t mean that people will be unerringly focused on your speech for twenty minutes and then promptly lose interest the moment the time is up. What it means is that you need to structure your speech in such a way that you can optimize your audience’s attention span.

Look, I know that most speeches are going to last longer than twenty minutes. However, you don’t have to necessarily speak for twenty minutes non-stop. To get around the 20 minute barrier, you can break your talk into different components, with each constituent lasting for around twenty minutes. 

Make a smooth transition between the different components by giving your audience enough time to relax and then begin to refocus their attention on what you’re saying. 

This way, not only will you be able to hold their interest for longer, but you will also increase the chances of them remembering important bits of your speech long after you’ve finished speaking. 

2. Choose your words wisely 

“ Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” 

These words by Martin Luther King Jr. are a great example of how a sentence doesn’t necessarily have to be long and employ eloquent language to be powerful. 

On the contrary, concise sentences where no word is redundant but rather every character is handpicked so that it adds to the overall meaning have a far greater impact as well as reach.

I’m not asking you to cut down on important points or to use banal words in order to fit the above description. 

Rather, I’m asking you to ask yourself while you’re writing the speech: is there anything that I’ve said in fifty words that could be better said in ten or five words?

Go through your speech multiple times to make sure that no word or sentence is redundant. If you find a paragraph or sentence that you feel doesn’t really add anything impactful to your speech, cut it out. It may actually be taking something away from your speech, and after deleting the extra part, you might find that your speech sounds better. 

You can also take the use of Thesaurus or other online dictionaries to discover new words or phrases that might help you express your ideas more concisely. 

3. Grab Their Attention In The Beginning 

I’ve got a question for you: how do you decide whether you want to buy a particular book? 

Most people (many more than who care to admit it, anyway) either choose the much-denounced path of judging-a-book-by-it’s-cover or they read the synopsis at the back of the cover or skim through the first couple of pages to glean an idea of whether it’s worthwhile to spend their precious time or money on a particular title. 

Because authors/agents are smart, they know that if they can’t hook you in the beginning, you’re going to drift away. This is why the first line in a book is always an attention-grabber. 

The same rule can be transcribed to a public speech: grab their attention in the beginning or stand to lose it before you even reach the end of the beginning. 

Make the opening lines of your speech one of the most—if not the most—intriguing parts of it. There are many ways to do this. 

You could start with an anecdote, for one. Or you could ask your audience a question. You could even go with a joke or a fun-fact. 

What matters is the shock-value. You want to give the audience a taste of what the rest of your speech is going to be like. You want them to feel like the time and/or money that they’ve invested is going to be worthwhile. 

4. Make Them Laugh 

A day without laughter is a day wasted. 

While I certainly agree with Charlie Chaplin’s famous words, I have altered them into my personal motto: a speech without laughter is an opportunity wasted. 

Now, I’m not saying that you want your audience to be rolling on their stomach throughout your speech (unless you’re doing a stand-up comedy). I understand that might be counter-productive. I also understand that sometimes cracking a joke during a speech might not even be encouraged or even appropriate. 

However, if there is nothing to stop you from adding a dose of humor to your speech but uncertainty about your own comic timing, then my friend, you have wasted a glorious opportunity. 

Some of the best speeches in the world, which have been viewed by millions of people all around the globe besides standing the test of time, have humor in them. A majority of the most successful public speakers in the world have natural charisma, charm, and a good sense of humor. 

Take Barack Obama, for instance. Many of his speeches are punctuated with comic jabs and funny anecdotes, and that is a key factor that makes his speeches so interesting to hear, besides making him more relatable—more human, like them—to the audience. 

5. Tell Them Stories  

Who doesn’t love a good story? 

Stories not only help make your speech more interesting, but they might also strike a personal chord with your audience, thus making you more relatable and increasing the chances of cementing your speech in their minds. 

Anecdotes, when used as examples, can also make it easier for your audience to understand a complex message or point. 

Besides, you can use stories as a transition when you’re moving from one important or critical component of your speech to another. This will give your audience a break from the more serious bits of your speech and allow them to return to the next part in a fresher state of mind. 

Stories make you more human in your audience’s mind. Especially if they resonate with the audience’s own experiences, they might make the onlookers think of you as one of  them. 

However, make sure that your transition into storytelling territory is smooth. Don’t randomly add a story to any part of your speech. This will not only make your speech sound awkward but might also throw off your audience and confuse them. 

A good place to add an anecdote is at the beginning of your speech or the end of it (the middle also works, but as I mentioned before, provided that your transition is smooth). If you add a story to the beginning of your speech, it can act as an attention-grabber

If you add it in the end, try to choose something that will resonate with your audience and make your speech linger in their minds long after you’ve finished speaking. 

6. Express Yourself Expressively 

If there’s one thing that’s worse than a sixty-minute uninterrupted speech, it’s a sixty-minute uninterrupted speech with a speaker that is as expressive as a rock. 

Speaking  isn’t the only component of a good speech. 

How  you speak is just as important as  what  you speak. 

Facial gestures, hand movements, body language, the pitch and timbre of your voice…all these are as crucial to the delivering of an interesting speech as the speech itself. 

No matter how intriguing the contents of your speech, if you deliver them monotonously and in an unanimated way, then you can kiss capturing your audience’s attention goodbye. 

To understand, try remembering a speech that really moved you. Now recall the most boring speech you’ve ever heard in your entire life. 

Ask yourself: what makes these two speeches so different? 

Chances are, one of the key points that made the first speech especially interesting and memorable and the second speech especially uninteresting and drab was the manner in which the speaker delivered the talk. 

7. Use Concrete Evidence & Simple Language

An important thing to keep in mind is using concrete evidence. This includes things like numbers, statistics, real-life incidents, facts, photographs, etc. If you don’t ground your story in real life, then it might be too abstract for your audience to connect with. 

While using grandiose language might make you sound impressive, using complex grammar or words plucked from some random page off of a thick dictionary is going to make it difficult—if not impossible—for the general public to connect with you. If they cannot understand what you’re saying, how will they remember it?

Thus, it is always wise to be cognizant of your audience’s intellectual capacity or their familiarity with the particular language you’re going to be delivering your speech in. If your audience is not native to the language, try to keep your word-choice as humble as possible. And even if they are, it’s best not to flaunt your verbosity.

8. Know & Understand Your Audience

What’s your audience going to consist of? Is it going to be mainly comprised of college-going adults or school-going kids? Do a majority of them belong to a minority community or do they share some common privileges?

By doing prior research on your audience, you can structure your speech in such a way as to incorporate things that they are familiar with and will be able to relate to. This will help them formulate a connection with you, the speaker, and thus increase chances of them remembering you in the future.

9. Interact With The Audience

The more involved your audience is in your speech, the greater the chances that they will remember it. People like being made to feel like their opinions—and they—matter. Try to ask questions to your audience, and also to encourage them to ask questions to you. You can do this by adding a question-answer round at the end of your speech.

Tell funny stories and ask them to share their own experiences with you. As mentioned before, cracking jokes is another good way of connecting with your audience. 

10. The Ending Matters Too

The ending of your speech is just as important as the beginning. While the beginning helps set the tone for your speech and give the audience an idea of what to expect from their speaker, the ending is the big takeaway after you’ve finished speaking.

The note that you end your speech at is going to determine whether your audience thinks and discusses about your speech long after you’ve finished speaking or if they mumble a few words and forget about it a couple of moments after it finishes.

Like disappointing book or movie endings, a substandard end to a speech can leave a bitter taste in your mouth—to make matters worse, a bad ending might also ruin everything that came before it. On the contrary, a good ending can have the exact opposite effect and make your story resonate in your audience’s mind long, long after you’ve finished speaking. 

Need some inspiration for a resonant ending? Check out our article on 15 Powerful Speech Ending Lines (And Tips to Create Your Own) for some inspiration!

7 secret ingredients to spice up your speech

“Memory is a strange thing. It doesn’t work as I thought it did.”

These lines, enunciated by the amazing Louise Banks in the movie Arrival, perfectly capture the elusive nature of human memory. We remember things we’re supposed to forget. We forget things we’re supposed to remember (like where you kept those goddamned car keys). The human brain works in mysterious ways, period.

Since we’re not yet smart enough to out-smart our own brain (if that makes any sense), how do we side-step the obstacle of the ever-changing nature of memory and cement your awesome speech in your audience’s mind for years to come?

Well, for starters, the above-listed points are a good means to not only make your speech interesting but also interesting enough to be memorable. But there are a few additional things that you can do to increase the chances of immortalizing (or getting as close to it as possible, anyway) your speech in your audience’s mind.

A few other things you can do to make your speech memorable are:

1. Using Props

The apt use of a well-suited propped can add that extra kick that can catapult your presentation from good to awesome. For example, if you’re giving a speech on environmental degradation, you can take the model of a forest with you to physically demonstrate the effects of the degradation of forests.

However, while using props, you need to keep a few things in mind. Make sure that the prop that you use is relevant to the message. Also, don’t use too many of them. Another thing to keep in mind is that your prop is appropriate for and clearly visible to your audience.

2. Playing a game

Adding a short game round in the middle of your speech is another great way of making yourself stand out, besides giving the audience a chance to promote themselves from mere spectators to active members of the event.

However, just like while using props, make sure that the game you choose is appropriate and relevant to the topic. Another thing to keep in mind is to not make the game too long or complicated. Remember that you want whatever game you chose to add to your speech and not distract your audience from it.

3. How about a video?

While you can certainly include an interesting video or clip that you found on YouTube or from the internet, one way to make your speech stand out is to record something beforehand and include it in during your speech.

The video can comprise anything, from a factual documentary to a short movie to a speech that you’ve given in the past to a personal attempt at stand-up comedy! Not only will it give your audience a break from listening, but it will also allow you a chance to breathe and grab a quick sip of water or just a moment to yourself before you dive into the next part of your speech.

4. Using Different Storytelling Approaches

As mentioned before, telling stories are a great way of engaging your audience. You can also take this advice a step further by specifically incorporating various storytelling techniques in your presentation.

For example, the Rags to Riches Approach is focused on portraying a certain character (generally the protagonist) rise from poverty to achieving, not without a good deal of struggle, wealth, and status.

By inculcating this technique in your speech or presentation, you increase the chances of connecting with your audience, as life struggles are something that most people can resonate with. For more similar techniques, check out our article on 9 Storytelling Approaches For Your Next Speech Or Presentation.

5. Adding Impromptu Activities

An impromptu game is exactly what it sounds like: it’s a spontaneously chosen game that hasn’t been predetermined by you, the speaker. Instead, any time during course of your speech, ask your audience members to pitch in with any game suggestions that come to their mind.

If there are many suggestions, then go with the one that gets the most number of votes. Let the audience be the decision makers for once!  

6. Use Audience Polls

This is another great way to increase increase the audience’s involvement even further! Not only this, but an audience poll can also help you glean an insight into your audience’s mind! You can use the poll to ask a variety of questions. For eg. if you’re delivering a speech about facing racism at workplace, you could ask the audience if any one of them has faced racism in their own workplace before. 

7. Get People To Join You On The Stage

You can do this in two ways. First, you could invite other experts of or people related to your topic.

For instance, if you’re launching a beauty product, you could invite on the stage people who’ve used your product in the past and can vouch for it. Another way to do this is to invite members of the audience to join you on stage!

This will take your audience’s involvement to another level, as you are inviting them to be a part of the space that’s been traditionally reserved for speakers. You could ask them for their feedback, or ask if they’ve got any questions for you, or even if they want to pitch in with a short speech on the topic themselves! 

Examples of Interesting Speeches

I’ve linked below videos to some of the most popular speeches in world history. As you watch them, focus on how the speaker is delivering the speech. Note their body language and facial expressions, their hand-gestures, and intonations. Study the videos and try to inculcate what you learn from them into your own speech. 

1. T he Speech That Made Obama President :

Without a doubt, Barack Obama is one of the most gifted orators of our time. This is one of the best speeches that he delivered.

As you watch it, notice how he interacts with his audience, keeping them engaged throughout the speech and making them feel involved in it.

Use what you learned from your observation of the former president to understand how you can keep your audience involved in your speeches and make it a better experience for them overall.

2. Martin Luther King Jr.: I Have A Dream :

This remains one of the most-watched and admired speeches throughout history. And for good reason! The speech employed flawless rhetoric. Not a word used in this speech was redundant. Although it lasted merely sixteen minutes, it got across more information in that time than speeches that last twice as long. Listen to the words used in the speech very carefully.

For a more in-depth analysis of the language, you can also lookup the transcript of the speech online.

Use the information gleaned from this analysis to learn how to use language more effectively as well as efficiently in your speech.

Check out our article on Drawing Public Speaking Lessons From ‘ I Have A Dream ‘ for a more detailed analysis of the speech.

3. Michelle Obama Final First Lady Speech :

This is one of the best speeches that I’ve heard.

As you watch it, keep an eye on Michelle’s body language and facial expressions throughout the speech. For example, the way she uses hand gestures to emphasize a point, or how her expression changes when she’s talking about something serious versus when the topic is something lighter.

You can use this as a guideline to understand how to effectively employ body-language during your speech to increase it’s impact.

4. Inside The Mind Of A Master Procrastinator :

This is one of the most interactive Ted Talks I’ve come across.

Especially notice how the speaker makes use of comic caricatures and other attractive visual imagery on the screen behind him to make his presentation more engaging.

Also, notice how he keeps involving his audience in his speech, making frequent references to them and mentioning things that are easily relatable, to make it a more lively experience. You, too, can make use of visuals that your audience can easily relate to in order to make it easier for them to connect to what you’re saying.

To sum it up, an interesting speech is a result of a successful combination of factors. These include having a powerful opening as well as ending, the effective employment of language, humor and storytelling techniques, respecting the time limit as well as your audience, and adding sprinkle of uniqueness to make it truly memorable.

Enroll in our transformative 1:1 Coaching Program

Schedule a call with our expert communication coach to know if this program would be the right fit for you

Lost Voice? Here’s How to Recover Sore Throat and Speak Again

7 Keys to Emcee Like a Pro: Unlock Your Hosting Potential

8 Ways to Rise Above the Noise to Communicate Better

• [email protected]
• +91 98203 57888

Get our latest tips and tricks in your inbox always

Copyright © 2023 Frantically Speaking All rights reserved

Kindly drop your contact details so that we can arrange call back

Select Country Afghanistan Albania Algeria AmericanSamoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Rwanda Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Tajikistan Thailand Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Wallis and Futuna Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe land Islands Antarctica Bolivia, Plurinational State of Brunei Darussalam Cocos (Keeling) Islands Congo, The Democratic Republic of the Cote d'Ivoire Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Guernsey Holy See (Vatican City State) Hong Kong Iran, Islamic Republic of Isle of Man Jersey Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Lao People's Democratic Republic Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Macao Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Mozambique Palestinian Territory, Occupied Pitcairn Réunion Russia Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan Da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sao Tome and Principe Somalia Svalbard and Jan Mayen Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tanzania, United Republic of Timor-Leste Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S.

Example sentences boring speech

He rose and told his guests that rather than make a boring speech he would show them a magic trick that he had learnt.

I don't want to give a really boring speech where you just name loads of people, because that's just rubbish.

The story goes that he once delivered a very long and boring speech in parliament.

It made a light-hearted change from the usual boring speeches from other 'worthy' ex-pupils in previous years.

We never stop to consider that boring speeches are not a sign of decadence.

Definition of 'boring' boring

Definition of 'speech' speech

Related word partners boring speech

Browse alphabetically boring speech

• boring meeting
• boring mill
• boring routine
• boring speech
• boring sponge
• boring task
• All ENGLISH words that begin with 'B'

Quick word challenge

Quiz Review

Score: 0 / 5

Wordle Helper

Scrabble Tools

Synonyms of long-winded

• as in rambling
• To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In

Thesaurus Definition of long-winded

Synonyms & Similar Words

• exaggerated
• conversational
• communicative
• circumlocutory
• repetitious
• tautological
• periphrastic
• tautologous
• grandiloquent
• embroidered
• embellished
• highfalutin

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sententious
• epigrammatic
• abbreviated
• compendious

Thesaurus Entries Near long-winded

long-winded

long-windedly

Cite this Entry

“Long-winded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/long-winded. Accessed 25 May. 2024.

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the day, countermand.

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

More commonly misspelled words, your vs. you're: how to use them correctly, every letter is silent, sometimes: a-z list of examples, more commonly mispronounced words, how to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–) , and hyphens (-), popular in wordplay, the words of the week - may 24, flower etymologies for your spring garden, birds say the darndest things, a great big list of bread words, 10 scrabble words without any vowels, games & quizzes.

List of 99+ Boring Words and Phrases to Avoid in Your Writing

Here is our top list of boring words you can add to your writing.

Boring words and phrases can potentially ruin great content. If you’re a student, writer, or any other professional in the content and writing industry, you must polish your writing skills to sound better, grasp the reader’s attention, and convey your message concisely. While a good grammar checker won’t necessarily flag boring words, use them sparingly. Usually, there are other alternatives to them if you want to make your content unique and interesting.

Even the renowned John Steinbeck advised against ‘boring’ the audience with a certain word choice and said, “If you’re using dialogue, say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.”

A good strategy for successful writing? Adjust your style for the target audience and use relatable and easy-to-understand language rather than clichés and jargon.

Boring Words to Avoid

Boring words printable, overused verbs, dull adverbs, weak conjunctions, unnecessary prepositions, outdated phrases, clichés and certain idioms.

Boring words are words and phrases that sound outdated, overused, bland, and generic. They often add fluff to content that should be more concise and direct. Let’s look at some examples below.

We all commonly use these verbs, but they lose their impact within a context when used too frequently. If you are trying to write more poetically, for example, these are often over used words , lacking uniqueness. They are not dull by themselves, but often, the context makes them such, and choosing synonym alternatives will improve your content.

She managed to get me so angry I almost lost it!

They have a wonderful picnic every weekend in the park.

3. Walk 

Can you walk me home after the club, because the nighttime streets are dangerous?

4. Say 

Say what you will, but employees will always want meaningful work.

5. Tell 

Tell me another story next time you decide to lie.

6. Eat 

It was hard for him to eat his words and apologize!

7. Look 

With just one single look , she managed to scare him.

8. Win 

He will win me over only if he starts buying me flowers daily.

9. Think 

I think I am an excellent choice for the role because I am highly ambitious and professional.

10. Make 

Make use of the books you bought, otherwise, you just wasted your money.

11. Do 

In her spare time, she didn’t just do a lot of activities, but she also napped a lot.

Think creatively, and do a bit of research. You still have a lot of uncommon words to discover and use in your writing, and they don’t need to sound boring or dull.

The dull adverbs are modifiers and don’t entirely give a sentence unique meaning. They sound vague as if they need more explanation and context. Dull adverbs lean more toward the passive side of language than the recommended, active one. But remember, they don’t have to be dull if used correctly.

12. Completely

She completely lost it when she found out that her flight was canceled.

13. Really 

I am really excited about traveling because I rarely do it.

14. Very 

We are very happy to announce that we are expecting a baby. 

15. Extremely 

It is extremely unlikely that they will show up without a gift to the birthday party.

16. Loudly 

The audience screamed loudly at the football players because the players missed every ball on the field.

17. Truly 

I was honest with him, I truly was, but he still didn’t believe me.

18. Definitely 

I am definitely going to need more money to buy a sports car because my current budget doesn’t allow it.

19. Softly 

He softly spoke to me as if he was in love.

20. Slowly 

The dog slowly crept up on the cat.

21. Quickly 

My landlord quickly evicted my neighbors, who were constantly loud.

22. Totally 

Kate wasn’t totally up for the rock climbing that day.

23. Possibly 

He will possibly arrive late tomorrow with another train.

24. Furthermore

The operation is expensive, and furthermore , it is painful too.

You can use adverbs creatively to bring your writing to a new level. Even plain or overused words can get a fresh meaning when phrased unconventionally.

Weak conjunctions connect words in a sentence but lack a definitive contrast. Their counterparts are the strong, commonly used conjunctions ; ‘and,’ ‘but,’ and ‘yet’. With weak conjunctions, the sentence looks too broad and somewhat unclear, outdated, or as if the sentence can be split into two separate, individual clauses. Phrase and combine conjunctions accurately within a context to avoid them sounding weak.

25. For 

She studied all night long, for she wanted to ace the exam.

26. As 

He joined the choir as he wanted to sing in a Church. 

27. So 

She kissed him passionately so he could fall in love with her. 

There’s no need to overthink writing strategies. Refer to our extensive list of superb words and phrases to elevate your writing style and keep your readers returning for more. As a writer or content creator, you must grab your readers’ focus through carefully crafted content.

Unnecessary prepositions are extra words added to sentences, often resulting in redundancy or awkward phrasing . They can clutter the content, obscure the intended meaning, and hinder concise communication.

28 Miss out on 

She regretfully missed out on the opportunity to travel abroad.

29. Meet up with

After years apart, Stefan was thrilled to meet up with his childhood friends.

30. As from

As from next month, the new policy will cover all unemployed people.

31. Separate out

Marija carefully separated out the bottles and cartons from the rest of the waste.

You cannot form a correct and captivating sentence without prepositions, but you can form prepositional phrases to bring creative freshness to your sentences.

Outdated phrases are commonly used (and overused) expressions, familiar to most people, and often fall out of widespread and frequent usage. Often, they are or should be replaced with simpler, shorter phrases that convey a more direct meaning . 

32. That’s a wrap

The director shouted, “ That’s a wrap !” signaling the end of the long work day.

33. Filming

The filming of the movie on that set tired everyone.

34. Footage 

The crew spent hours capturing footage of the breathtaking landscape. 

35. Dashboard

The producer checked the dashboard to monitor the live streaming.

36. Put a sock in it

She screamed at him, “ Put a sock in it. Shut up, please!”

37. Turn it down a notch

Ivan politely asked his buddy to “turn it down a notch” as the loud music made him crazy.

38. Hit the hay

After a busy day, Milana was exhausted and ready to hit the hay .

39. Sleep tight

She whispered, “Sleep tight” to her newborn, looking forward to a restful night.

40. Stay tuned

The announcer said, “Stay tuned for a sneak peek into next week’s thrilling episode.”

41. In the limelight 

With newfound fame, Justin Bieber found himself in the limelight , adjusting to his success.

Do you want to sound interesting? You can, and you can choose words that people rarely know without boring them. The English language is incredibly rich if you’re curious enough to dig deep for those gems that grab a reader’s attention.

These phrases sound all too familiar and refer to concepts, ideas, and expressions that are excessively used, and you’ve probably heard such phrases frequently . They often signify something predictable or stereotypical. Often, they are in short or long-phrase format.

42. You only live once

You only live once , so make the most of every moment.

43. All talk, no action

He’s all talk, no action, and never follows his promises.

44. An axe to grind

She has an axe to grind with her colleague over the fight they had,

45. At my wit’s end

I’m at my wit’s end trying to solve this complicated puzzle.

46. Bald-faced liar

He’s a bald-faced liar , deceiving everyone with his false stories.

47. Better half

My wife is my better half , always supporting and understanding me.

48. Blow off steam

Sometimes, you need to blow off steam with sports to relieve stress.

49. Bored stiff

I was bored stiff during the failed dinner date with that guy.

50. Draw the line

I had to draw the line when my ex crossed the boundaries of healthy and acceptable behavior.

51. Fit the bill

Bill Gates’ qualifications fit the bill perfectly for the role of CEO.

52. Happy as a clam

Despite the tragic challenges, she remained happy as a clam .

53. Hear a pin drop

The room was so somber and quiet you could hear a pin drop .

54. Last hurrah

His last hurrah of the tough work day was when he threw the papers in his coworker’s face.

55. Sick as a dog

After having COVID, I still felt sick as a dog for days.

56. In a jam

She was in a jam when her car broke down in nowhere.

57. In this day and age

In this day and age , technology has transformed the way we communicate and connect with others.

58. Jump the gun

He tends to jump the gun without considering all the facts and makes bad decisions.

59. Knock on wood

Whenever he talks about his success, he says, “Knock on wood,” hoping to ward off bad luck.

60. Loose cannon

He’s a loose cannon at the office, always doing something silly and inadequate.

61. Make my day

Please make my day and give me some good news because it’s been tough for me so far.

62. Now we’re cooking

Aha! I managed to hack the database, well, now we’re cooking !

63. On thin ice

Their financial situation was on thin ice , but they managed to turn it around.

64. Rags to riches

Like the singer Drake, we started from the bottom and went from rags to riches.

65. Rise and shine

He woke me up with a “ Rise and shine,” but I was still drowsy.

66. Seize the day

You can tell me to seize the day , but I will still procrastinate, no matter what you say. 

67. Two peas in a pod

Jack and Jill were perfect for each other, and they got along like two peas in a pod.

68. Wild goose chase

Pursuing the truth felt like a wild goose chase , but John pushed and investigated even deeper.

69. Hold your horses 

Hey, hold your horses ! Let’s have a time out and sit down to talk calmly!

70. Can of worms

It feels like opening a can of worms if I reveal my secrets because it might ruin my reputation.

71. Cat got your tongue

Joshua was silent when I asked him why he lied as if a cat got his tongue.

72. Crack of dawn

They embarked on their journey at the crack of dawn , eager to reach their destination before sunrise.

73. Curiosity killed the cat

He discovered what “curiosity killed the cat” meant when he opened his wife’s diary!

74. Cute as a button

The little girl was incredibly adorable and as cute as a button.

75. Dime a dozen

In the busy market, street performers were a dime a dozen , each trying to stand out in the crowded place.

76. Dog eat dog

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, with merciless competition, and only the strongest survive.

77. Down to earth

Joanna is modest, and we all know her as a down to earth , humble person.

78. Eat your heart out

“Eat your heart out,” he thought as he flaunted his success in front of his doubters.

79. Eye for an eye

Revenge didn’t pay off because we all knew an eye for an eye would leave us all blind.

80. Free as a bird 

I finally felt free as a bird when I and John broke up after years of dating.

81. Go for broke

With nothing to lose, she decided to go for broke , risking it all for a chance at a better life.

82. Hair of the dog

The morning after a drunken night, Martin had the hair of the dog and drank again to sober up!

83. Back against the wall

With his back against the wall, my friend had no choice but to confront the challenges.

84. Back to square one

After the failed experiment, Elon Musk was back to square one.

85. Bad to the bone

He was a punk rebel and truly bad to the bone !

86. Badge of honor 

Receiving the Army Serving Award was a badge of honor , recognizing his outstanding contributions.

87. Ballpark figure

The estimated cost was just a ballpark figure , subject to change based on the project’s requirements.

88. Barking up the wrong tree

I am deaf to negativity, and you bark up the wrong tree if you insult me .

89. Beat around the bush

I insist you tell me the truth directly, but instead, you just beat around the bush.

90. Birds and bees

Teaching her son about the birds and bees became an important conversation as he entered adulthood.

91. Blast from the past

I saw a kid with a Walkman in 2023, and it felt like a blast from the past .

92. Blind as a bat

My glasses are no good anymore, I still am blind as a bat !

93. Busy as a bee

I said that rest is not good if we want to progress in our careers, so I kept myself busy as a bee .

94. All fun and games

It was all fun and games until my kids broke the window with their toys.

95. All eggs in one basket

I always keep a few dollars in my shoes, not just my wallet, because I don’t want to keep all eggs in one basket .

96. All’s fair in love and war

He was stealing from his competitors but justified it with “ All’s fair in love and war.”

97. All’s well that ends well

The journey was challenging, but all’s well that ends well , since they reached their destination safely.

98. Armed to the teeth

She had a rugged personality and was always prepared for any situation, fully armed to the teeth.

99. Avoid like the plague

Me and Sara don’t get along, and she avoids me like the plague .

100. Fresh as a daisy 

I slept nicely in Greece with all that seaside air, waking up fresh as a daisy daily!

You can still make your writing sound interesting even if you don’t use the most common idioms. There are plenty of unusual words and phrases to enrich your sentences without sounding generic.

Meet Rachael, the editor at Become a Writer Today. With years of experience in the field, she is passionate about language and dedicated to producing high-quality content that engages and informs readers. When she's not editing or writing, you can find her exploring the great outdoors, finding inspiration for her next project.

View all posts

• Daily Crossword
• Word Puzzle
• Word Finder
• Word of the Day
• Synonym of the Day
• Word of the Year
• Language stories
• All featured
• Gender and sexuality
• All pop culture
• Writing hub
• Grammar essentials
• Commonly confused
• All writing tips
• Pop culture
• Writing tips

Advertisement

• long-winded

adjective as in wordy

Strongest matches

Weak matches

Discover More

Example sentences.

His many publications and his emails to me are long-winded, occasionally exaggerated, and sometimes hard to follow.

What do you call a long-winded member of Congress whose opinions infuriate you?

That quote may expose Obama as long-winded, but we knew that.

The downside: Santorum is a long-winded campaigner who gets tangled in talk of subcommittees and amendments.

Basically, Khrushchev was his usual blustering long-winded self and there was no way that David could stop him.

A minister cannot control long-winded gentlemen, and when gentlemen are very long-winded there must be delay.

His novels were terribly long-winded, but there are generations which find such a quality to their taste.

And this he did, though of course not at top speed, the pumas not being a race of long-winded runners like the wolves.

The bully-ragging, long-winded collection letter has no place in self-respecting business.

His Despatches, passionately long-winded, are exceedingly stiff reading to the like of us.

Related Words

Words related to long-winded are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word long-winded . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.

adjective as in talkative

• circumlocutory
• loose/loosen

adjective as in rambling

adjective as in boring, uninteresting

• commonplace
• oft-repeated
• out-of-date
• repetitious
• run-of-the-mill
• unimaginative
• uninspiring
• usual thing

Viewing 5 / 28 related words

Frequently Asked Questions

What is another word for long-winded .

Long-winded is used to describe to someone or something that goes on and on —it can be applied to a person or to a speech or a piece of writing.

How could you describe a long-winded person?

The adjective prolix can be used to describe a person who talks for a long time and uses a lot of words. It’s much more formal than long-winded .

The words garrulous , loquacious , talkative , and chatty can all be used to describe a person who talks a lot. They typically imply that such a person talks all the time—that they’re inclined to talk. Though it’s not always the case, this usually also involves them talking for a long time at once. The word voluble can also imply this, but it’s much more formal than long-winded .

What is long-winded writing?

When long-winded is applied to a speech or a piece of writing, similar words include verbose and wordy (which both mean having too many words), and prolix , which means both long and wordy. The adjective rambling describes speech or writing that goes on at length but doesn’t stay on topic. A perhaps more polite way of saying that a piece of writing is long-winded is calling it lengthy .

What is the opposite (antonym) of long-winded ?

The direct opposite of long-winded is short-winded —meaning “brief, concise, or to the point.” Short-winded is not as commonly used as long-winded, and it’s more often applied to speeches or pieces of writing, as opposed to people. The words succinct and concise can both be used to describe people, pieces of writing, or speeches that get right to the point without taking too long or using too many words.

How do you use long-winded in a sentence?

Long-winded can be used to describe people, speech, or writing.

Here are some examples of long-winded in a sentence:

• His speech was so long-winded that I almost fell asleep!
• My coworkers tell me I’m long-winded during presentations, but I just like to be thorough.
• I realized my essay was really long-winded and over the word count—I had to cut several pages. 

Is it long winded , longwinded , or long-winded ?

It’s by far most commonly spelled as long-winded .

On this page you'll find 39 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to long-winded, such as: chatty, loquacious, rambling, bombastic, gabby, and garrulous.

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

Biden delivers Morehouse commencement speech as some on campus express pro-Palestinian messages

ATLANTA — President Joe Biden delivered the commencement address at Morehouse College on Sunday morning, his most direct engagement with college students since the start of the Israel-Hamas war and a key opportunity for him to engage with a group of voters that data suggests is softening on him: young, Black men.

In his remarks, Biden ticked through his administration's policies that he said have aided Black Americans, including a record $16 billion in new aid for historically Black colleges and universities.

And, in a nod to the pro-Palestinian sentiment among Morehouse students and faculty, Biden reiterated his calls for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, more humanitarian aid in the region and support for a two-state solution that would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.

“We’ve been working on a deal as we speak. Working around the clock to lead an international effort to get more aid into Gaza, rebuild Gaza. I’m also working around the clock for more than just one cease-fire. I’m working to bring the region together. Working to build a lasting, durable peace,” he said.

As Biden spoke, roughly six students in the crowd sat turned away from him. Though Biden did not reference the action directly, his remarks touched on the “anger and frustration” felt by many Americans over the war, including by members of his own family.

“I know it breaks your heart. It breaks mine as well,” Biden said. “Leadership is about fighting through the most intractable problems. It’s about challenging anger, frustration and heartbreak. To find a solution. It’s about doing what you believe is right, even when it’s hard and lonely.”

Following the speech, Morehouse President David Thomas praised Biden for a “thought-provoking speech” he said was reflective of the president “listening.”

“You spoke to the hard issues confronting our nation and the world at this moment,” Thomas said before conferring an honorary doctorate degree onto Biden.

No significant, disruptive protests materialized, but some students and faculty members still expressed their support for Gaza during the ceremony.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations began even before Biden took the stage Sunday morning. As graduates and faculty entered the ceremony, at least eight students and three staff members wore pro-Palestinian garb, some adorned in Palestinian flags and others wearing keffiyeh scarves.

An opening prayer by the Rev. Claybon Lea Jr. urged those in power to be “accountable for valuing human life” across the globe.

“Whether they live in Israel or Palestine, Ukraine or Russia, the Congo or Haiti, God give us men that will value life and call us to accountability. Give us men who require all of us to live the golden rule and even follow the edicts of that Palestinian Jew named Jesus,” Lea said as Biden sat inches behind him.

In the most direct call to action of the ceremony, valedictorian DeAngelo Jeremiah Fletcher concluded his remarks by calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, framing his decision to speak on the conflict as a moral duty in line with the legacy of fellow Morehouse alumnus Martin Luther King Jr.

“It is important to recognize that both sides have suffered heavy casualties in the wake of Oct. 7,” Fletcher said. “From the comfort of our homes, we watch an unprecedented number of civilians mourn the loss of men, women and children while calling for a release of all hostages. For the first time in our lives, we’ve heard the global community sing one harmonious song that transcends language and culture. It is my stance as a Morehouse man named as a human being to call for an immediate and a permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.”

As Biden took the stage, graduating students remained seated and silent, even as older alumni nearby cheered.

And during his remarks, faculty member Samuel Livingston held up the flag of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in an effort to bring attention to ongoing conflict in the region.

Sebastian Gordon, a graduating senior from Washington, D.C., was satisfied with Biden's remarks. “I know one concern that my class had was actions and words didn’t line up,” Gordon told NBC News. “I’m happy with his words that he said. I’m just going to continue to watch to make sure his actions line up with that.”

The protests during the commencement were largely peaceful, following instructions Thomas, the school president, gave to faculty and students across at least three meetings: The right to protest would be honored as long as they’re not disruptive.

Ahead of the commencement, Thomas told CNN that though he would not ask police to intervene should protests occur during Biden’s remarks, he would immediately bring the commencement to a halt.

“I have also made a decision that we will also not ask police to take individuals out of commencement in zip ties. If faced with the choice, I will cease the ceremonies on the spot if we were to reach that position,” Thomas said.

Even the most vocal student protesters at Morehouse predicted that protests during the commencement ceremony would likely not be disruptive, partially due to the volatility a police response would likely incite.

“I think that whatever happens on Sunday on the part of the people and the people who want to see some change is going to be peaceful,” sophomore Anwar Karim said. “I don’t see it erupting like it has at some of the other campuses, because we at HBCUs here are also just mindful of the fact of how interactions with police often go.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that Biden spent several days working on the speech, tapping into a brain trust of senior advisers, including some Morehouse alums, to craft his message to the 415 Black men graduating from the school.

Biden previewed the tone of his remarks during a speech Thursday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision.

“Morehouse was founded after our nation’s Civil War to help prepare Black Americans who were formerly enslaved to enter the ministry, earn an education and usher them from slavery to freedom,” Biden said before announcing $16 billion in new investments for historically Black colleges and universities. “The founders of Morehouse understood something fundamental. Education is linked to freedom. Because to be free means to have something that no one can ever take away from you.”

Biden’s speech at Morehouse came against the backdrop of protests on college campuses nationwide over his handling over the war in Gaza, with many students and faculty members voicing opposition to the White House’s continued financial and military support for Israel. Some at Morehouse hoped Biden would speak directly to those concerns during his commencement remarks.

“I hope that we don’t get boilerplate language. I hope that we get something we haven’t heard before. I hope that his ethical, moral conscience trump any politics,” Morehouse professor Stephane Dunn said at a protest Friday.

Morehouse has also had pro-Palestinian protests on campus, though the HBCU did not see the same scale or escalation of demonstrations as some larger universities.

The school’s decision to host Biden as commencement speaker and award him an honorary doctorate degree almost immediately sparked protests among faculty and students, some continuing into the days leading up to the commencement ceremony.

“This is one big distraction on a day to celebrate the class of 2024 following Covid-19, but this is also an opportunity for students to make their voices heard during a time of increasing war and genocide in the Middle East,” Morehouse senior Calvin Bell said in reaction to Biden’s visit.

“We as students, faculty and alums who are standing on the right side of history do not stand with Biden,” Karim said. “We do not align ourselves with all of the clear and avid support that he’s had for a genocidal campaign on the part of the Israelis for the last over 200-plus days.”

Most recently, Morehouse faculty were split over the decision to award Biden an honorary doctorate degree at the ceremony. A letter circulated among staff members in protest of the decision got more that two dozen signatures in support, and the vote to award the degree passed 50-38, with roughly 12 faculty members abstaining.

The White House deployed its allies to Morehouse, both formally and informally, to assuage concerns and lower tensions over Biden’s visit.

Steve Benjamin, who heads the White House Office of Public Engagement, met with a small group of Morehouse students and faculty this month following a push from the school’s leadership for “direct engagement” from the White House.

During the meeting, some students expressed concerns about Biden overshadowing their graduation, while others implored Benjamin to ensure Biden’s speech doesn’t double as a campaign stump speech — frustrated with the idea of the commencement address being a vehicle for Biden to bolster support among Black voters.

That sentiment was shared by other Morehouse students critical of Biden’s visit.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he only accepted the invitation after Trump was already in [Atlanta’s] West End, trying to make gains and failing to make gains with our students here,” Morehouse student Malik Poole said at a campus protest ahead of Biden’s visit. “And this is coming at a time where voters of color are fleeing from Biden at record pace.”

But still, Biden’s Morehouse visit came amid a concerted effort by his administration and campaign in the past week to sharpen his message to Black voters .

On Thursday, Biden met with plaintiffs and their family members from the historic Brown v. Board of Education case. The following day, he met with leaders of the Divine Nine, a group of historically Black sororities and fraternities, alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority herself. During his trip to Georgia, Biden attended an event Saturday focused on engaging Black voters. And following his commencement address, Biden will close out the weekend by delivering the keynote address at the NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in Detroit, where he plans to tout his administration’s accomplishments for Black Americans.

As data suggests that Black voters — particularly young Black voters — are souring on Biden, some at Morehouse recognized the “opportunity” Biden had to make his case to members of that voting bloc during his address.

“If you want ... these students to vote in the fall for you, you have to give them something that shows that you are hearing them,” Dunn said. “That you are trying to do something we haven’t heard about. This is the opportunity.”

Nnamdi Egwuonwu is a 2024 NBC News campaign embed.

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• 13 May 2024

Brain-reading device is best yet at decoding ‘internal speech’

• Miryam Naddaf

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Scientists have developed brain implants that can decode internal speech — identifying words that two people spoke in their minds without moving their lips or making a sound.

Access options

Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription

24,99 € / 30 days

cancel any time

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

185,98 € per year

only 3,65 € per issue

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01424-7

Wandelt, S. K. et al. Nature Hum. Behav . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01867-y (2024).

Article   Google Scholar  

Download references

Reprints and permissions

Related Articles

• Medical research
• Neuroscience

Ozempic keeps wowing: trial data show benefits for kidney disease

News 24 MAY 24

Trials that infected people with common colds can inform today’s COVID-19 challenge trials

Correspondence 21 MAY 24

First ‘bilingual’ brain-reading device decodes Spanish and English words

News 21 MAY 24

These crows have counting skills previously only seen in people

News 23 MAY 24

Seed-stashing chickadees overturn ideas about location memory

News & Views 23 MAY 24

Mapping model units to visual neurons reveals population code for social behaviour

Article 22 MAY 24

Neural pathways for reward and relief promote fentanyl addiction

News & Views 22 MAY 24

AI networks reveal how flies find a mate

Professor, Division Director, Translational and Clinical Pharmacology

Cincinnati Children’s seeks a director of the Division of Translational and Clinical Pharmacology.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati Children's Hospital & Medical Center

Data Analyst for Gene Regulation as an Academic Functional Specialist

The Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn is an international research university with a broad spectrum of subjects. With 200 years of his...

53113, Bonn (DE)

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität

Recruitment of Global Talent at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOZ, CAS)

The Institute of Zoology (IOZ), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), is seeking global talents around the world.

Beijing, China

Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOZ, CAS)

Full Professorship (W3) in “Organic Environmental Geochemistry (f/m/d)

The Institute of Earth Sciences within the Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences at Heidelberg University invites applications for a   FULL PROFE...

Heidelberg, Brandenburg (DE)

Universität Heidelberg

Postdoc: deep learning for super-resolution microscopy

The Ries lab is looking for a PostDoc with background in machine learning.

Vienna, Austria

University of Vienna

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Benedictine College nuns denounce Harrison Butker's speech at their school

John Helton

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker speaks to the media during NFL football Super Bowl 58 opening night on Feb. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. Butker railed against Pride month along with President Biden's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and his stance on abortion during a commencement address at Benedictine College last weekend. Charlie Riedel/AP hide caption

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker speaks to the media during NFL football Super Bowl 58 opening night on Feb. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. Butker railed against Pride month along with President Biden's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and his stance on abortion during a commencement address at Benedictine College last weekend.

An order of nuns affiliated with Benedictine College rejected Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison's Butker's comments in a commencement speech there last weekend that stirred up a culture war skirmish.

"The sisters of Mount St. Scholastica do not believe that Harrison Butker's comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested," the nuns wrote in a statement posted on Facebook .

In his 20-minute address , Butker denounced abortion rights, Pride Month, COVID-19 lockdowns and "the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion" at the Catholic liberal arts college in Atchison, Kan.

He also told women in the audience to embrace the "vocation" of homemaker.

"I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross the stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you're going to get in your career?" he asked. "Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world. But I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world."

For many Missouri Catholics, abortion rights means choosing between faith, politics

That was one of the themes that the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica took issue with.

"Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation, and the world, his comments seem to have fostered division," they wrote. "One of our concerns was the assertion that being a homemaker is the highest calling for a woman. We sisters have dedicated our lives to God and God's people, including the many women whom we have taught and influenced during the past 160 years. These women have made a tremendous difference in the world in their roles as wives and mothers and through their God-given gifts in leadership, scholarship, and their careers."

The Benedictine sisters of Mount St. Scholastica founded a school for girls in Atchinson in the 1860s. It merged with St. Benedict's College in 1971 to form Benedictine College.

Neither Butker nor the Chiefs have commented on the controversy. An online petition calling for the Chiefs to release the kicker had nearly 215,000 signatures as of Sunday morning.

6 in 10 U.S. Catholics are in favor of abortion rights, Pew Research report finds

The NFL, for its part, has distanced itself from Butker's remarks.

"Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity," Jonathan Beane, the NFL's senior VP and chief diversity and inclusion officer told NPR on Thursday. "His views are not those of the NFL as an organization."

Meanwhile, Butker's No. 7 jersey is one of the league's top-sellers , rivaling those of better-known teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

Butker has been open about his faith. The 28-year-old father of two told the Eternal Word Television Network in 2019 that he grew up Catholic but practiced less in high school and college before rediscovering his belief later in life.

His comments have gotten some support from football fan social media accounts and Christian and conservative media personalities .

A video of his speech posted on Benedictine College's YouTube channel has 1.5 million views.

Rachel Treisman contributed to this story.

• Harrison Butker
• benedictine college

Kevin Costner Can’t Hold Back Tears as His Western Epic ‘Horizon’ Earns 7-Minute Cannes Standing Ovation, Promises ‘3 More’ Installments

“ Horizon : An American Saga,” Kevin Costner ‘s risk-it-all Western epic, rode into Cannes on Sunday, earning a seven-minute standing ovation.

Costner was visibly emotional as the film received huge applause and chants of “Kevin! Kevin! Kevin!” During his speech, Costner thanked the audience and promised “three more” installments of the “Horizon” franchise, which is already due to get a sequel in August.

Kevin Costner gets teary-eyed during the standing ovation for his film “Horizon: An American Saga” at Cannes. pic.twitter.com/ddOxeGUprm — Variety (@Variety) May 19, 2024

Popular on Variety

Though Costner received a rapturous reaction after the credits rolled, “Horizon’s” three-hour runtime and the American frontier storyline may have proved too much for some. There were scores of walkouts throughout the film — many attendees returned, but some did not. In the movie, Costner shoots his way through the 19th century Wild West. Along the way, he has a sexual romp with a damsel in distress who is 33 years his junior, and shoots and kills a very villainous fellow settler — which earned the biggest applause during the movie. Unlike a typical film one would see at Cannes, “Horizon” closes with a compelling preview of the next installment.

Costner showed the first part of “Horizon” at Cannes on Sunday. It opens on June 28 in the U.S. with the second chapter debuting in theaters on Aug. 16. That release strategy carries its own risks — if the first installment is a dud, will people show up for its follow-up?

The ensemble of “Horizon” includes Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Jamie Campbell Bower and Thomas Haden Church.

More From Our Brands

Athleisure fashion finds so chic you could wear them to work, massachusetts may lose $1 billion a year from an exodus of wealthy residents, ncaa, power five ok $2.7 billion antitrust settlement, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, grey’s anatomy recap: [spoiler] is fired — and as one couple breaks up, another one hits the sheets, verify it's you, please log in.