Filler Words List: 40+ Examples and How to Cut Them From Your Speech

A filler word is any sound, word, or phrase that fills a pause in speech without adding meaning. Linguists sometimes call them "disfluencies" because they interrupt the fluent flow of a sentence without actually communicating information.

Filler words fall into a few distinct types, and a useful filler words list should cover all of them:

**Vocalized pauses:** Non-word sounds like "um" and "uh" that buy time while the brain searches for the next word.

**Discourse markers:** Words like "so," "well," and "basically" that originally had grammatical purpose but get overused as verbal tics.

**Crutch phrases:** Repeated phrases like "you know," "I mean," and "at the end of the day" that speakers lean on out of habit rather than intent.

**Qualifiers and hedges:** Words like "kind of," "sort of," and "just" that soften a statement more than the speaker intends.

Not every use of these words is a filler. "Like" as a comparison ("it felt like a marathon") is grammatically correct. "So" to introduce a conclusion ("so, in summary...") serves a purpose. A word becomes a filler specifically when it is inserted out of habit, adds no meaning, and could be removed without changing the sentence.

Below is a categorized list of filler words, organized by how they show up in speech. Skim it and notice which ones you recognize in your own conversations.

Filler words are not a sign of poor intelligence or weak vocabulary. They are a byproduct of how speech production actually works.

Speaking is a real-time process: the brain has to select words, arrange grammar, and coordinate the mouth and vocal cords simultaneously, all while thinking about content. When that pipeline hits a small delay, a filler word steps in to hold the floor.

Research on speech disfluency backs this up. A widely cited analysis by linguist Herbert Clark found that speakers use "um" specifically to signal a longer expected pause and "uh" for a shorter one, suggesting these are not random noise but a functional part of how the brain manages conversational timing. In other words, filler words carry information for the listener as much as they buy time for the speaker: they signal "I am not done yet, please wait."

This is also why interrupting someone mid-"um" often feels rude. The filler word is doing real conversational work, holding the floor while the next phrase gets assembled.

Filler word frequency tends to increase in a few predictable situations:

**Cognitive load:** Speaking about unfamiliar or complex topics increases filler word use because more mental effort goes into content, leaving less for delivery.

**Anxiety:** Nervousness under evaluation, such as in interviews or presentations, speeds up the internal need to fill silence.

**Second-language speaking:** Translating in real time between languages adds processing overhead that often surfaces as filler words.

**Unscripted speech:** Filler words are far less common in written or rehearsed speech because there is time to edit before speaking.

**Group settings:** Speaking in front of more people, or people with more perceived authority, raises self-monitoring and often increases filler word rate, even for topics the speaker knows well.

Understanding the cause matters because it changes the fix. Filler words are not something to suppress through willpower alone; they respond much better to structural changes in how you pace and prepare your speech.

There is no universal number, but research gives a useful benchmark. A study on conversational speech found that filler words appear roughly once every 4.4 seconds in unscripted conversation among average speakers, which works out to several dozen per minute of casual talk.

The more useful measure is not raw count but density relative to content, and how listeners perceive it. A 2019 study on speaker evaluation found that listeners rated speakers using frequent filler words as noticeably less competent and less prepared than speakers who paused silently instead. The gap was large enough to affect hiring and credibility judgments, not just style preference.

As a rough guide:

**Under 1-2 filler words per minute:** Rarely noticed by listeners.

**3-5 per minute:** Noticeable in high-stakes settings like interviews or pitches, though acceptable in casual conversation.

**6 or more per minute:** Distracting enough to pull attention away from content, regardless of setting.

The goal is not zero filler words. Even professional broadcasters and trained speakers use them occasionally. The goal is reducing frequency enough that listeners focus on your message instead of your delivery.

Most people underestimate how often they use filler words because the brain filters them out in real time, both as speaker and listener. Identifying your specific patterns takes deliberate observation.

**Record yourself speaking.** Pick a two-minute topic and record it unscripted, the way you would answer an interview question or explain something to a colleague. Most people are surprised by what they hear on playback.

**Transcribe a short clip.** Writing out exactly what you said, filler words included, makes patterns visible that are easy to miss by ear alone. You will likely notice one or two words that repeat far more than the rest of your list of filler words.

**Ask someone to tally them.** A friend or colleague counting your filler words during a conversation gives you real-time data you cannot get by self-monitoring alone, since monitoring your own speech while speaking is cognitively difficult.

**Track your worst context.** Filler words spike in specific situations: unscripted Q&A, thinking on the spot, or topics you know less well. Identifying when they spike, not just how often, tells you where to focus practice.

Once you know your specific patterns, the fix becomes far more targeted than generic advice to "stop saying um."

Cutting filler words works best as a byproduct of better speech habits rather than a direct suppression effort. A few approaches consistently produce results:

**Slow your pace.** Most filler words appear when the mouth is moving faster than the brain can select words. A slightly slower, more deliberate pace gives your brain the processing time it needs, which removes the pressure that creates fillers in the first place.

**Replace the filler with silence.** Instead of fighting the urge to fill a pause, practice closing your mouth and pausing instead. A one-second silent pause feels much longer to the speaker than it does to the listener, and it reads as thoughtful rather than hesitant.

**Prepare your opening line.** Many filler words cluster at the start of an answer, right when pressure is highest. Having a clear first sentence ready, even without a full script, removes the moment where fillers are most likely to appear.

**Practice out loud regularly.** Filler word habits form because unscripted speech is the default mode for most conversation. Deliberate practice speaking on specific topics, out loud, builds the same fluency for structured answers that casual conversation already has for small talk.

**Get feedback on your actual speech.** Self-monitoring while speaking is difficult because attention is split between content and delivery. Tools like SayNow AI let you rehearse real scenarios, such as interview questions or presentation openings, and get direct feedback on filler word frequency and pacing after each attempt, which closes the gap between what you think you sound like and what you actually sound like.

For a broader set of techniques on vocal delivery, see the guide on [how to sound confident](/blog/how-to-sound-confident), which covers pace, pitch, and pausing alongside filler word reduction.

Yes, in moderation. Filler words serve a few legitimate conversational functions that make eliminating them entirely counterproductive.

**They signal you are not finished.** A brief "um" mid-thought tells listeners you are still formulating an answer, preventing them from interrupting.

**They soften directness.** A qualifier like "I think" before a strong opinion can make feedback land better in sensitive conversations, such as a performance review.

**They sound more natural in casual settings.** Speech with zero filler words can come across as overly rehearsed or robotic in everyday conversation, where some disfluency is expected and normal.

The goal of studying a filler words list is not to erase every instance. It is to notice which ones have become an unconscious crutch that happens dozens of times per conversation, versus the occasional, natural pause that every fluent speaker uses.

Yes, though they look different from spoken filler words. Written filler words are phrases that pad a sentence without adding meaning, and they show up in emails, reports, and even resumes.

Common written filler words and phrases include: "in order to" (instead of "to"), "due to the fact that" (instead of "because"), "it is important to note that," "at this point in time" (instead of "now"), "needless to say," and "for all intents and purposes."

The underlying cause is similar to spoken filler words: the writer is buying processing time or hedging a statement, except on paper there is no time pressure forcing it, which is why editing is so effective at removing them. Reading a draft aloud is one of the fastest ways to catch written filler words, because the ear notices padding that the eye skims past.

The connection matters for anyone preparing a speech or presentation from a script. If the written draft is full of filler phrases, they often carry over into the spoken delivery, compounding with vocal fillers like "um" and "you know." Cleaning up the script first makes the spoken delivery easier to keep clean as well.

Knowing the list of filler words is the easy part. Reducing them under real pressure, in an interview, a presentation, or a difficult conversation, takes repetition with feedback.

SayNow AI gives you a space to rehearse specific speaking scenarios and get direct feedback on filler word frequency, pace, and clarity after each practice session, so you can see your patterns shift over time instead of guessing whether you have improved.

Start by recording yourself on one topic this week. Note which words from this filler words list show up most, then apply one change: slow down, or replace the filler with a silent pause. Small, specific changes compound faster than trying to fix everything at once.