An adjective phrase can consist of an adverb + adjective. In the following examples: ‘obvious‘ and ‘unlikely‘ are the head of the adjective phrases.
Needless to say, Ares’ negotiating position was hugely strengthened when it became painfully obvious to everyone
that the giant US asset manager was the only bidder that had bothered to turn up at the auction.
Therefore, all 42 Sinn Fein candidates would likely have to be elected to the 160-seat chamber
to give it a shot at emerging as the largest party, an outcome which remains highly unlikely.
The adverbs ‘painfully’ and ‘highly’ are used here to emphasize.
C1 point 199 in the category of MODALITY/ MODIFYING ADJECTIVES
adjectives with adverbs, often for emphasis.
The two examples in the EGP are:
- painfully obvious
- highly unlikely
The wording of the EGP explanation is quite vague. It also overlaps modifying gradable adjectives with extreme adverbs of degree (‘absolutely’, ‘extremely‘, ‘incredibly’, ‘totally‘) to intensify their meaning.
We might interpret it as ‘adverbs of emphasis, emphasizers, emphasizing adverbs’ or ‘intensifiers’. More frequent examples would include:
absolutely, certainly, clearly, definitely, naturally, obviously, positively, really, simply, and undoubtedly.
*although there are 50 examples of ‘highly’ in the following top 1000 results, there are no examples of ‘painfully’.
A search in iWeb for:
_RR _JJ
1 REALLY GOOD 291231
2 ALSO AVAILABLE 178651
3 MUCH BETTER 155656
4 JUST FINE 128174
5 COMPLETELY DIFFERENT 110022
6 MUCH EASIER 109264
7 REALLY NICE 95737
8 MUCH HIGHER 93653
9 ALSO IMPORTANT 84169
10 SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT 84104
11 REALLY GREAT 82240
12 EVEN WORSE 76428
13 READILY AVAILABLE 74520
14 MUCH LARGER 74363
15 EVEN BETTER 74000
16 REALLY HARD 73457
17 REALLY IMPORTANT 70734
18 REALLY BAD 65207
19 REALLY COOL 63980
20 CURRENTLY AVAILABLE 57047
21 RELATIVELY SMALL 55344
22 EXTREMELY IMPORTANT 53578
23 MUCH SMALLER 53226
24 REALLY EASY 52533
25 MUCH LOWER 51428
26 ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE 50883
27 ALSO POSSIBLE 49513
28 EVEN GREATER 49469
29 EASILY ACCESSIBLE 49027
30 WIDE OPEN 48880
31 TOTALLY DIFFERENT 47269
32 LITTLE DIFFERENT 46479
33 LITTLE EXTRA 46341
34 REALLY INTERESTING 45007
35 JUST PLAIN 45006
36 RELATIVELY NEW 44912
37 ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT 44515
38 STILL ALIVE 44327
39 WHENEVER POSSIBLE 43839
40 ENTIRELY NEW 43698
41 JUST RIGHT 43661
42 ENTIRELY DIFFERENT 42769
43 COMMONLY USED 42731
44 ALSO GREAT 41912
45 MUCH BIGGER 41686
46 ESPECIALLY TRUE 41375
47 COMPLETELY NEW 39598
48 RELATIVELY EASY 39489
49 MUCH GREATER 39001
50 BIT DIFFERENT 38986
51 WHERE POSSIBLE 37538
52 RELATIVELY LOW 37384
53 REALLY HAPPY 36888
54 ALSO GOOD 36637
55 REALLY FUN 36625
56 EXTREMELY HIGH 36411
57 PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE 36401
58 EXTREMELY DIFFICULT 36358
59 REALLY BIG 36181
60 REALLY ONLY 35409
61 EVEN BIGGER 34756
62 WHEN NECESSARY 34701
63 ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY 34387
64 STILL AVAILABLE 33971
65 EVEN HIGHER 33571
66 NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE 33458
67 HIGHLY EFFECTIVE 32876
It makes us a highly effective company.
68 JUST CURIOUS 32666
69 FAIRLY EASY 32480
70 ALWAYS GOOD 31634
71 PLEASANTLY SURPRISED 31286
72 PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT 30858
73 MUCH DIFFERENT 30847
74 MUCH CHEAPER 30389
75 MUCH WORSE 30024
76 HIGHLY SKILLED 29453
77 SLIGHTLY HIGHER 28910
78 SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER 28611
79 COMPLETELY FREE 27796
80 REALLY HELPFUL 27449
81 STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT 27189
82 WIDELY AVAILABLE 27099
83 WHEN POSSIBLE 27065
84 EQUALLY IMPORTANT 26940
First, enjoying my work and making a lot of money are equally important.
PELIC: Taiwanese, Female, Level 3, Writing Class.
85 ALWAYS EASY 26869
86 JUST CANT 26355
87 THUS FAR 26327
88 MUCH HARDER 26213
89 USUALLY ONLY 25708
90 ALSO RESPONSIBLE 25622
91 EXTREMELY HELPFUL 25387
92 ALWAYS AVAILABLE 25315
93 HIGHLY COMPETITIVE 24855
94 MORE LIKELY 24632
95 HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL 24479
96 PUBLICLY AVAILABLE 24373
97 REALLY EXCITED 24366
98 PARTICULARLY USEFUL 24271
99 REALLY SURE 24261
100 LOT EASIER 24250
101 RELATIVELY SIMPLE 23672
102 PERFECTLY FINE 23557
103 RELATIVELY SHORT 23498
104 LONGER AVAILABLE 23470
105 WIDELY USED 23337
106 RELATIVELY HIGH 23154
107 MUCH STRONGER 22885
108 ALSO TRUE 22871
109 FAIRLY SIMPLE 22701
110 ACTIVELY INVOLVED 22526
111 ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY 22485
The use of animals is absolutely necessary.
112 REALLY USEFUL 22291
113 HIGHLY UNLIKELY 22284
A search in NOW corpus for collocates:
1 IT 17217
2 WOULD 3891
3 SEEMS 2084
4 EVER 587
5 ‘LL 573
6 LOOKS 446
7 HAPPEN 354
8 SCENARIO 337
9 APPEARS 279
10 REMAINS 249
11 SEEMED 215
12 SEEM 177
13 IMPOSSIBLE 139
14 OUTCOME 125
15 SUCCEED 100
114 ALMOST IDENTICAL 21909
115 SLIGHTLY LARGER 21830
116 EXTREMELY LOW 21639
117 ESPECIALLY USEFUL 21555
118 REALLY INTERESTED 21532
119 TRULY UNIQUE 21494
120 REALLY SIMPLE 21209
121 FULLY FUNCTIONAL 21145
122 FULLY AWARE 20996
123 INCREASINGLY POPULAR 20905
124 EXTREMELY POPULAR 20682
125 MUCH LONGER 20515
126 INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT 20471
127 EXTREMELY RARE 20421
128 EXTREMELY EASY 20276
129 MOST LIKELY 19897
130 EXTRA SPECIAL 19857
131 PARTICULARLY GOOD 19720
132 WHEREVER POSSIBLE 19622
133 COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE 19495
134 SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER 19417
135 STILL ONLY 19277
136 EXTREMELY USEFUL 19272
137 NO LONGER 18886
138 MUCH SIMPLER 18758
139 SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED 18542
140 REALLY DIFFICULT 18434
141 EVEN POSSIBLE 18404
142 SO GLAD 18212
143 RAPIDLY GROWING 18145
144 ABSOLUTELY AMAZING 18026
145 FAIRLY NEW 17876
146 REALLY STRONG 17840
147 EVEN EASIER 17572
148 STILL GOOD 17499
149 ALWAYS POSSIBLE 17044
150 MINIMALLY INVASIVE 16921
151 REALLY LONG 16847
152 ALSO USEFUL 16841
153 WHERE NECESSARY 16681
154 ALWAYS READY 16654
155 REALLY HIGH 16645
156 ALWAYS HAPPY 16563
157 VASTLY DIFFERENT 16520
158 POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS 16436
159 MUCH FASTER 16370
160 REALLY EXCITING 16238
161 ALL POSSIBLE 16224
162 INCREDIBLY EASY 16094
163 EVEN LARGER 16088
164 REALLY TOUGH 16049
165 SOLELY RESPONSIBLE 16023
166 ALREADY AVAILABLE 15955
167 HUGELY POPULAR 15942
168 JUST PERFECT 15940
169 VITALLY IMPORTANT 15735
170 EXTREMELY HARD 15667
171 ALSO EASY 15641
172 INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT 15640
173 SLIGHTLY SMALLER 15601
174 FAIRLY COMMON 15551
175 ALWAYS NICE 15515
176 ALWAYS BETTER 15373
177 ALSO OTHER 15289
178 EVEN SURE 15270
179 STILL POSSIBLE 15222
180 SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT 15203
181 FREELY AVAILABLE 15110
182 EVEN HARDER 15070
183 ENTIRELY POSSIBLE 15054
184 ALSO PRESENT 15020
185 VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE 14926
186 FAR SUPERIOR 14920
187 SLIGHTLY LOWER 14729
188 TRULY AMAZING 14709
189 CURRENTLY ONLY 14700
190 CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED 14654
191 ALSO LIKELY 14616
192 MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE 14599
193 ALSO INVOLVED 14536
194 ENTIRELY SURE 14402
195 INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT 14398
196 CLEARLY VISIBLE 14395
197 EVEN STRONGER 14366
198 MUCH WIDER 14359
199 ALMOST CERTAIN 14252
200 HOW IMPORTANT 14227
201 CRITICALLY IMPORTANT 14193
202 NEARLY IDENTICAL 14180
203 HIGHLY ANTICIPATED 14117
204 ALWAYS FUN 14057
205 REALLY SPECIAL 14014
206 FAIRLY LARGE 14001
207 REALLY PLEASED 13970
208 ESPECIALLY GOOD 13949
209 MUCH SHORTER 13909
210 GENETICALLY MODIFIED 13841
211 EVEN SMALL 13776
212 FAIRLY GOOD 13734
213 AESTHETICALLY PLEASING 13676
214 JUST GREAT 13647
215 EVEN LOWER 13605
216 HIGHLY QUALIFIED 13274
217 REALLY PROUD 13187
218 MUCH OLDER 13072
219 ALREADY FAMILIAR 12979
220 JUST GOOD 12971
221 OFTEN DIFFICULT 12883
222 PARTICULARLY INTERESTED 12809
223 REALLY AWESOME 12766
224 REALLY GLAD 12706
225 RADICALLY DIFFERENT 12699
226 REGULARLY SCHEDULED 12689
227 MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL 12658
228 ESPECIALLY HELPFUL 12637
229 BOTH GOOD 12616
230 REALLY AMAZING 12599
231 ALWAYS GREAT 12523
232 ALWAYS WILLING 12521
233 HIGHLY LIKELY 12520
234 TOTALLY NEW 12474
235 RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE 12423
236 PERFECTLY GOOD 12398
237 EXTREMELY HAPPY 12381
238 POLITICALLY CORRECT 12359
239 HOW GOOD 12346
240 RAPIDLY CHANGING 12258
241 PROBABLY ONLY 12243
242 JUST SHORT 12169
243 PARTICULARLY TRUE 12145
244 HIGHLY EFFICIENT 12144
245 EVER INCREASING 12096
246 ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL 12073
247 REALLY HOT 12063
248 SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT 11992
249 SLIGHTLY BETTER 11940
250 ALSO INTERESTED 11922
251 JUST AMAZING 11902
252 EVEN CLOSE 11875
253 TWICE DAILY 11819
254 RELATIVELY LARGE 11800
255 EVEN SMALLER 11780
256 ABSOLUTELY PERFECT 11724
257 SEEMINGLY ENDLESS 11704
258 FULLY INTEGRATED 11695
259 EXTREMELY POWERFUL 11682
260 ALSO USED 11624
261 COMPLETELY DRY 11534
262 REALLY WEIRD 11512
263 ABSOLUTELY RIGHT 11451
264 EXTREMELY GOOD 11446
265 ALREADY EXISTING 11444
266 REALLY NECESSARY 11423
267 HEAVILY INVOLVED 11351
268 ALSO HELPFUL 11325
269 LONG OVERDUE 11313
270 JUST SHY 11305
271 STILL ACTIVE 11275
272 EASILY AVAILABLE 11268
273 HIGHLY SENSITIVE 11243
274 EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE 11213
275 TRULY GREAT 11193
276 ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL 11183
277 ALSO COMMON 11055
278 FREQUENTLY USED 11022
279 IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE 11011
280 ALWAYS BEST 10972
281 BIT TRICKY 10954
282 EXTREMELY PROUD 10947
283 REALLY CUTE 10907
284 REALLY SMALL 10898
285 PHYSICALLY ACTIVE 10780
286 PARTICULARLY INTERESTING 10761
287 ALSO INTERESTING 10624
288 LITTLE NERVOUS 10607
289 DIRECTLY INVOLVED 10498
290 INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT 10482
291 ALSO ONLY 10465
292 HUGELY SUCCESSFUL 10439
293 EXACTLY SURE 10431
294 GENERALLY ACCEPTED 10414
295 BIT HIGHER 10388
296 REALLY LOW 10359
297 EXTREMELY VALUABLE 10347
298 REALLY SAD 10338
299 RELATIVELY CHEAP 10338
300 LITTLE HIGHER 10337
301 MUCH CLOSER 10335
302 SEXUALLY ACTIVE 10328
303 LOT CHEAPER 10298
304 ABSOLUTELY STUNNING 10297
305 PERFECTLY NORMAL 10278
306 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS 10260
307 MUCH NICER 10258
308 REALLY BEAUTIFUL 10198
309 CLOSELY RELATED 10151
310 STILL YOUNG 10128
311 SOMEWHAT SIMILAR 10104
312 INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED 10047
313 LITTLE TRICKY 9935
314 INCREASINGLY COMPLEX 9877
315 EXTREMELY PLEASED 9858
316 MUCH LIGHTER 9817
317 JUST HAPPY 9792
318 ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC 9779
319 JUST DIFFERENT 9777
320 COMPLETELY WRONG 9767
321 MUCH BROADER 9717
322 STILL PRESENT 9676
323 FAIRLY HIGH 9637
324 BOTH MALE 9633
325 HIGHLY VISIBLE 9623
326 ALSO POPULAR 9554
327 ALSO NEW 9532
328 PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT 9500
329 STILL IMPORTANT 9497
330 FAR BETTER 9493
331 LOT WORSE 9449
332 POTENTIALLY HARMFUL 9439
333 FAIRLY SMALL 9418
334 MUCH YOUNGER 9411
335 STILL OPEN 9400
336 HIGHLY DESIRABLE 9335
337 FULLY COMPATIBLE 9328
338 BOTH ONLINE 9309
339 MUCH HAPPIER 9299
340 REALLY NEAT 9297
341 ABSOLUTELY FREE 9297
342 LEGALLY BINDING 9282
343 FULLY ADJUSTABLE 9235
344 ALWAYS OPEN 9216
345 ALWAYS IMPORTANT 9208
346 FAIRLY STRAIGHTFORWARD 9195
347 REALLY FUNNY 9144
348 BOTH PUBLIC 9140
349 REALLY ANNOYING 9089
350 TOTALLY FREE 9082
351 WILDLY POPULAR 9028
352 HIGHLY RESPECTED 8979
353 FULLY OPERATIONAL 8967
354 ABSOLUTELY SURE 8939
355 INCREDIBLY POWERFUL 8933
356 EXTREMELY COMFORTABLE 8912
357 PROBABLY BETTER 8885
358 ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS 8864
359 EVER CHANGING 8862
360 FULLY QUALIFIED 8828
361 LITTLE HARD 8794
362 PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE 8793
363 HIGHLY DETAILED 8781
364 BIT DIFFICULT 8780
365 YET AVAILABLE 8773
366 EXTREMELY STRONG 8765
367 ALMOST DAILY 8739
368 PARTICULARLY HELPFUL 8726
369 SO GOOD 8713
370 PARTICULARLY STRONG 8694
371 TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED 8679
372 REALLY CHEAP 8652
373 LITTLE EASIER 8652
374 SO HAPPY 8649
375 REALLY CANT 8641
376 FAIRLY LOW 8633
377 ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS 8622
378 NEVER EASY 8611
379 ALSO NICE 8563
380 HOW BIG 8561
381 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE 8506
382 READILY ACCESSIBLE 8480
383 ALSO FREE 8474
384 JUST GLAD 8467
385 SURPRISINGLY GOOD 8451
386 FAIRLY CERTAIN 8378
387 REALLY SURPRISED 8365
388 REALLY OLD 8356
389 REALLY FAST 8326
390 REALLY QUICK 8261
391 BIT ODD 8251
392 BOTH NEW 8226
393 INCREDIBLY USEFUL 8210
394 EXACTLY RIGHT 8205
395 LITTLE DIFFICULT 8197
396 FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT 8166
397 EXTREMELY DURABLE 8148
398 ALREADY PRESENT 8129
399 FULLY AUTOMATED 8098
400 REALLY SORRY 8096
401 BIT CONFUSING 8092
402 INCREASINGLY COMMON 8059
403 REALLY CLOSE 8057
404 STILL CANT 8049
405 EXTREMELY SMALL 8038
406 ALSO ESSENTIAL 8005
407 HUGELY IMPORTANT 7999
408 EVER GROWING 7937
409 GENERALLY AVAILABLE 7915
410 LITTLE LONGER 7874
411 ALSO EXCELLENT 7869
412 ALSO NECESSARY 7867
413 EVEN AWARE 7850
414 SIMPLY AMAZING 7829
415 ALSO CONCERNED 7827
416 PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE 7819
417 ALSO PERFECT 7783
418 REALLY EXPENSIVE 7765
419 COMPLETELY SAFE 7749
420 REALLY COMFORTABLE 7736
421 EXTRA LONG 7702
422 YET POWERFUL 7649
423 RELATIVELY MINOR 7642
424 FRESHLY GROUND 7638
425 CONSTANTLY CHANGING 7630
426 LITTLE DISAPPOINTED 7620
427 UNUSUALLY HIGH 7618
428 CERTAINLY TRUE 7611
It’s certainly true that the Americans have prepared seriously.
429 GENERALLY ONLY 7602
430 EXTREMELY LARGE 7601
431 RELATIVELY STABLE 7571
432 COMPLETELY NORMAL 7561
433 PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE 7554
434 BIT HARD 7551
435 ALSO HIGH 7545
436 WHEN NEW 7534
437 ACTUALLY GOOD 7495
438 ALSO IDEAL 7486
439 MEDICALLY NECESSARY 7484
440 CAREFULLY SELECTED 7477
441 LOT DIFFERENT 7466
442 HIGHLY COMPLEX 7450
443 ALMOST PERFECT 7444
444 STILL UNKNOWN 7377
445 RELATIVELY RARE 7357
446 EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE 7298
447 TYPICALLY ONLY 7282
448 STILL UNCLEAR 7276
449 HAPPILY MARRIED 7264
450 ALWAYS PRESENT 7256
451 FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE 7241
452 ALWAYS INTERESTED 7210
453 ALSO CAPABLE 7210
454 HARDLY SURPRISING 7200
455 REALLY LUCKY 7187
456 FULLY AUTOMATIC 7176
457 MUCH SMOOTHER 7173
458 RELATIVELY LITTLE 7166
459 RELATIVELY YOUNG 7141
460 STILL INTACT 7102
461 HIGHLY EXPERIENCED 7086
462 ACUTELY AWARE 7077
463 BIT BIGGER 7076
464 JUST BEAUTIFUL 7076
465 REALLY SMART 7074
466 REALLY SERIOUS 7074
467 PARTICULARLY HIGH 7074
468 LITTLE CONFUSING 7062
469 HUMANLY POSSIBLE 7056
470 LITTLE BIGGER 7046
471 BIT SMALLER 7042
472 TRULY SPECIAL 7023
473 REALLY POWERFUL 7015
474 ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL 7010
475 SLIGHTLY LONGER 6998
476 LITTLE WEIRD 6987
477 STILL UNSURE 6975
478 REALLY IMPRESSIVE 6964
479 EXTREMELY HOT 6962
480 BIT NERVOUS 6947
481 EXTREMELY VERSATILE 6938
482 EVER POPULAR 6926
483 HIGHLY ACCURATE 6915
484 SEXUALLY EXPLICIT 6868
485 OFTEN ONLY 6861
486 TOTALLY FINE 6849
487 EXTREMELY SIMPLE 6849
488 FAR EASIER 6839
489 ONLY OPEN 6834
490 REALLY UNIQUE 6833
491 BOTH PHYSICAL 6825
492 COMPLETELY HONEST 6807
493 PERFECTLY HAPPY 6807
494 BIT EASIER 6796
495 REALLY COLD 6792
496 LITTLE CRAZY 6778
497 PERFECTLY SAFE 6765
498 RELATIVELY RECENT 6751
499 CERTAINLY POSSIBLE 6726
500 REALLY TRUE 6698
501 INCREDIBLY HARD 6675
502 SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER 6668
503 PROBABLY BEST 6667
504 STILL VALID 6658
505 YET EFFECTIVE 6650
506 ALSO DIFFERENT 6632
507 CULTURALLY DIVERSE 6624
508 HIGHLY POPULAR 6617
509 GENERALLY GOOD 6605
510 GENETICALLY ENGINEERED 6585
511 PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN 6585
512 DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT 6562
513 BOTH ENGLISH 6561
514 MUCH CLEARER 6558
515 COMPLETELY UNIQUE 6551
516 CURRENTLY ACTIVE 6542
517 TRULY REMARKABLE 6535
518 ALWAYS RIGHT 6526
519 RELATIVELY SAFE 6506
520 INCREDIBLY POPULAR 6500
521 DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE 6497
522 BIT WEIRD 6495
523 SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE 6490
524 MUCH GOOD 6485
525 EXTREMELY SENSITIVE 6469
526 ACTUALLY ONLY 6456
527 PARTICULARLY POPULAR 6441
528 STILL RELEVANT 6436
529 RELATIVELY STRAIGHTFORWARD 6423
530 SLIGHTLY BIGGER 6412
531 REALLY LOVELY 6408
532 HOW GREAT 6400
533 STILL INTERESTED 6391
534 ALWAYS HELPFUL 6378
535 PROBABLY RIGHT 6364
536 ALSO OPEN 6358
537 JUST BAD 6354
538 EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH 6351
539 ULTRA HIGH 6346
540 BIT STRANGE 6340
541 BOTH GREAT 6333
542 EVEN LONGER 6328
543 EVER PRESENT 6325
544 HIGHLY SPECIALIZED 6318
545 ALMOST READY 6318
546 OPENLY GAY 6316
547 FAIRLY OBVIOUS 6313
548 EVEN OTHER 6310
549 RELATIVELY FLAT 6306
550 STILL VISIBLE 6303
551 ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE 6297
552 INCREDIBLY HELPFUL 6293
553 HIGHLY INTELLIGENT 6279
554 REALLY POPULAR 6269
555 ONCE DAILY 6262
556 BIT LONGER 6241
557 VISUALLY APPEALING 6235
558 CURRENTLY SELECTED 6231
559 MUCH SAFER 6227
560 PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE 6212
561 ALSO COMPATIBLE 6212
562 LITTLE HARDER 6199
563 VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL 6199
564 ALSO SUITABLE 6182
565 STILL GREAT 6177
566 MUCH HEALTHIER 6177
567 ALREADY DEAD 6168
568 SO SORRY 6162
569 JUST AWESOME 6161
570 MUCH SLOWER 6143
571 INCREDIBLY HIGH 6137
572 LOT HARDER 6111
573 HIGHLY TECHNICAL 6110
574 PERFECTLY CLEAR 6107
575 HOW BAD 6105
576 HIGHLY MOTIVATED 6102
577 EXTREMELY LONG 6093
578 ALMOST COMPLETE 6082
579 EXTREMELY GRATEFUL 6078
580 LITTLE STRANGE 6072
581 STILL FRESH 6067
582 EXTREMELY BENEFICIAL 6064
583 VISUALLY STUNNING 6055
584 ALWAYS INTERESTING 6041
585 POTENTIALLY FATAL 6040
586 SO EASY 6037
587 ALSO EFFECTIVE 6021
588 COMMONLY AVAILABLE 6020
589 LITTLE ODD 6016
590 RELATIVELY COMMON 6006
591 LITTLE SURPRISED 6004
592 PARTICULARLY BAD 6003
593 EXTREMELY FAST 5991
594 LITTLE LATE 5987
595 REALLY PRETTY 5986
596 STILL WARM 5986
597 EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL 5977
598 BOTH POSITIVE 5968
599 IMMEDIATELY OBVIOUS 5967
600 BIT OLDER 5961
601 COMPLETELY USELESS 5955
602 LOT BETTER 5929
603 FRESHLY BAKED 5918
604 DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL 5907
605 EXTREMELY COMMON 5906
606 PARTICULARLY RELEVANT 5904
607 REGIONALLY ACCREDITED 5897
608 DEEPLY PERSONAL 5894
609 WHEN OTHER 5884
610 REALLY BUSY 5881
611 LITTLE BETTER 5879
612 VISUALLY IMPAIRED 5878
613 DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT 5874
614 LITTLE SMALLER 5871
615 ALSO AWARE 5869
616 INCREDIBLY STRONG 5865
617 BOTH FRONT 5864
618 ALWAYS TRUE 5863
619 RAPIDLY EXPANDING 5855
620 READILY APPARENT 5846
621 LITTLE OLDER 5841
622 LONGER NECESSARY 5841
623 MUCH DEEPER 5840
624 REALLY STUPID 5826
625 HIGHLY DEPENDENT 5819
626 REALLY DIFFERENT 5810
627 ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT 5806
628 DEEPLY INVOLVED 5803
629 CONSISTENTLY HIGH 5801
630 WHERE APPROPRIATE 5792
631 RELATIVELY UNKNOWN 5790
632 HIGHLY RELEVANT 5788
633 USUALLY AVAILABLE 5778
634 ALSO HAPPY 5774
635 REASONABLY GOOD 5770
636 ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN 5764
637 OFTEN HARD 5755
638 HIGHLY TOXIC 5751
639 STILL ONGOING 5747
640 ALSO CRITICAL 5738
641 BOTH LARGE 5730
642 NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT 5730
643 EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE 5728
644 EXTREMELY UNLIKELY 5719
645 ALSO ELIGIBLE 5704
646 RELATIVELY GOOD 5696
647 ABUNDANTLY CLEAR 5693
648 FAIRLY STANDARD 5680
649 HOW LONG 5659
650 ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT 5655
651 REALLY SOLID 5647
652 JUST PURE 5645
653 BIT PRICEY 5629
654 PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE 5627
655 STILL NEW 5627
656 SURPRISINGLY EASY 5603
657 SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER 5599
658 ABSOLUTELY CORRECT 5597
659 OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE 5592
660 ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL 5589
661 WHERE OTHER 5585
662 BIT DISAPPOINTED 5556
663 ESPECIALLY POPULAR 5555
664 FAIRLY SURE 5531
665 TOTALLY WRONG 5514
666 CONSIDERABLY HIGHER 5512
667 REALLY EFFECTIVE 5510
668 HORRIBLY WRONG 5503
669 DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE 5500
670 REALLY HANDY 5494
671 COMPLETELY NATURAL 5490
672 SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER 5487
673 REALLY STRANGE 5485
674 CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT 5472
675 DEEPLY CONCERNED 5467
676 COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT 5464
677 LITTLE CONCERNED 5453
678 EQUALLY GOOD 5441
679 BIT LARGER 5441
680 REALLY POSITIVE 5441
681 REALLY SWEET 5434
682 WILDLY SUCCESSFUL 5430
683 EVEN CHEAPER 5425
684 JUST WRONG 5421
685 LITTLE SHORT 5418
686 INCREDIBLY SIMPLE 5417
687 HIGHLY VARIABLE 5417
688 FAR SHORT 5409
689 ALSO ACTIVE 5402
690 YET READY 5399
691 IMMEDIATELY APPARENT 5377
692 ALREADY AWARE 5370
693 REALLY CONCERNED 5359
694 PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE 5354
695 DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT 5337
696 HIGHLY DURABLE 5317
697 LITTLE LOWER 5312
698 EXTREMELY EXCITED 5308
699 YET ONLY 5292
700 OTHERWISE HEALTHY 5289
701 INCREDIBLY TALENTED 5280
702 ALWAYS NECESSARY 5279
703 REALLY SICK 5269
704 LITTLE HIGH 5267
705 REMARKABLY SIMILAR 5257
706 REALLY LARGE 5251
707 MUCH HEAVIER 5236
708 SLIGHTLY SWEET 5231
709 ABSOLUTELY TRUE 5225
710 WHY CERTAIN 5210
711 EXTREMELY BUSY 5204
712 TRULY GLOBAL 5198
713 MUCH CLEANER 5194
714 REALLY SLOW 5189
715 FINALLY READY 5188
716 JUST SIMPLE 5181
717 REALLY DISAPPOINTED 5176
718 PERFECTLY LEGAL 5176
719 ALSO FUN 5170
720 LARGELY RESPONSIBLE 5164
721 ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE 5158
722 BIT LOWER 5154
723 EVEN OLDER 5153
724 BRIGHTLY COLOURED 5148
725 LITTLE SLOW 5133
726 OF HARD 5130
727 EQUALLY IMPRESSIVE 5128
728 REALLY SHORT 5126
729 TOTALLY AWESOME 5110
730 RELATIVELY QUIET 5109
731 MUCH DARKER 5092
732 FAIRLY SHORT 5088
733 HIGHLY UNUSUAL 5079
734 SIMPLY CANT 5077
735 OFTEN NECESSARY 5067
736 HIGHLY ACCLAIMED 5064
737 EXTREMELY TALENTED 5063
738 ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE 5040
739 WELL AWARE 5025
740 EVEN GOOD 5024
741 BRUTALLY HONEST 5020
742 EXTREMELY COMPLEX 5016
743 KEENLY AWARE 5006
744 REALLY CURIOUS 5006
745 GENUINELY INTERESTED 4999
746 REALLY CLEAR 4998
747 STILL PENDING 4996
748 JUST NORMAL 4995
749 MUCH TOUGHER 4993
750 WHERE ONLY 4991
751 STILL OTHER 4986
752 ESPECIALLY EFFECTIVE 4975
753 BIT SURPRISED 4972
754 BIT LATE 4969
755 REALLY WONDERFUL 4969
756 PERHAPS ONLY 4961
757 ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS 4956
758 HOW WELL 4953
759 INCREDIBLY PROUD 4949
760 HISTORICALLY BLACK 4935
761 LITTLE LARGER 4932
762 REALLY TIRED 4926
763 SLIGHTLY WIDER 4926
764 REASONABLY NECESSARY 4915
765 NEWLY DEVELOPED 4915
766 COMMERCIALLY VIABLE 4912
767 COMPLETELY SEPARATE 4902
768 COMPLETELY UNRELATED 4900
769 HIGHLY CUSTOMIZABLE 4899
770 STILL EARLY 4895
771 ALSO SUPER 4894
772 ALSO RICH 4892
773 PUBLICLY FUNDED 4888
774 TOTALLY UNIQUE 4884
775 INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED 4880
776 PROBABLY TRUE 4877
777 TRULY BEAUTIFUL 4872
778 HOW DIFFICULT 4872
779 ECONOMICALLY VIABLE 4867
780 ESPECIALLY INTERESTED 4865
781 NORMALLY ONLY 4865
782 ALSO EASIER 4863
783 ROUGHLY EQUAL 4861
784 ALWAYS FREE 4856
785 BOTH LOCAL 4848
786 ALSO FULL 4847
787 JUST FUN 4835
788 EXTREMELY FRIENDLY 4834
789 INCREASINGLY COMPETITIVE 4818
790 SLIGHTLY SHORTER 4807
791 HISTORICALLY ACCURATE 4800
792 BOTH INTERNAL 4789
793 MUCH QUICKER 4788
794 IMMENSELY POPULAR 4787
795 BIT HARDER 4786
796 INSTANTLY RECOGNIZABLE 4782
797 HIGHLY FLEXIBLE 4780
798 BOTH PRIVATE 4771
799 ROUGHLY EQUIVALENT 4763
800 EVEN FASTER 4757
801 ALWAYS FULL 4746
802 BEST NEW 4739
803 ALWAYS FRIENDLY 4734
804 STILL HIGH 4732
805 LITTLE BIG 4722
806 THEREFORE IMPORTANT 4721
807 ONLY AVAILABLE 4721
808 ALL RIGHT 4715
809 SUBSTANTIALLY HIGHER 4699
810 LOT BIGGER 4695
811 STILL HOT 4688
812 REALLY SCARY 4680
813 STILL TRUE 4677
814 REALLY FRIENDLY 4673
815 NECESSARILY TRUE 4673
816 RANDOMLY SELECTED 4672
817 EXTREMELY KNOWLEDGEABLE 4672
818 LITTLE ROUGH 4671
819 ENTIRELY CLEAR 4670
820 LITTLE PRICEY 4664
821 JUST CRAZY 4662
822 UNUSUALLY LARGE 4653
823 ALSO CLOSE 4629
824 HIGHLY SELECTIVE 4626
825 ACTUALLY TRUE 4620
826 JUST USED 4619
827 REALLY HEAVY 4619
828 ALSO KEY 4618
829 PERFECTLY REASONABLE 4613
830 BARELY VISIBLE 4608
831 FINELY CHOPPED 4601
832 FAIRLY SIMILAR 4598
833 HIGHLY IMPORTANT 4594
834 ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE 4584
835 REALLY POSSIBLE 4584
836 STILL HARD 4584
837 EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD 4580
838 HIGHLY BENEFICIAL 4575
839 ALSO BENEFICIAL 4568
840 FEDERALLY FUNDED 4563
841 FULLY ONLINE 4539
842 BIT SLOW 4539
843 REALLY FRUSTRATING 4537
844 EXTREMELY COLD 4536
845 ALSO PROUD 4532
846 STILL STRONG 4531
847 FULLY ACCESSIBLE 4528
848 ALSO HARD 4527
849 LONGER POSSIBLE 4515
850 ABSOLUTELY FINE 4499
851 TERRIBLY WRONG 4494
852 BIT HIGH 4490
853 EXTREMELY PAINFUL 4489
854 JUST WONDERFUL 4489
855 BOTH TRADITIONAL 4486
856 YET ELEGANT 4478
857 WIDELY ACCEPTED 4473
858 EQUALLY EFFECTIVE 4467
859 SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE 4449
860 BOTH HIGH 4442
861 HIGHLY RELIABLE 4434
862 MAYBE ONLY 4432
863 SLIGHTLY OLDER 4432
864 PARTICULARLY SENSITIVE 4429
865 WILDLY DIFFERENT 4427
866 YET CLEAR 4426
867 DOUBLE GLAZED 4426
868 TOTALLY NORMAL 4425
869 STRICTLY NECESSARY 4423
870 COMPLETELY FLAT 4421
871 ALSO PLEASED 4416
872 REALLY NEW 4415
873 EASILY IDENTIFIABLE 4414
874 EXTREMELY POOR 4409
875 HIGHLY PROFITABLE 4399
876 HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS 4394
877 TRULY WONDERFUL 4391
878 REALLY SCARED 4387
879 JUST REGULAR 4386
880 PHYSICALLY PRESENT 4384
881 POLITICALLY INCORRECT 4378
882 POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS 4376
883 JUST EASIER 4372
884 LITTLE SCARY 4371
885 INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL 4370
886 FAR DIFFERENT 4366
887 EVEN TOUGHER 4365
888 EXTREMELY EFFICIENT 4363
889 OFTEN USED 4359
890 LOT HIGHER 4339
891 JUST INTERESTED 4339
892 HIGHLY INTERACTIVE 4337
893 LARGELY UNKNOWN 4324
894 VASTLY SUPERIOR 4321
895 SO TRUE 4319
896 ESPECIALLY INTERESTING 4319
897 FAST GROWING 4319
898 ULTRA LOW 4316
899 HIGHLY FUNCTIONAL 4315
900 ALWAYS AMAZED 4312
901 PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE 4308
902 MUCH BRIGHTER 4299
903 BIT OVERWHELMING 4295
904 ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE 4294
905 MUCH ANTICIPATED 4289
906 PERFECTLY HEALTHY 4286
907 MUCH COOLER 4285
908 MUCH QUIETER 4282
909 LITTLE SAD 4282
910 TRULY MEMORABLE 4281
911 FAIRLY DECENT 4275
912 FULLY RESPONSIVE 4270
913 SIMPLY STUNNING 4269
914 NEVER USED 4269
915 MUCH WEAKER 4265
916 HIGHLY ADDICTIVE 4263
917 SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT 4252
918 STILL SMALL 4244
919 EVEN SIMPLE 4244
920 PREVIOUSLY ONLY 4237
921 HEAVILY DEPENDENT 4231
922 INCREDIBLY LOW 4230
923 HIGHLY ACTIVE 4220
924 STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL 4217
925 FAIRLY LONG 4212
926 HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT 4210
927 SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER 4209
928 HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL 4205
929 FULLY CAPABLE 4183
930 ALSO ADDED 4179
931 HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED 4178
932 ALSO SIGNIFICANT 4174
933 NEARLY PERFECT 4169
934 BIT EXPENSIVE 4166
935 ALWAYS DIFFICULT 4165
936 ALSO DIFFICULT 4160
937 STILL FUN 4152
938 LITTLE OLD 4149
939 DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE 4144
940 INCREDIBLY VALUABLE 4141
941 FAIRLY ACCURATE 4136
942 ALSO CURIOUS 4136
943 WHY ONLY 4136
944 COMPLETELY UNAWARE 4133
945 ALSO FAMOUS 4130
946 POTENTIALLY SERIOUS 4127
947 FULLY COMPLIANT 4122
948 IMMEDIATELY CLEAR 4121
949 COMPLETELY EMPTY 4121
950 PARTICULARLY IMPRESSIVE 4121
951 BIT SHORT 4114
952 ENTIRELY TRUE 4113
953 NEVER GOOD 4113
954 CLINICALLY RELEVANT 4112
955 BIT SILLY 4100
956 ALSO CRUCIAL 4094
957 REALLY NERVOUS 4094
958 INCREDIBLY VERSATILE 4091
959 LIGHTLY FLOURED 4087
960 WHY CANT 4087
961 RELATIVELY MODEST 4080
962 PARTICULARLY HARD 4079
963 ALWAYS HARD 4079
964 YET SIMPLE 4077
965 EXTREMELY CAREFUL 4072
966 EVEN WIDER 4067
967 HIGHLY VALUABLE 4067
968 POSSIBLY OTHER 4058
969 LONGER VALID 4054
970 BIT BETTER 4052
971 PARTICULARLY CONCERNED 4050
972 COMMERCIALLY REASONABLE 4045
973 ABNORMALLY HIGH 4042
974 EASILY VISIBLE 4039
975 JUST INCREDIBLE 4039
976 ESPECIALLY GREAT 4019
977 REALLY GRATEFUL 4017
978 ALMOST EVERYDAY 4014
979 HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE 4013
980 ALMOST FULL 4011
981 NEWLY ADDED 4008
982 EASILY DIGESTIBLE 4004
983 ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED 3998
984 STILL WET 3991
985 EXTREMELY INTERESTING 3989
986 EVEN SIMPLER 3983
987 REASONABLY PRACTICABLE 3977
988 MOSTLY WHITE 3970
989 PERFECTLY HONEST 3968
990 BARELY NOTICEABLE 3967
991 EXTREMELY FLEXIBLE 3964
992 COMPLETELY CLEAR 3961
993 REALLY DARK 3949
994 PROBABLY GOOD 3945
995 EVEN NEW 3945
996 CURRENTLY OPEN 3940
997 ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED 3939
998 EXTREMELY POSITIVE 3931
999 REALLY JUST 3931
1000 SO SAD 3930
B2 vocabulary above:
accessible, apparent, appropriate, aware, barely, beneficial, capable, competitive, complex, concerned, critical, critically, currently, deeply, dependent, effective, entirely, environmentally friendly, equally, flexible, functional, highly, identical, impressive, increasingly, incredibly, largely, newly, odd, physically, potentially, rapidly, readily, relatively, relevant, roughly, sensitive, significant, significantly, simply, slightly, straightforward, stunning, tougher, tricky, truly, unique, unusually, valid, virtually, visible, weird, widely, wildly
Painfully _JJ
1 PAINFULLY SLOW 3221
2 PAINFULLY OBVIOUS 3106
A search in NOW corpus for collocates:
1 IT 1173
2 BECAME 147
3 BECOME 141
4 BECOMES 63
5 SEEMS 40
6 FACT 35
7 BECOMING 33
8 MAKES 27
9 SEEM 26
10 EVERYONE 25
3 PAINFULLY AWARE 1833
4 PAINFULLY CLEAR 754
5 PAINFULLY SHY 662
6 PAINFULLY LONG 391
7 PAINFULLY AWKWARD 374
8 PAINFULLY APPARENT 354
9 PAINFULLY HONEST 351
10 PAINFULLY EVIDENT 275