Example
excellent (adjective)
Very good; high quality.
The hospital in my town has an excellent reputation.
Written by Fizza Butool Zaidi and Ali Zaidi
14 alternatives
Very good; high quality.
The hospital in my town has an excellent reputation.
Very good; warm and informal.
We had a great time at the festival last summer.
Having a good effect.
Regular exercise is beneficial for mental health.
Good in effect or attitude.
Moving abroad had a positive effect on my confidence.
Useful and worth having.
My first job taught me valuable lessons about teamwork.
Works well; produces the intended result.
Flashcards are an effective way to learn vocabulary.
Made or done to a high standard; before a noun.
Free high-quality childcare would help working parents.
Good enough to be admired.
The new library is really impressive, especially the reading room.
Gives pleasure.
It was an enjoyable trip, even though it rained most days.
Nice and agreeable; mild.
The weather in spring is pleasant, not too hot or cold.
Don't swap blindly: Mild in meaning; for something exciting, use enjoyable or great.
Acceptably good; not great.
There's a decent café near my office, so I go there for lunch.
Don't swap blindly: Decent means 'good enough', so it can sound like faint praise.
Right for a purpose or person.
The flat is small but suitable for a student.
Good at something, for people.
My sister is a talented pianist.
Don't swap blindly: For ability, not character. 'He is a good person' means kind; 'he is a skilled engineer' means able.
Good in character; caring.
My grandmother is the kindest person I know.
Paraphrasing
Band tip: the public IELTS Writing band descriptors for Lexical Resource describe Band 7 as using “less common lexical items” with “some awareness of style and collocation”. A synonym that changes your meaning or breaks a collocation works against you, so choose the word that fits the sentence, not the rarest one you know.
In context
Yes, I do. It's a pleasant neighbourhood, quite quiet, and there's a decent supermarket just round the corner. The best thing is the park, which has an excellent running track, so it's really beneficial for people like me who try to exercise before work.
It depends on what you mean: great or enjoyable for experiences, excellent for quality, beneficial for effects, talented for ability, kind for character.
Nice is natural in speech but just as vague. Use it occasionally, and choose a more precise word when you can.
In Task 2, yes, in most uses. 'A great deal of' is fine, but 'a great idea' sounds conversational. Use excellent, valuable or effective instead.
Not on their own. The descriptors reward precise, natural vocabulary. 'An effective method' used correctly is better than an unusual word used slightly wrongly.
Practise
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