| No. | Item | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | accuracy | freedom from factual or language errors |
| 2. | active | subject performs the action |
| 3. | adjective | word describing a noun |
| 4. | adverb | word modifying verb or adjective |
| 5. | agreement | grammatical matching of forms |
| 6. | ambiguity | more than one possible meaning |
| 7. | antecedent | word a pronoun refers to |
| 8. | appositive | renaming noun beside another |
| 9. | article | a, an, or the |
| 10. | bias | unfair slant in language |
| 11. | bold | heavy type weight |
| 12. | brackets | square marks for inserted material |
| 13. | brevity | concise use of words |
| 14. | byline | author credit line |
| 15. | case | grammatical role form |
| 16. | clarity | quality of being easy to understand |
| 17. | clause | group with subject and verb |
| 18. | cliche | overused expression |
| 19. | colloquial | conversational in style |
| 20. | comma splice | run-on joined by comma |
| 21. | conjunction | word joining words or clauses |
| 22. | consistency | uniformity throughout a text |
| 23. | copy | text prepared for publication |
| 24. | count noun | noun with plural form |
| 25. | dangling modifier | modifier lacking clear target |
| 26. | declarative | statement sentence type |
| 27. | delete | remove text |
| 28. | diction | choice of words |
| 29. | draft | preliminary version of writing |
| 30. | edit | prepare text for publication |
| 31. | ellipsis | three dots showing omission |
| 32. | em dash | long dash punctuation mark |
| 33. | en dash | medium dash punctuation mark |
| 34. | erratum | published correction of an error |
| 35. | euphemism | mild term for harsh one |
| 36. | exclamatory | strong-emotion sentence type |
| 37. | fact-check | verify factual accuracy |
| 38. | formal | following standard conventions |
| 39. | fragment | incomplete sentence |
| 40. | gerund | -ing verb used as noun |
| 41. | grammar | rules for sentence structure |
| 42. | headline | title of an article |
| 43. | house style | organization’s editorial rules |
| 44. | hyphen | short joining punctuation mark |
| 45. | hyphenation | division or joining with hyphens |
| 46. | idiom | fixed expression with special meaning |
| 47. | infinitive | base verb with to |
| 48. | informal | casual in style |
| 49. | initialism | initial letters pronounced separately |
| 50. | insert | add text |
| 51. | interrogative | question form |
| 52. | intransitive | not taking direct object |
| 53. | italic | slanted type style |
| 54. | jargon | specialized language of a field |
| 55. | kerning | space adjustment between letters |
| 56. | leading | space between lines of type |
| 57. | lede | opening of a news story |
| 58. | libel | written defamatory statement |
| 59. | ligature | joined letter pair glyph |
| 60. | manuscript | author’s submitted text |
| 61. | mass noun | noun treated as uncountable |
| 62. | misplaced modifier | modifier in wrong position |
| 63. | modifier | word or phrase that describes |
| 64. | noun | person, place, thing, or idea |
| 65. | number | singular or plural category |
| 66. | nut graf | paragraph stating main point |
| 67. | orphan | short first line at bottom |
| 68. | parallelism | matching grammatical structure |
| 69. | participle | verb form used adjectivally |
| 70. | passive | subject receives the action |
| 71. | plural | more than one |
| 72. | possessive | showing ownership |
| 73. | precision | exactness in wording |
| 74. | preposition | word showing relation |
| 75. | pronoun | word replacing a noun |
| 76. | proof | prepublication test version |
| 77. | proofread | check for surface errors |
| 78. | query | editor’s question to author |
| 79. | quotation marks | marks around quoted words |
| 80. | redundancy | needless repetition of meaning |
| 81. | register | level of formality |
| 82. | revise | improve wording and structure |
| 83. | roman | upright type style |
| 84. | run-on | improperly joined independent clauses |
| 85. | sentence | complete unit of thought |
| 86. | sidebar | supplementary boxed text |
| 87. | singular | one in number |
| 88. | slang | very informal vocabulary |
| 89. | stet | let original wording stand |
| 90. | style | a publication’s language conventions |
| 91. | subjunctive | verb form for hypotheticals |
| 92. | syntax | arrangement of words in sentences |
| 93. | tense | verb time form |
| 94. | tracking | overall letter spacing |
| 95. | transitive | taking a direct object |
| 96. | transpose | switch order of elements |
| 97. | usage | accepted way words are used |
| 98. | vagueness | lack of exact meaning |
| 99. | verb | action or state word |
| 100. | widow | short last line at top |