List of 100 Common Filler Words & Phrases

Filler words are short, often meaningless sounds or words that speakers use to fill pauses or to give themselves time to think. Examples include “uh,” “um,” “ah,” “er,” and “hmm.”

Filler phrases are slightly longer expressions that serve a similar purpose. These often include words with weak or vague meanings used to soften or stall speech, like “you know,” “I mean,” “sort of,” “like,” and “to be honest.”

They help manage the flow of conversation and signal that the speaker is not yet finished speaking.

List of 100 Common Filler Words & Phrases

  1. uh
  2. um
  3. like
  4. you know
  5. I mean
  6. so
  7. well
  8. okay
  9. right
  10. just
  11. yeah
  12. sort of
  13. kind of
  14. basically
  15. actually
  16. oh
  17. alright
  18. I guess
  19. hmm
  20. maybe
  21. technically
  22. in terms of
  23. you see
  24. I suppose
  25. it’s like
  26. to be honest
  27. thing is
  28. you could say
  29. let’s say
  30. I think
  31. not really
  32. you might say
  33. now
  34. I would say
  35. honestly
  36. in other words
  37. as it were
  38. perhaps
  39. I feel like
  40. to some extent
  41. in a sense
  42. you understand
  43. you get it
  44. like I said
  45. obviously
  46. literally
  47. essentially
  48. truthfully
  49. at the end of the day
  50. you know what I mean
  51. I’m not sure
  52. I’m just saying
  53. let’s be real
  54. kind of like
  55. in fact
  56. I don’t know
  57. that is
  58. pretty much
  59. somewhat
  60. at this point
  61. then again
  62. I’d say
  63. more or less
  64. you ever notice
  65. honestly speaking
  66. clearly
  67. no offense but
  68. if you will
  69. that being said
  70. you could argue
  71. I’d argue
  72. I’m saying
  73. anyway
  74. right now
  75. back then
  76. okay so
  77. again
  78. so yeah
  79. and stuff
  80. or something
  81. even though
  82. by the way
  83. just saying
  84. here’s the thing
  85. what I mean is
  86. it’s kind of
  87. long story short
  88. it turns out
  89. the thing is
  90. believe it or not
  91. come to think of it
  92. I’ve heard
  93. as far as I know
  94. whatever
  95. possibly
  96. it seems
  97. one could say
  98. you know what
  99. I’m pretty sure
  100. to clarify