adverb + adjective (emphasis) – English Grammar Profiler

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.

traveller.com.au

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.

express.co.uk

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.

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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.

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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