far

used for political parties or people who hold strongly extreme beliefs, commonly appearing before 'right' or 'left' in compound terms such as far-right or far-left

• extreme

  broader term, not limited to political contexts; can also describe actions

• radical

  can be positive or negative; implies a desire for fundamental change

• moderate

  not extreme, holding reasonable views

• centrist

  in the middle of the political spectrum

used to limit a statement to what you personally know or believe, especially when you are not completely certain that you have all the facts

• to the best of my knowledge

  more formal, often used in writing

• from what I can gather

  less certain; you are piecing together information

used to introduce your own point of view on a matter, making it clear that others may see things differently

• in my opinion

  more direct and personal; less distancing than 'as far as I'm concerned'

• from my perspective

  slightly more formal; implies a considered viewpoint

used with a specific time or date to emphasize that something began or already existed much earlier than one might expect, often expressing surprise

• as early as

  less dramatic; simply states the earliest point without surprise

• dating back to

  used for describing origins; more formal

far be it from me to do something — a polite phrase said before you criticise, question, or interfere, making it clear you are reluctant to do so but will proceed anyway

• I wouldn't dream of

  less formal; expresses stronger unwillingness rather than polite reluctance

• I hesitate to

  similar polite softening, but less dramatic and old-fashioned

used before a noun phrase to say that something is definitely not that thing — it completely lacks the quality or character that the noun describes

• not at all

  more direct and straightforward; less dramatic than 'far from'

• by no means

  slightly more formal, often used before nouns ('by no means a solution')

• exactly

  confirms membership in a category rather than denying it

used before an adjective or gerund to stress that the actual situation contrasts sharply with the expected quality — the reverse, not merely a weaker version

• anything but

  stronger and more informal, same structure ('anything but clear')

• not at all

  more neutral and widely used; 'far from' carries a stronger sense of being the opposite

• exactly

  used before an adjective to confirm it ('exactly right') rather than deny it

used as a sentence-initial modifier or standalone reply to emphatically deny a suggestion or assumption, usually introducing a contrasting true statement

• by no means

  more formal, used in writing ('By no means is it finished')

• not in the least

  slightly more informal, emphasises complete absence

• certainly

  used to affirm rather than deny ('It certainly is!')

over a very large area, reaching many different places at the same time

• everywhere

  simpler and more direct, same meaning but less vivid

• all over

  informal, interchangeable in most contexts ('all over the city')

used when someone takes an action or makes a statement that goes noticeably beyond what is usual or expected, especially with the verb 'go'

• take the extreme step of

  more formal, used in written English ('took the extreme step of resigning')

• venture to

  more tentative, suggests hesitation ('I would venture to say...')

up to this moment in time, from a past point until the present; often used with the present perfect tense to describe what has or has not happened yet

• up to now

  interchangeable, slightly more formal

• to date

  formal, common in business and academic writing ('to date, no progress has been made')

• thus far

  formal, less common in everyday speech

• from now on

  refers to the future rather than the past up to now

said when things have been going well up to the present moment, though the task or situation is not yet complete and may still change

• all good so far

  informal, slightly more casual

• going well

  simpler and more direct, less idiomatic

used before a comparative adjective or adverb to say that something has much more of a quality than something else

• much

  less emphatic than 'far'; 'much better' is neutral, while 'far better' stresses the gap more strongly

• considerably

  more formal; used in written or academic contexts

• slightly

  opposite in degree — 'slightly better' means a small improvement, while 'far better' means a big one

used to say that the difference between two amounts, sizes, or degrees is surprisingly or noticeably large

• a lot

  less formal; 'a lot more' is common in everyday speech but slightly weaker than 'far more'

• significantly

  formal register; typical in academic or business writing

used when you want to ask or talk about how true, correct, or possible a particular idea or situation is

used to ask or say how much progress someone has made toward completing or achieving something

• how much

  more general; 'how much progress' is more explicit but less idiomatic than 'how far'