The Corporate Jargon We Hate the Most.

So it goes with corporate jargon—words used in business that rely on buzzwords or forced phrases instead of plain, concrete speech. The idea is to sound professional or strategic, but more often it just sounds unclear. Or silly. 

‘Leverage.’ ‘Reach Out.’ ‘Circle Back.’ The Corporate Jargon We Hate the Most.

We pinged our readers for the terms that really annoy them. The list is long

By Demetria Gallegos
Feb. 26, 2026 5:30 am ET
623 Comments

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Rob Dobi for WSJ

An email arrived recently from our IT staff, alerting us to a “zero-day vulnerability” on our devices that would require an immediate update.

Yikes. What exactly did that mean? And was it as bad as it sounds?

So it goes with corporate jargon—words used in business that rely on buzzwords or forced phrases instead of plain, concrete speech. The idea is to sound professional or strategic, but more often it just sounds unclear. Or silly. 

So we asked some thought leaders (WSJ readers),  

What corporate jargon do you hate the most? 

While the list is long, the following infographic takes a look at the top-15 absolute worst offenders with "Synergy" deemed America's most hated business buzz word. 

 

"Teamwork" and "Touch base" come in second and third while a long list of familiar irritating phrases fill out the rest of the list, inducing annoyance, cringe and downright anger in many cases. It includes the likes of "Empower" and "Circle Back" as well as the classic "The next time you feel the need to reach out..." 

Despite the bulk of American employees saying that they hate these phrases, bosses usually feel that they are justified. The problem may be down to senior figures in companies simply using all of these buzzwords a little bit too often. 

WSJ

23 hours ago

The Corporate Jargon We Hate the Most

LinkedIn

So, what is B2B's most hated buzzword in 2025?

AI Overview

"Leverage" "reach out" and "circle back" are among the most hated corporate jargon terms,

frequently cited for causing frustration and unclear, inefficient communication in the workplace. Other commonly disliked buzzwords include "synergy" "bandwidth" "touch base" and "take this offline" which often lead to artificial, inauthentic, or overly complicated interactions. 

Based on recent discussions and studies, here is a breakdown of the most hated corporate jargon:

• The Top Offenders: "Leverage" "Reach Out" and "Circle Back".
• Most Irritating Phrases (2024-2026): "Circle back" "synergy" "lean in" "touch base" "is agile" "bandwidth" "low-hanging fruit" and "take this offline".
• Other Highly Disliked Terms: "Put a pin in it" "let's unpack that" "10,000-foot view" and "no-brainer".
• Why They Are Hated: These phrases are often considered annoying because they reduce efficiency, cause confusion, and create unnecessary complexity in conversations, as reported by PRSA and this YouTube video.
• Solutions: Experts suggest replacing these phrases with precise, direct language—such as saying "follow up on Friday" instead of "circle back"—to improve clarity and reduce, as shown in this YouTube video. 

These terms are frequently used in meetings and, according to discussions on LinkedIn and reports from The Wall Street Journal, are increasingly seen as outdated or insincere, notes this article and this LinkedIn post. 

LinkedIn

4 hours ago

Let's take a 10,000-foot view of our use of office jargon