ChatGPT Words Checker — Find the «AI Words» in Your Text
Paste your text and see every «ChatGPT word» highlighted — delve, tapestry, testament, moreover and the rest — with counts per category, density per 100 words, and an honest read on what the list can and cannot tell you.
What «ChatGPT words» actually are
Certain words spike so hard in AI-generated text that they have become a running joke: delve, tapestry, testament, moreover, pivotal, realm. Researchers tracking academic abstracts saw «delve» appear after 2023 at rates far above its historical baseline. The pattern extends past single words into stock phrases («it is important to note», «in today's fast-paced world», «navigate the complexities of») and structures — the «not only X, but also Y» frame, or paragraph after paragraph opening with a transition word. This checker scans your text against roughly 75 of those patterns and highlights every match, so you can see exactly which ones your draft leans on.
Why deleting the words rarely fixes anything
Take a paragraph of pure ChatGPT output and swap every listed word — delve becomes dig into, tapestry becomes mix. Read it back: it still sounds like ChatGPT, just cheaper. The words were never the core signal. They are the visible symptom of deeper patterns — uniform sentence rhythm (every sentence roughly the same length and shape), symmetric structure (triads, balanced clauses, tidy topic-sentence paragraphs), and frictionless generality that commits to nothing. Detectors and human readers respond to that evenness, not to any single word. Worse, contorting text to dodge a word list drifts toward thesaurus-driven «tortured phrases» — mechanical substitution does not make writing more human, it makes it strange in a new way. Cut the ceremony, but spend your real effort on rhythm and specifics.
The part the listicles skip: these were ESL words first
Here is the complication. «Moreover», «furthermore», «consequently» and «thus» were formal-register vocabulary items on ESL syllabi for generations before ChatGPT existed — drilled in essay templates, rewarded by teachers, coached in IELTS and TOEFL prep. «Delve» is ordinary, unremarkable vocabulary in Nigerian English. Large language models learned formal register from the same corpus of academic and institutional English that ESL education is built on — so the overlap is no coincidence, and word-based judgments misfire on exactly the people who learned English the careful way. A Stanford study (Liang et al., Patterns, 2023) found AI detectors falsely flagged 61% of TOEFL essays by non-native speakers. If «moreover» is genuinely how you connect ideas, the word is not lying about you.
How to use the results
Treat each highlighted match the way an editor would: ask «is this word doing work, or is it filler?» Empty ceremony — «in today's fast-paced world, it is important to note that…» — should go, for everyone. But your natural formal register should stay: deleting it is self-erasure, not editing. Then put the effort where the signal actually lives — vary your sentence lengths on purpose, add details only you could add, keep at least one claim you are willing to defend. When a whole passage needs that deeper rewrite while keeping your meaning and voice, that is what Diglot's editor is built for.
Take it further with Diglot
This free tool runs in your browser. When you want to act on what it shows — fix the grammar, tighten the phrasing, or make your English read like a native wrote it — that is what Diglot is built for. The free tier is meaningful for daily writing, no card required.
Frequently asked questions
- What words does this checker flag?
- About 75 patterns in three categories: single words strongly associated with AI output (delve, tapestry, testament, moreover, pivotal, robust, leverage…), stock phrases («it is important to note», «in today’s fast-paced world», «navigate the complexities»), and structural tells like the «not only X, but also Y» frame or several consecutive sentences opening with a transition word.
- Does removing these words beat AI detectors?
- No. Detectors measure statistical properties like perplexity and burstiness — essentially how uniform and predictable the text is — not the presence of specific words. Swap every flagged word and the rhythm, structure, and generality that actually trip detectors survive untouched. Word-swapping is surface editing; it does not change the signal.
- Are these words proof that a text was written by AI?
- No — and this matters. Many «AI words» are classic formal-register vocabulary that non-native English writers were explicitly taught long before ChatGPT. A Stanford study (Liang et al., Patterns, 2023) found AI detectors falsely flagged 61% of TOEFL essays by non-native speakers. A high count here means your text leans on a recognizable register, not that a machine wrote it.
- I am a non-native writer and «moreover» is just how I write. Should I stop?
- Not necessarily. There is a difference between cutting empty ceremony (good editing for everyone) and erasing your natural formal register (self-erasure). Keep the words that are genuinely yours, and put your humanity into the things word lists cannot see: varied sentence rhythm, concrete details, and claims you are willing to defend.
- Is my text uploaded anywhere?
- No. The check runs entirely in your browser — your text is never sent to a server or stored. You can safely paste unpublished essays, confidential drafts, or anything else.
