Style Guide for Business Writing

Z

Zombie nouns

Zombie nouns (also called “nominalizations”) are nouns, adjectives, or verbs converted to and used to create new nouns. This is accomplished by adding a suffix, such as -ity, -tion, or -ism.

Examples, Zombie nouns:

capital—capitalism (noun)

impossible—impossibility (adjective)

estimate—estimation (verb)

In business writing, excessive nominalization sets up expressions with jargon, often adding a pompous and self-important tone of abstraction, to what could be a plain, easily comprehended narrative.