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Template:Weasel

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(Redirected from Template:Weasel words)
This article contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed. (August 2025)
Template documentation[view] [edit] [history] [purge]
Logo of Twinkle; Police ManAny breaking changes to this template, including moving it or nominating it for deletion, must be communicated in advance to Twinkle's users and maintainers at Wikipedia talk:Twinkle. The standard installation of Twinkle relies on this template. Thank you.

Contents

  • 1 Usage
  • 2 See also
  • 3 Wikipedia project pages
  • 4 Templates
    • 4.1 Disputed factual accuracy
    • 4.2 Both accuracy and POV
    • 4.3 Disputed neutrality (POV)
    • 4.4 Wiki
  • 5 TemplateData

Usage

Redirects
  • {{Weasel wordsTemplate:Weasel words}}
  • {{WeaselwordsTemplate:Weaselwords}}
  • {{Weasel-wordsTemplate:Weasel-words}}

"Weasel words" are words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful had been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated. Phrases such as "some say", "many scholars believe", "it is widely thought", "many are of the opinion" etc. are example of weasel terms. For more information see WP:WEASEL.

The following can be used to note articles with excessive weasel words:

  • {{Weasel|{{subst:DATE}}}} for entire articles
  • {{Weasel|section|{{subst:DATE}}}} for sections

This template will add articles to Category:Articles with weasel words.

See also

  • {{Weasel inline}}
  • {{Who}} – inline
  • {{By whom}} – inline
  • {{Peacock}} – message-box


Wikipedia project pages

  • Wikipedia:Accuracy dispute
  • Wikipedia:Consensus
  • Wikipedia:Dispute resolution
  • Wikipedia:Disputed statement
  • Wikipedia:Neutral point of view
  • Wikipedia:Template index
  • Wikipedia:Template namespace

Templates

Main page: Wikipedia:Template index/Disputes

Disputed factual accuracy

See also: Category:Dispute templates
  • Boxes:
    • {{Disputed}} For disputing entire article
    • {{Dispute about|what}} For disputing part of an article
    • {{Disputed section}} For disputing a section in an article
    • {{Disputed tag}} For disputing recent promotions or amendments of policies and guidelines
    • {{Under discussion}} For use on project pages (e.g., policies and guidelines), not on articles
  • Inline:
    • {{Dubious}}, and {{Disputed inline}} Statement
    • {{Under discussion inline}} Statements on project pages

Both accuracy and POV

  • Boxes:
    • {{Controversial}} Talk page

Disputed neutrality (POV)

See also: Category:Neutrality templates
  • Boxes:
    • {{POV}} Article, {{POV section}} Section
    • {{POV map}} Map
  • Inline:
    • {{Unbalanced opinion}} Statement
    • {{POV statement}} Statement

Wiki

  • v
  • t
  • e
Citation and verifiability article maintenance templates
Sourcing
  • {{Circular}}
  • {{Dubious}}
  • {{Excessive citations}}
  • {{Further reading cleanup}}
  • {{Independent sources}}
  • {{More citations needed}}
    • {{More citations needed section}}
  • {{More footnotes needed}}
  • {{No footnotes}}
  • {{No reliable sources}}
  • {{No significant coverage}}
  • {{One source}}
    • {{One source section}}
  • {{Only primary sources}}
    • {{NRIS only}}
  • {{Primary sources}}
    • {{Primary sources section}}
  • {{Religious text primary}}
  • {{Self-published}}
  • {{Self-reference cleanup}}
  • {{Self-sourcing examples}}
    • {{Refexample section}}
  • {{Sources exist}}
  • {{Text-source}}
  • {{Unreferenced}}
    • {{Unreferenced section}}
  • {{Unreferenced category}}
  • {{Unreliable sources}}
    • {{Unreliable sources section}}
  • {{User-generated}}
BLP-specific
  • {{BLP unreferenced}}
    • {{BLP unreferenced section}}
  • {{BLP primary sources}}
  • {{BLP self-published}}
  • {{BLP sources}}
    • {{BLP sources section}}
  • {{BLP IMDb-only refimprove}}
  • {{BLP IMDb refimprove}}
  • {{BLP no footnotes}}
  • {{BLP more footnotes needed}}
  • {{BLP one source}}
Topic specific
  • {{Localist}}
  • {{Media IMDb refimprove}}
  • {{More medical citations needed}}
  • {{More science citations needed}}
  • {{Neologism}}
  • {{Science review}}
  • {{Unreferenced law}}
  • {{Unreferenced medical section}}
Dispute-related
  • {{Cite check}}
    • {{Cite check section}}
  • {{Content}}
  • {{Disputed}}
    • {{Dispute about}}
    • {{Disputed section}}
    • {{Disputed chem}}
    • {{Disputed list}}
    • {{Disputed map}}
  • {{Expert needed}}
  • {{Hoax}}
  • {{Original research}}
    • {{Original research section}}
  • {{Speculation}}
    • {{Speculation section}}
  • {{Synthesis}}
  • {{Verifiability}}
  • {{Verify sources}}
Citation improvements
  • {{Citation style}}
  • {{Citations broken}}
  • {{Cleanup bare URLs}}
  • {{Format footnotes}}
  • {{Full citations needed}}
  • {{Ibid}}
  • {{Page numbers improve}}
  • {{Page numbers needed}}
  • {{Parenthetical referencing}}
  • {{Shallow references}}
General advice
  • Citing sources
  • Reliable sources
  • Maintenance template removal
  • Citation needed
  • Find sources
  • Combining sources
  • Referencing styles
  • v
  • t
  • e
Inline cleanup tags
Attribution
  • {{According to whom}}
  • {{Among whom}}
  • {{Attribution needed}}
  • {{By what}}
  • {{By whom}}
  • {{For whom}}
  • {{From whom?}}
  • {{Like whom?}}
  • {{To whom?}}
  • {{Who}}
  • {{Whose}}
  • {{With whom}}
Clarity
  • {{Ambiguous}}
  • {{Circular definition}}
  • {{Clarify}}
  • {{Clarify span}}
  • {{Clarify timeframe}}
  • {{Context inline}}
  • {{Expand acronym}}
  • {{Incomprehensible inline}}
  • {{Incomprehensible span}}
  • {{Key needed}}
  • {{Non sequitur}}
  • {{Sentence fragment}}
  • {{Sic?}}
  • {{Which calendar}}
  • {{Which lang}}
Miscellaneous
  • {{Chinese script needed inline}}
  • {{Chinese script needed inline span}}
  • {{Cleanup inline}}
  • {{Copyright violation}}
  • {{Copyvio link}}
  • {{Data missing}}
  • {{Disambiguation needed}}
  • {{External links inline}}
  • {{Improve caption}}
  • {{Japanese script needed inline}}
  • {{MisleadingNameLink}}
  • {{Needs IPA}}
  • {{Not English inline}}
  • {{Not in body}}
  • {{Original research inline}}
  • {{Original research span}}
  • {{Pronunciation needed}}
  • {{Qualify evidence}}
  • {{Romanization needed}}
  • {{Script needed inline}}
  • {{Spam link}}
  • {{Synthesis inline}}
  • {{Synthesis span}}
  • {{Typo help inline}}
  • {{Under discussion inline}}
  • {{Verify spelling}}
  • {{Whose translation}}
Neutrality
  • {{Buzzword inline}}
  • {{Compared to?}}
  • {{Contentious label inline}}
  • {{Editorializing}}
  • {{Fact or opinion}}
  • {{Opinion}}
  • {{Peacock inline}}
  • {{POV statement}}
  • {{Promotion inline}}
  • {{Unbalanced opinion}}
  • {{Weasel inline}}
Precision
  • {{By how much}}
  • {{Definition}}
  • {{Definition span}}
  • {{Definition needed}}
  • {{Example needed}}
  • {{Example needed span}}
  • {{Explain}}
  • {{Explain-wrap}}
  • {{From where}}
  • {{How}}
  • {{How often}}
  • {{Misquoted}}
  • {{More detail needed}}
  • {{Of what}}
  • {{Quantify}}
  • {{Specify}}
  • {{Vague}}
  • {{When}}
  • {{Where}}
  • {{Where-geo}}
  • {{Which}}
  • {{Who else}}
  • {{Why}}
  • {{Year needed}}
Excessive
  • {{Duplication span}}
  • {{Globalize inline}}
  • {{Importance example}}
  • {{Importance inline}}
  • {{Infobox clutter}}
  • {{List entry too long}}
  • {{Long quote}}
  • {{Off topic paragraph}}
  • {{Off topic sentence}}
  • {{Overly detailed inline}}
  • {{Over-explained}}
  • {{Relevance inline}}
  • {{Undue weight inline}}
Time-sensitivity
  • {{Anachronism inline}}
  • {{As of?}}
  • {{Clarify timeframe}}
  • {{Current event inline}}
  • {{Is this date calibrated?}}
  • {{Outdated statistic}}
  • {{Until when}}
  • {{Update after}}
  • {{Update inline}}
  • {{Update span}}
Verifiability
Dubious
  • {{Contradictory inline}}
  • {{Discuss}}
  • {{Disputed inline}}
  • {{Dubious}}
  • {{Dubious span}}
  • {{Inconsistent}}
  • {{Needs independent confirmation}}
  • {{Speculation inline}}
Bare URLs
  • {{Bare URL inline}}
  • {{Bare URL AV media}}
  • {{Bare URL DOC}}
  • {{Bare URL image}}
  • {{Bare URL non-HTML}}
  • {{Bare URL PDF}}
  • {{Bare URL plain text}}
  • {{Bare URL spreadsheet}}
Incomplete or broken citation
  • {{Author incomplete}}
  • {{Author missing}}
  • {{Broken footnote}}
  • {{Date missing}}
  • {{Dead link}}
  • {{Dead YouTube link}}
  • {{Deep link needed}}
  • {{Edition needed}}
  • {{Episode needed}}
  • {{Full citation needed}}
  • {{Incomplete short citation}}
  • {{ISBN missing}}
  • {{Missing long citation}}
  • {{Moved resource}}
  • {{Page needed}}
  • {{Pages needed}}
  • {{Permanent dead link}}
  • {{Place missing}}
  • {{Publisher missing}}
  • {{Season needed}}
  • {{Time needed}}
  • {{Title incomplete}}
  • {{Title missing}}
  • {{Unused source}}
  • {{Volume needed}}
  • {{Year missing}}
Missing or problematic reference
  • {{AI-generated inline}}
  • {{AI-generated source?}}
  • {{Additional citation needed}}
  • {{Better source needed}}
  • {{Better source needed example}}
  • {{Check quotation}}
  • {{Chronology citation needed}}
  • {{Circular reference}}
  • {{Circular reporting}}
  • {{Citation needed}}
  • {{Citation needed span}}
  • {{Citation needed paragraph}}
  • {{Citation not found}}
  • {{Close paraphrasing inline}}
  • {{COI source}}
  • {{Deprecated inline}}
  • {{Excessive citations inline}}
  • {{Failed verification}}
  • {{Failed verification span}}
  • {{Image reference needed}}
  • {{Independent source inline}}
  • {{Irrelevant citation}}
  • {{Marketing material}}
  • {{Medical citation needed}}
  • {{Medical citation needed span}}
  • {{Misplaced footnote}}
  • {{Nonspecific}}
  • {{Not verified in body}}
  • {{Not verified in body span}}
  • {{Obsolete source}}
  • {{Page range too broad}}
  • {{Primary source inline}}
  • {{Promotional source}}
  • {{Quote without source}}
  • {{Request quotation}}
  • {{Request quotation span}}
  • {{Retracted}}
  • {{Scientific citation needed}}
  • {{Self-published inline}}
  • {{Self-published source}}
  • {{Shallow reference inline}}
  • {{Tertiary source inline}}
  • {{Text-source inline}}
  • {{Third-party inline}}
  • {{Unreliable source?}}
  • {{Unreliable fringe source}}
  • {{Unreliable medical source}}
  • {{Unreliable scientific source}}
  • {{User-generated inline}}
  • {{User-generated source}}
  • {{Verify quote}}
  • {{Verify source}}
  • {{Whose quote}}
Wording
  • {{Buzzword inline}}
  • {{Colloquialism}}
  • {{Copy edit inline}}
  • {{Idiom}}
  • {{Neologism inline}}
  • {{Technical inline}}
  • {{Tone inline}}
General advice
  • Citing sources
  • Reliable sources
  • Maintenance template removal
  • Citation needed
  • Find sources
  • Combining sources
  • Referencing styles
  • Inline cleanup templates
  • WikiProject Inline Templates
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  • e
Toolbox
Templates
Welcome
  • {{subst:Welcome}}
  • {{subst:Welcomeh}}
  • {{subst:Welcome-anon}}
  • {{subst:W-graphical-anon}}
  • {{subst:Welcome-anon-unconstructive}}
  • {{subst:Welcome-anon-npov}}
  • {{subst:welcome-t}}
  • {{subst:thanks}}
Vandalism
  • {{subst:uw-vandalism1}}
  • {{subst:uw-vandalism2}}
  • {{subst:uw-vandalism3}}
  • {{subst:uw-vandalism4}}
  • {{subst:uw-vandalism4im}}
Content removal
  • {{subst:uw-delete1}}
  • {{subst:uw-delete2}}
  • {{subst:uw-delete3}}
  • {{subst:uw-delete4}}
  • {{subst:uw-delete4im}}
Check
  • {{subst:Copyvio|url=source}}
  • {{Db|...}}
  • {{Di-no license}}
  • {{Di-no source}}
Dispute
  • {{Citation needed}}
  • {{Controversial}}
  • {{Disputed}}
  • {{Fringe theories}}
  • {{POV}}
  • {{Unreferenced section}}
  • {{Promotional}}
  • {{Multiple issues}}
Delete
  • {{subst:afd}}
  • {{subst:cfd}}
  • {{ffd}}
  • {{mfd}}
  • {{subst:rfd}}
  • {{subst:tfd}}
  • {{subst:proposed deletion}}
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TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Weasel in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Weasel

Tag to be placed at the top of an article. Used for articles that employ weasel words too much. Weasel words are words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful had been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated. Phrases such as "some say", "many scholars believe", "it is widely thought", "many are of the opinion" etc. are example of weasel terms.

Template parameters[Edit template data]

This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.

ParameterDescriptionTypeStatus
Date addeddate

Month and date. "{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}" will fill this in for you.

Auto value
{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}
Datesuggested
The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Weasel/doc. (edit | history)
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox (edit | diff) and testcases (create) pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Weasel&oldid=1159533266"
Last edited on 10 June 2023, at 23:19

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