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I was writing an essay when Word picked up an error in my writing; specifically, it wanted to replace "vast majority" with "clear majority."

So my question is: is "clear majority" better, more eloquent, or clearer than "vast majority?" If so, how?

A similar post here talks about the differences between similar expressions, but I want to know about the difference between "vast majority" and "clear majority."

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borndeft
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    Put side by side I'd claim they mean slightly different things, with "vast majority" suggesting a larger majority than "clear majority". – Mathily Nov 02 '16 at 05:08
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    While the differences in size certainly apply (I would expect a 'vast majority' to be at least 85% whereas a 'clear majority' could be as low as 55% if the counting method was accurate) I would say that 'vast majority' tends to be used statistically as in "The vast majority of people in first world countries have access to the internet" whereas 'clear majority' has political connotations as in "A clear majority of the local population are opposed to fracking". – BoldBen Nov 02 '16 at 06:33
  • @BoldBen Please consider changing your comment to an answer. I think your comment answers the question. –  Nov 02 '16 at 10:42

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Vast majority is more majority than clear majority, in normal usage.

All vast majorities are clear majorities, but that is not true the other way round.

Vaibhav Garg
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@Bolden's comment

While the differences in size certainly apply (I would expect a 'vast majority' to be at least 85% whereas a 'clear majority' could be as low as 55% if the counting method was accurate), I would say that 'vast majority' tends to be used statistically as in

The vast majority of people in first world countries have access to the internet.

whereas 'clear majority' has political connotations as in

A clear majority of the local population are opposed to fracking.

  • Would saying "clear majority" be more efficient than "vast majority" though? The reason Word complained about it was because it was (ostensibly) too wordy. Both phrases are equal in length, so I was wondering if it was better to use one over the other. – borndeft Nov 03 '16 at 02:03