Need help finding the right adjective for an essay.?

Question

Here is the sentence: "MassBay had no music or art programs whatsoever, minus the ____ courses needed to have a degree in Interior Design." I am looking for a negative adjective because the classes to get a degree -could- be considered artsy, like Architectural Drawing for Interior Design, but they're not what I'm looking for. Help!!

Answer 1

appropriate
fundamental
required

pathetic
useless
pointless
pathetic
routine

Answer 2

the word which comes most easily and clearly to mind is "required", but of course that isn't a negative adjective. Minus is a negative word in itself so I think you may have trouble finding a negative adjective that doesn't confuse what you are trying to say. And minus also seems to me to be bit confusing. What about "except for the courses offered for a degree in Interior Design."

Answer 3

How about going for something like "flowery"/"frilly", that could put it in the artsy classification, but shows that the artsy bit was just a coincidental/throw-a-way part of the course and not intended to be directly artsy.
People often spend too much time looking for an absolute adjective when a simpler one often tells a better story.

Answer 4

requisite
obligatory
compulsory
mandated

'minus those courses deemed essential for a degree....'


if you find a word that's almost what you want, type it into a Word doc, then right click, select 'synonyms' and choose 'thesaurus' -- once it populates your list, you can then left click on any of those words, and it will pull up synonyms for whatever word you clicked on. (note -- to insert the word you like, just right click the word once you've selected it [it's enclosed in the box when you've run your mouse over it], and select 'insert.')

good luck!

Answer 5

I think you'd like the word "Grueling" - means exhausting or severely testing, a negative adjective.

Good Luck!

Answer 6

Here's two:

pedestrian
banal

Answer 7

mundane