It's a word that's so over-used, it's become more than just an annoyance, it's become a general pain in the ass.
It's a word that routinely makes those year-end lists of words that should be banned.
It's a word, like many, that's so over-used that it's generally meaningless.
The word?
Listen to any conversation at your local Starbucks or any group of over-educated Millenials, and you will hear it. The word?
LITERALLY.
No, that's the word.
So, when it makes it's way into the news writing, even in conversational story-telling, the annoyance factor kicks in. A useless word, holding no meaning, literally.
While LITERALLY is the most notorious, check the list for more.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/09/these-words-are-so-overus_n_5447356.html