diff --git a/lib/Getopt/Lucid.pm b/lib/Getopt/Lucid.pm
index 1904f7d..592e786 100644
--- a/lib/Getopt/Lucid.pm
+++ b/lib/Getopt/Lucid.pm
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ my $VALID_NAME      = qr/$VALID_LONG|$VALID_SHORT|$VALID_BARE/;
 my $SHORT_BUNDLE    = qr/-[$VALID_STARTCHAR]{2,}/;
 my $NEGATIVE        = qr/(?:--)?no-/;
 
-my @valid_keys = qw( name type default nocase valid needs canon doc );
+my @valid_keys = qw( name type default nocase valid needs canon doc placeholder );
 my @valid_types = qw( switch counter parameter list keypair);
 
 sub Switch  {
@@ -96,6 +96,8 @@ sub needs { my $self = shift; $self->{needs}=[@_]; return $self };
 
 sub doc { my $self = shift; $self->{doc}=shift; return $self };
 
+sub placeholder { my $self = shift; $self->{placeholder}=shift; return $self };
+
 sub _clone { my $self = shift; bless { %$self }, ref $self }
 
 package Getopt::Lucid;
@@ -385,22 +387,22 @@ sub usage {
     for my $opt ( sort { $a->{strip} cmp $b->{strip} } values %{$self->{spec}} ) {
         my $names = [ @{ $opt->{names} } ];
         push @doc, [
-            _build_usage_left_column( $names, \@short_opts ),
+            _build_usage_left_column( $names, \@short_opts, $opt->{type}, $opt->{placeholder} ),
             _build_usage_right_column( $opt->{doc}, $opt->{default}, $opt->{type} ),
         ];
     }
 
-    my $max_width = 3 + List::Util::max( map { length } @doc );
+    my $max_width = 3 + List::Util::max( map { length($_->[0]) } @doc );
 
     my $prog = File::Basename::basename($0);
 
     local $" = '';
     my $usage = "Usage: $prog [-@short_opts] [long options] [arguments]\n"
-      . join( "", map { sprintf( "\t%-${max_width}s %s\n", @$_ ) } @doc );
+      . join( "", map { sprintf( "    %-${max_width}s %s\n", @$_ ) } @doc );
 }
 
 sub _build_usage_left_column {
-    my ($names, $all_short_opts) = @_;
+    my ($names, $all_short_opts, $type, $placeholder ) = @_;
     my @sorted_names =
       sort { length $a <=> length $b } map { my $s = $_; $s =~ s/^-*//; $s } @$names;
 
@@ -409,13 +411,21 @@ sub _build_usage_left_column {
 
     push @$all_short_opts, @short_opts;
 
+    $placeholder = 'value' if ! defined $placeholder;
+    my $value =
+          $type eq 'keypair' ? " key=<$placeholder>"
+        : $type eq 'counter' ? " [<$placeholder>]"
+        : $type ne 'switch'  ? " <$placeholder>"
+        :                      ''
+        ;
+
     my $group = sub {
         my $list = shift;
         '-' . ( @$list == 1 ? $list->[0] : '[' . join( '|', @$list ) . ']' );
     };
     my $prepare = sub {
         my $list = shift;
-        return ( length $list->[0] > 1 ? '-' : '' ) . $group->($list) if @$list;
+        return ( length $list->[0] > 1 ? '-' : '' ) . $group->($list) . $value if @$list;
         return;
     };
 
@@ -1107,6 +1117,26 @@ Sets the documentation string for an option.
 
 This string shows up in the "usage" method.
 
+=== placeholder()
+
+Sets the string used for the value placeholder in the usage for an option.
+If not specified, defaults to C<value>.
+
+For example,
+
+    @spec = (
+      Param("output")->doc("write output to the specified file")
+                     ->placeholder("file"),
+    );
+
+results in
+
+  --output <file>      write output to the specified file
+
+rather than the default of
+
+  --output <value>      write output to the specified file
+
 == Validation
 
 Validation happens in two stages.  First, individual parameters may have
diff --git a/t/11-usage.t b/t/11-usage.t
index 2725229..a6ee59c 100644
--- a/t/11-usage.t
+++ b/t/11-usage.t
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ my $prog = basename($0);
 my $spec = [
     Counter("--verbose|v")->doc("turn on verbose output")->default(2),
     Switch("--test")->doc("run in test mode"),
-    Param("--input")->default("test.txt"),
+    Param("--input")->default("test.txt")->placeholder('file'),
     Switch("-r")->doc("recursive"),
     Param("bare"),
     List("libs")->default(qw/one two/),
@@ -28,13 +28,13 @@ my $spec = [
 
 my @expectations = (
     qr/^Usage: \Q$prog\E \[-rv] \[long options] \[arguments]$/,
-    qr/^\s+--bare\s*$/,
-    qr/^\s+--define\s+\(default: arch=i386, isize=4\)$/,
-    qr/^\s+--input\s+\(default: test\.txt\)$/,
-    qr/^\s+--libs\s+\(default: one, two\)$/,
+    qr/^\s+--bare <value>\s*$/,
+    qr/^\s+--define key=<value>\s+\(default: arch=i386, isize=4\)$/,
+    qr/^\s+--input <file>\s+\(default: test\.txt\)$/,
+    qr/^\s+--libs <value> \s+\(default: one, two\)$/,
     qr/^\s+-r\s+recursive$/,
     qr/^\s+--test\s+run in test mode$/,
-    qr/^\s+-v, --verbose\s+turn on verbose output \(default: 2\)$/,
+    qr/^\s+-v \[<value>\], --verbose \[<value>\]\s+turn on verbose output \(default: 2\)$/,
 );
 
 plan tests => 2 + @expectations;