Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Being beyond what is required or sufficient.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- More than is wanted or sufficient; unnecessary from being in excess of what is needed; excessive; redundant; needless: as, a composition abounding with superfluous words.
- Supplied with superfluities; having somewhat beyond necessaries.
- Doing more than what is called for; supererogatory.
- Excessive.
- In music, of intervals, augmented. Synonyms Excessive, useless, needless.
Wiktionary
- adj. in excess of what is required or sufficient
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. More than is wanted or is sufficient; rendered unnecessary by superabundance; unnecessary; useless; excessive.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being
- adj. more than is needed, desired, or required
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old French superflueux, from Latin superfluus, from superfluere, to overflow : super-, super- + fluere, to flow; see bhleu- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“I think a good deal of what you call superfluous condolence would come under the head of superfluous criticism.”
“But an interpretation of the Necessary and Proper Clause that gives Congress virtually unlimited power and renders most of the rest of Article I superfluous is surely “improper” if anything is.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Charles Fried on the Constitutionality of the Health Care Mandate
“If he wishes to assert a dual common source (both God and Q) then that's his prerogative but I would cite this as superfluous from a scriptural perspective.”
“Not really an option" is your position, meaning a discussion of historical evidence is "superfluous from a scriptural perspective".”
“God never intended for one group of people to live in superfluous inordinate wealth, while others live in abject deadening poverty. ”
“Those who are not bored are merely lost in superfluous activity: fashion, lifestyle, TV, drink, drugs, technology, et cetera – the usual things we use to pass the time.”
“Who better to be your writing inspiration than the man who can bring out the super in superfluous?”
“Tweaking them is superfluous from the standpoint of mother nature.”
“The argument misses that it is not the way the words are read that renders the phrase superfluous but simply changing technology.”
“The superfluous is the very thing we work and long for.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘superfluous’.
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Words
phantasmagoria, eviscerate, avast, simulacrum, varicose, oblique, gestalt, ersatz, vernal, vivace, stellate, synecdoche and 314 more...
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PART 2: 100 Word You Should Know To Be Able To ...
Here are 40 advanced English words which should you be able to use them in a sentence will impress even educated native speakers! Perfect if you want to impress the examiner in examinations like: I...
jubilant, knell, lithe, lurid, maverick, maxim, meticulous, modicum, morose, myriad, nadir, nominal and 28 more...
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Kingly epithets
Take one of CharlesFerdinand's excellent Merovingians or Goths, add a "the" and one of these descriptors, and presto, a character for your long-planned spoof fantasy novel.
unlikely, chuckleheaded, aloof, lacklustre, slow, murky, neurotic, clichéd, pediculous, dour, bungling, dandy and 23 more...
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Talking About Words
The favorite words of Talking Tyrants
dolorous, parsimonious, apotemnophilia, odalisque, tuberoinfundibular, morass, ostentatious, sybaritic, vermilion, onomatopoeia, eschatology, teleology and 49 more...
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super-, sur-
above or beyond; to a great degree; extra large; of a higher kind
superfamily, supercontinent, superstructure, superabundant, supernumerary, superfluous, superfine, surprise, supercilious, supersonic, surrender, supercede and 33 more...
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SAT Words
Know these common SAT words
taciturn, docile, expedient, superfluous, eclectic, impromptu, dogmatic, invidious, rhetoric, tenacious, pretentious, parsimony and 14 more...
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phil vocab 3
genocide, superfluous, warfare, indissoluble, sentient, confound, pernicious, dispose, render, amiable, paradox, puritanical and 36 more...
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Words for my English Learners
vast, superfluous, inevitable, though, pervasive, overwhelm, assume, presume, curious, eccentric, whimsical, quaint and 12 more...
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Smart yet Understandable
Working on expanding my vocabulary, and looking for interesting yet understandable words that have the ability to wow.
superfluous, sardonic, sentient, complacent, facetious, flippant
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Excess
Excess
licentiousness, crapulence, vomit, mausoleum, fit to kill, libation, decadent, superfluous, louche
wanderingstan I was trying to figure the meaning of the German word "überflüssig", which I knew had to be some combination of "super" (über) and "fluid-like" (flüssig). Super-fluid, superfluous! Nov 2, 2011
jmjarmstrong JM reckons a second chimney is superfluous. Jun 19, 2011
gcastro •It seems superfluous to mention it, but don't go swimming if you've been drinking alcohol.
www.dictionary.com Oct 1, 2010