superfluous

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj

In excess of what is required or sufficient.

Pronunciation

/suːˈpɜːflu.əs/ /sjʊˈpɜːflu.əs/ en-uk-superfluous.ogg /suˈpɝflu.əs/ en-us-superfluous.ogg /səˈpɜːflu.əs/ en-au-superfluous.ogg

Word forms

superfluous more superfluous most superfluous

Etymology

From Middle English superfluous, from Latin superfluus (“superfluous”), from superfluō (“overflow”), from super (“above, more than, over”) + fluō (“flow”). Compare mellifluous and fluid, also from Latin. Literally corresponds to overflow, which is from Germanic, rather than Latin.

Synonyms

dispensible excessive excrescent extra extraneous extravagant pleonastic supernumerary surplus unnecessary needless redundant

Related words

superflux superfluity mellifluous

Derived words

nonsuperfluous superfluous interval superfluousity superfluously superfluous man superfluousness unsuperfluous

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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