superfluous
When something is so unnecessary that it could easily be done away with, like a fifth wheel on a car or a fifth person on a double date, call it superfluous.
Superfluous (soo-PER-floo-uhs) means "more than required." Use it when pointing out something that could be removed without detracting from the quality of something: "For a climb over a glacier, the very thickest shoes are absolutely necessary; beyond these, all else seems superfluous to me," wrote the adventurer Charles Stoddard in 1899. The word comes from Latin and literally means "overflowing": super ("over") + fluere ("to flow"). So you can think of a superfluous addition as flowing over the boundaries of what's needed.
-
more than is needed, desired, or required“delete superfluous (or unnecessary) words”
-
synonyms:
excess, extra, redundant, spare, supererogatory, supernumerary, surplus
-
unnecessary, unneeded
not necessary
-
unnecessary, unneeded
-
serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
A paragraph of text
Copy citationVocabulary lists containing superfluous
When all the young people of their tiny Polish village emigrate to America, Ashmedai the demon eventually convinces Uriel the angel to follow them to the rumored Golden Land.
In this collection of twelve essays, the leader of New England's transcendentalist movement shares his philosophical ideas on different aspects of mid-nineteenth-century life. Read the full text here.
In this fourth book of the series The Trials of Apollo, Lester joins the Roman demigods in their search for the tomb of an undead king.
Look up superfluous for the last time
Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the words you need to know.
