Link Centre Dictionary

excess

ex·cess

UK/ˈɛksɛs/ US/ɪkˈsɛs/ fairly common uk us

adjective

1.

more than is needed, desired, or required

  • “trying to lose excess weight”
  • “found some extra change lying on the dresser”
  • “yet another book on heraldry might be thought redundant”
  • “skills made redundant by technological advance”
  • “sleeping in the spare room”
  • “supernumerary ornamentation”
  • “it was supererogatory of her to gloat”
  • “delete superfluous (or unnecessary) words”
  • “extra ribs as well as other supernumerary internal parts”
  • “surplus cheese distributed to the needy”

noun

3.

the state of being more than full

4.

excessive indulgence

  • “the child was spoiled by overindulgence”

Origin

From Middle English exces (“excess, ecstasy”), from Old French exces, from Latin excessus (“a going out, loss of self-possession”), from excedere, excessum (“to go out, go beyond”). See exceed.

Phrases

  • in excess of
  • lion's share
  • spherical excess
  • to excess
  • too much

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.