Link Centre Dictionary

superfluous

su·perf·luous

UK/suːˈpɜːflu.əs/ US/sjʊˈpɜːflu.əs/ uncommon

adjective

1.

serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being

  • “otiose lines in a play”
  • “advice is wasted words”
Synonyms
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2.

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”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Middle English superfluous, from Latin superfluus (“superfluous”) + -ous, 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.

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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.