Link Centre Dictionary

supernumerary

su·per·nu·merary

UK/ˌsuːpəˈnjuːm(ə)ɹ(ə)ɹi/ US/ˌsupɚˈn(j)uməˌɹɛɹi/ uncommon
noun (1) adjective (1)

noun

1.

a minor actor in crowd scenes

Synonyms

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”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Late Latin supernumerarius (“extra soldier added to a legion; supernumerary”), from super (“above; beyond”) + numerus (“number; collection, quantity”) + -ārius (suffix forming adjectives from nouns or numerals). The word is analysable as super- + numeral + -ary.

Phrases

  • supernumerary rainbow

Related words

Broader terms

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.