pleonasm

[ plee-uh-naz-uhm ]
See synonyms for: pleonasmpleonastic on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; redundancy.

  2. an instance of this, as free gift or true fact.

  1. a redundant word or expression.

Origin of pleonasm

1
First recorded in 1580–90; from Late Latin pleonasmus, from Greek pleonasmós “redundancy, surplus,” derivative of pleonázein “to be or have more than enough,” itself derivative of pleíōn “more”; see pleo-

Other words from pleonasm

  • ple·o·nas·tic, adjective
  • ple·o·nas·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Words Nearby pleonasm

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How to use pleonasm in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pleonasm

pleonasm

/ (ˈpliːəˌnæzəm) /


nounrhetoric
  1. the use of more words than necessary or an instance of this, such as a tiny little child

  2. a word or phrase that is superfluous

Origin of pleonasm

1
C16: from Latin pleonasmus, from Greek pleonasmos excess, from pleonazein to be redundant

Derived forms of pleonasm

  • pleonastic, adjective
  • pleonastically, adverb

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