redundant

American  

[ri-duhn-duhnt] / rɪˈdʌn dənt /

adjective

1. exceeding what is needed or useful; superfluous.

   You can shorten the article by omitting these redundant paragraphs.

   I decided that a sixth pair of dress shoes was redundant.

   Synonyms:

   tautological, superfluous, useless, excessive

2. characterized by unnecessary words or repetition; verbose.

   He writes in a redundant style.

   Synonyms:

   repetitive, verbose

3. serving or added as a backup; extra.

   If the latch fails on this backwards-opening car hood, the wind will blow it down rather than up, so a redundant latch is not needed.

4. having one or more extra or duplicate parts or features.

   The genetic code is redundant, meaning that more than one codon can map to the same amino acid.

5. Chiefly British. (of a worker) laid off or unemployed.

   If the mine were to close, the result would be 183 redundant workers.

6. Computers.

   1. (of code, or of a signal communicating a message) including or encoding more than the required information, so as to provide a fallback, a means of validating data, an accommodation for different platforms, etc.

   2. (of network or system components) providing an additional traffic path or storage place for data, so that if one fails, the other can take over or serve as backup.

7. Engineering.

   1. (of a structural member or part) designed to withstand stresses greater than or different from those that can be calculated or predicted.

   2. (of a structure) having members or parts designed to withstand stresses that cannot be calculated or predicted.

   3. (of a complete truss) having additional members enabling it to withstand loads that are not centered.

   4. (of a device, circuit, etc.) having extra or duplicate parts that can serve as a backup in case other parts malfunction.

8. Linguistics. including or encoding more information than is necessary for communication: for example, in my three sons, the plural ending "-s" on sons is redundant because three already indicates plurality.

9. extremely lush or abundant.

   The jungle, with its exuberant, redundant vegetation, hides bizarre and exotic creatures.

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redundant British  

/ rɪˈdʌndənt /

adjective

1. surplus to requirements; unnecessary or superfluous

2. verbose or tautological

3. deprived of one's job because it is no longer necessary for efficient operation

   he has been made redundant

4. (of components, information, etc) duplicated or added as a precaution against failure, error, etc

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Related Words

See wordy.

Other Word Forms

• redundantly adverb

Etymology

Origin of redundant

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin redundant-, stem of redundāns “flowing back, being excessive,” present participle of redundāre “to flow back, overflow, be excessive”; redound ( def. ), -ant ( def. )

Example Sentences

Common issues include redundant coverage, outdated supplemental plans and failure to reassess prescription drug plans annually.

From MarketWatch

For Europe, this means a lot of redundant military spending and less going into research than other regions.

From The Wall Street Journal

The relationship he built with Xabi Alonso became redundant when the manager was sacked after less than eight months in charge.

From BBC

Mr. Hinton’s claim was among the earliest that AI would make a whole class of human practitioners redundant.

From The Wall Street Journal

AI systems are increasingly used to predict order density by neighborhood and time of day, allowing companies to preposition inventory closer to consumers and reduce redundant trips.

From Barron's

Related Words

• superfluous
• unnecessary