adjective
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exceeding what is sufficient or required
-
not necessary or relevant; uncalled-for
-
obsolete extravagant in expenditure or oversupplied with possessions
Other Word Forms
- superfluously adverb
- superfluousness noun
- unsuperfluous adjective
- unsuperfluously adverb
- unsuperfluousness noun
Etymology
Origin of superfluous
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin superfluus, from super- super- + flu- (stem of fluere “to flow”) + -us -ous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This provoked yelps from technocrats who said it was impractical and superfluous.
Maybe a few of the how-to asides are superfluous; I really didn’t need a lesson on how to gift wrap books.
From Salon
Back in the winter, when some corners of the sport were bemoaning their heavy spending, they were imagining a world in which they’d actually be able to sell superfluous pieces.
From Los Angeles Times
It’s Lucy’s job to sift through a person’s attributes, both real and imagined, legitimately important and completely superfluous, to determine their compatibility with one of her clients.
From Salon
Originally, King was inspired only to write the middle-aged Chuck chapters, and then a year later he bound those pieces together by adding the boyhood kicker and its superfluous supernatural element.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
