surplusage
Americannoun
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law (in pleading, etc) irrelevant matter, such as a superfluous allegation
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an excess of words
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a less common word for surplus
Etymology
Origin of surplusage
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at surplus, -age
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.
In discussing the 14th Amendment, Mr. Barnett fairly shows that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” isn’t empty surplusage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
Some of that surplusage is sold by private surplus retailers.
From Seattle Times ● May 19, 2024
But “our preference for avoiding surplusage constructions is not absolute.”
From MSNBC ● Jun. 25, 2015
For a long while I thought sincerely that the newspaper insistence on writing into their code a clause saving their constitutional rights was pure surplusage.
From Time Magazine Archive
Act IV. is the most amazing piece of surplusage in literature; the catastrophe has been reached long ago in the third act.
From The English Novel And the Principle of its Development by Sidney Lanier
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
