pleonasm

[plee-uh-naz-uh m]

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noun

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

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

a redundant word or expression.

Origin of pleonasm

1580–90; < Late Latin pleonasmus < Greek pleonasmós redundancy, surplus, derivative of pleonázein to be or have more than enough, itself derivative of pleíōn more (see pleo-)

Related formsple·o·nas·tic, adjectiveple·o·nas·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pleonastic

bombastic, chatty, diffuse, discursive, flatulent, gabby, garrulous, inflated, lengthy, long-winded, loquacious, periphrastic, prolix, rambling, redundant, rhetorical, tedious, turgid, verbose, voluble

Examples from the Web for pleonastic

Historical Examples of pleonastic

"The universal opinion of all men" is a pleonastic expression often heard.
The Verbalist
Thomas Embly Osmun, (AKA Alfred Ayres)
Soke means jurisdiction and sake and soke is but a pleonastic phrase, which means no more than soke.
Domesday Book and Beyond
Frederic William Maitland
This pleonastic use of a conjunction with the relative is common among illiterate writers and speakers to-day.
History of the Plague in London
Daniel Defoe
My banks, they are furnished,—the most straitest sect,—these are pleonastic expressions.
A Handbook of the English Language
Robert Gordon Latham
This very phrase held to service, standing alone, is the pleonastic definition of Slavery itself.
Charles Sumner; His Complete Works, Volume XI (of 20)
Charles Sumner

British Dictionary definitions for pleonastic

pleonasm

noun rhetoric

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

a word or phrase that is superfluous

Derived Formspleonastic, adjectivepleonastically, adverb

Word Origin for pleonasm

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pleonastic

adj.

1778, with -ic + Greek pleonastos "abundant," from pleonazein (see pleonasm). Related: Pleonastical (1650s).

pleonasm

"redundancy in words," 1580s, from Late Latin pleonasmus, from Greek pleonasmos, from pleonazein "to be more than enough, to be superfluous," in grammatical use, "to add superfluously," from comb. form of pleon "more" (see pleio-).

pleonastic in Medicine

pleonasm

[plē′ə-năz′əm]

n.

An excess in the number or size of parts.