superfluity

American  

[soo-per-floo-i-tee] / ˌsu pərˈflu ɪ ti /

noun

superfluities plural

1. the state of being superfluous.

2. a superabundant or excessive amount.

3. something superfluous, as a luxury.

---

superfluity British  

/ ˌsuːpəˈfluːɪtɪ /

noun

1. the condition of being superfluous

2. a quantity or thing that is in excess of what is needed

3. a thing that is not needed

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• superfluities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of superfluity

1350–1400; Middle English superfluite < Old French < Latin superfluitās. See superfluous, -ity

Explanation

A superfluity is an excess or abundance. When you encounter superfluity, there's too much of something. When something is superfluous, it's unnecessary or redundant: there's already enough of it. Likewise, superfluity is too much of something. If your friend is a shopoholic and spends all of her time at the mall, you probably encounter superfluity in her closet — since she has more clothes than she will ever wear. The Latin root word is superfluus, which is used figuratively to mean "unnecessary," but is literally "overflowing."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

superfluity superfluities

How refreshingly meta, then, that “The Devil Wears Prada 2” — a film that seemingly had no discernible reason to exist other than to make money — directly addresses its own superfluity.

From Salon ● May 1, 2026

Alongside the Spanish colonial homes, the scene is a picturesque look into wealth, opulence and superfluity that only a select few Angelenos can afford.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2025

A group of crows is a murder; pandas, an embarrassment; nuns, a superfluity — a term that dates to the Middle Ages, when nunneries were overcrowded, lice-ridden and destitute.

From New York Times ● Sep. 12, 2021

It is the rare as-told-to book, or one created in collaboration with an author-for-hire, that is well-written, but “A Piece of Light” is filled with a superfluity of penny-dreadful prose.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 19, 2018

A superfluity of romantic affection was rapidly accumulating that must have been deposited somewhere by now.

From The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett by MacKenzie, Compton

And Kuo’s sluggish direction, alongside the superfluities of Shekar’s script and the cast’s aerobic attempts to breathe life into inconsequential characters and static scenes, makes the two-hour show feel interminable.

From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2020

But now it feels more like a costly necessity, one whose exorbitant price tag is thinly justified by superfluities like face recognition, wireless charging, and a snazzier camera.

From Slate ● Jan. 3, 2019

A good novel is art’s closest equivalent to a human being—by nature a concoction of surprises, contradictions, and superfluities.

From Slate ● Dec. 23, 2015

Of course, I didn’t bother with superfluities like gold pieces or twenty-sided dice, but I did think upon the same factors.

From Salon ● Dec. 8, 2012

Again, since the goods of a benefice originated in gifts offered to God Himself, it is most becoming that their superfluities be devoted to the causes most pleasing to God.

From Moral Theology A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern Authorities by Callan, Charles Jerome