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.

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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

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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

Building on her doctoral research on homeschooling in Los Angeles County, Ms. Lane is careful to note the limits of existing studies and the superfluity of misinformation surrounding her topic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

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

Thankfully, YA novelist Robin Wasserman’s 2016 adult debut, “Girls on Fire,” boasts a superfluity of violently intense female friendship to tide us over until Season 3.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2023

But, a little paradoxically, the collection is most valuable when it’s proving its own superfluity: The best material is what made it onto the completed record.

From New York Times ● Oct. 3, 2022

Rankness affords another example where superfluity of water is concerned, though it does not involve simply this, because the plant may also contain excessive quantities of nitrogenous and mineral matters taken up by the roots.

From Disease in Plants by H. Marshall Ward

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

I found that the absence of many-colored effects and of all superfluities produced a wonderful freshness.

From An Autobiography by Igor Stravinsky