superfluous

[soo-pur-floo-uhs]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR superfluous ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

being more than is sufficient or required; excessive.

unnecessary or needless.

Obsolete. possessing or spending more than enough or necessary; extravagant.

Origin of superfluous

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin superfluus, equivalent to super- super- + flu- (stem of fluere to flow) + -us -ous

Related formssu·per·flu·ous·ly, adverbsu·per·flu·ous·ness, nounun·su·per·flu·ous, adjectiveun·su·per·flu·ous·ly, adverbun·su·per·flu·ous·ness, noun

Synonyms for superfluous

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR superfluous ON THESAURUS.COM

1. extra; redundant.

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

Related Words for superfluousness

balance, by-product, embarrassment, enough, exorbitance, extravagance, extravagancy, exuberance, fat, glut, inundation, lavishness, leavings, leftover, overabundance, overflow, overload, overmuch, overrun, oversupply

Examples from the Web for superfluousness

Historical Examples of superfluousness

These Associations demonstrate the superfluousness of trade in a differently organized society.
Woman under socialism
August Bebel
But she enjoyed the consciousness of knowing more than he did; she even forgave him his superfluousness.
Mount Music
E. Oe. Somerville and Martin Ross
What superfluousness, indeed, could there be in intelligence, unless its conceptions resemble imperfect productions?
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3
Plotinos (Plotinus)
Sister Maria Joseph, recognising with trembling her superfluousness, withdrew.
Mount Music
E. Oe. Somerville and Martin Ross

British Dictionary definitions for superfluousness

superfluous

adjective

exceeding what is sufficient or required

not necessary or relevant; uncalled-for

obsolete extravagant in expenditure or oversupplied with possessions

Derived Formssuperfluously, adverbsuperfluousness, noun

Word Origin for superfluous

C15: from Latin superfluus overflowing, from super- + fluere to flow

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 superfluousness

superfluous

adj.

early 15c. (earlier superflue, late 14c.), from Latin superfluus "unnecessary," literally "overflowing," from superfluere "to overflow," from super "over" (see super-) + fluere "to flow" (see fluent).