tautological

American  

[tawt-l-oj-i-kuhl] / ˌtɔt lˈɒdʒ ɪ kəl /

Also tautologous sometimes tautologic

adjective

1. (of a phrase) needlessly repetitive without adding information or clarity.

   Third-world communist regimes, with tautological insistence, call themselves "people's democracies."

2. (especially in logic) defined in terms of itself.

   Some would argue that the phrase ''survival of the fittest'' is tautological, in that the fittest are defined as those that survive to reproduce.

---

Other Word Forms

• nontautological adjective
• nontautologically adverb
• tautologically adverb
• tautologously adverb
• untautological adjective
• untautologically adverb

Etymology

Origin of tautological

tautolog(y) ( def. ) + -ical ( def. )

Example Sentences

Attempting to define this unique, curvilinear object is a tautological exercise.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 27, 2022

FINA’s argument that, to its “best knowledge, the athletes competing at such international events never used,” nor required, “caps of such size and configuration” is infuriatingly tautological.

From Washington Post • Jul. 3, 2021

Ultimately, though, their allure is ineffable, driving Nir to a tautological conclusion: “Because horses. Answer enough.”

From New York Times • Aug. 14, 2020

And this is how blue whale has become trapped within a tautological circle of specialization: it needs to be big enough in order to eat enough to be big.

From Scientific American • Jul. 31, 2020

When the choir of two-fisted tenors on the record were “proud to bear the title” Colonel Meecham entered the room slapping the swagger stick in a steady, tautological rhythm that seemed ominous, even predatory.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy