tautological

Also tau·tol·o·gous
Sometimes tau·to·log·ic

[tawt-l-oj-i-kuhl]

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of tautological¹

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

Example Sentences

McCarthy’s peculiar ambition appears to be entirely tautological: He should have the speakership because he deserves it, not because of what he wants to do with it.

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

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Since those programs can go bankrupt only if Congress connives for that to happen, this is a curiously tautological mandate.

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“That’s almost tautological,” Weiss said, because rising prices for oil and other commodities are often some of the main reasons for inflation spikes.

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“In fact, the genre people call self-help literature sounds tautological to me; I read all literature as self-help.”

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