tautological
[ tawt-l-oj-i-kuhl ]
/ ˌtɔt lˈɒdʒ ɪ kəl /
Save This Word!
adjective
(of a phrase) needlessly repetitive without adding information or clarity:Third-world communist regimes, with tautological insistence, call themselves "people's democracies."
(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.
QUIZZES
QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!
Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.
Question 1 of 7
“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.
Meet Grammar Coach
Improve Your Writing
Also tau·tol·o·gous [taw-tol-uh-guhs] /tɔˈtɒl ə gəs/ . Sometimes tau·to·log·ic [tawt-l-oj-ik] /ˌtɔt lˈɒdʒ ɪk/ .
Origin of tautological
OTHER WORDS FROM tautological
Words nearby tautological
Tautavel man, tauted, tauten, tauto-, tautog, tautological, tautologism, tautologize, tautology, tautomer, tautomeric fiber
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021