Superfluous — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being

more than is needed, desired, or required

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/suːpˈɜːfluːəs/

🇬🇧British English

/suːpˈɜːfluːəs/

🇮🇳Indian English

/suːpˈɜːfluːəs/

3 syllables Say it as /suːpˈɜːfluːəs/.

Examples

otiose lines in a play
advice is wasted words
a pointless remark

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

pointless senseless supererogatory wasted otiose supernumerary surplus extra purposeless redundant spare excess

Parts of Speech

adjective	serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being “otiose lines in a play”
adjective	more than is needed, desired, or required “trying to lose excess weight”

Word Forms

pointlessness	noun	total lack of meaning or ideas
purposelessness	noun	the quality of lacking any definite purpose
senselessness	noun	total lack of meaning or ideas
redundance	noun	the attribute of being superfluous and unneeded
redundancy	noun	repetition of messages to reduce the probability of errors in transmission
superfluity	noun	extreme excess
supernumerary	noun	a person serving no apparent function

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

überflüssig

keinem nützlichen Zweck dienen; keine Entschuldigung dafür haben

🇫🇷French

superflu

ne servant à rien; n'avoir aucune excuse pour être

🇪🇸Spanish

superfluo

sin ningún propósito útil; no tener excusa para ser

🇮🇹Italian

superfluo

non servire a nessuno scopo utile; non avere scuse per esserlo

🇳🇱Dutch

overbodig

geen nuttig doel dienen; geen excuus hebben om te zijn

🇵🇹Portuguese

supérfluo

não servindo a nenhum propósito útil; não tendo desculpa para ser

🇷🇺Russian

излишний

не служащий никакой полезной цели; не имея оправдания тому, что я

India

🇮🇳Hindi

ज़रूरत से ज़्यादा

कोई उपयोगी उद्देश्य पूरा नहीं करना; होने का कोई बहाना नहीं है

🇧🇩Bengali

অতিরিক্ত

কোন দরকারী উদ্দেশ্য পরিবেশন করা; থাকার জন্য কোন অজুহাত নেই

🇮🇳Tamil

மிதமிஞ்சிய

பயனுள்ள நோக்கத்திற்காக சேவை செய்யவில்லை; இருப்பதற்கு எந்த காரணமும் இல்லை

🇮🇳Telugu

నిరుపయోగమైన

ఉపయోగకరమైన ప్రయోజనం లేదు; ఉండటం కోసం ఎటువంటి అవసరం లేదు

🇮🇳Marathi

अनावश्यक

कोणताही उपयुक्त उद्देश देत नाही; असण्याचे कोणतेही निमित्त नाही

🇮🇳Gujarati

અનાવશ્યક

કોઈ ઉપયોગી હેતુની સેવા આપતા નથી; હોવા માટે કોઈ બહાનું નથી

🇮🇳Kannada

ಅತಿಯಾದ

ಯಾವುದೇ ಉಪಯುಕ್ತ ಉದ್ದೇಶವನ್ನು ಪೂರೈಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ; ಇರುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ಕ್ಷಮಿಸಿಲ್ಲ

🇮🇳Malayalam

അമിതമായ

ഉപയോഗപ്രദമായ ഉദ്ദേശ്യങ്ങളില്ലാതെ; ആയതിന് ഒഴികഴിവില്ല

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਲੋੜ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਧ

ਕੋਈ ਲਾਭਦਾਇਕ ਉਦੇਸ਼ ਦੀ ਸੇਵਾ ਨਾ ਕਰਨਾ; ਹੋਣ ਦਾ ਕੋਈ ਬਹਾਨਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਹੈ

🇵🇰Urdu

ضرورت سے زیادہ

کوئی مفید مقصد کی خدمت نہیں؛ ہونے کا کوئی عذر نہیں ہے۔

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

多余

无任何用处；没有任何借口

🇯🇵Japanese

余計な

有益な目的を果たさない。言い訳ができない

🇰🇷Korean

불필요한

유용한 목적을 제공하지 않습니다. 변명의 여지가 없다

🇻🇳Vietnamese

thừa thãi

không phục vụ mục đích hữu ích nào; không có lý do gì để tồn tại

🇹🇭Thai

ฟุ่มเฟือย

ไม่มีประโยชน์; ไม่มีข้อแก้ตัวในการเป็น

🇮🇩Indonesian

tak berguna

tidak mempunyai tujuan yang berguna; tidak punya alasan untuk menjadi

🇵🇭Filipino

kalabisan

hindi nagsisilbing kapaki-pakinabang na layunin; walang dahilan para maging

🇲🇾Malay

berlebihan

tidak mempunyai tujuan yang berguna; tidak mempunyai alasan untuk menjadi

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

لا لزوم لها

لا يخدم أي غرض مفيد؛ ليس لديه عذر للوجود

🇮🇷Persian

اضافی

بدون هدف مفید هیچ بهانه ای برای بودن نداشتن

🇹🇷Turkish

gereksiz

hiçbir yararlı amaca hizmet etmeyen; olmak için hiçbir mazereti olmamak

🇮🇱Hebrew

מְיוּתָר

לא משרת שום מטרה מועילה; אין תירוץ להיות

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'superfluous'?

The primary meaning of 'superfluous' is 'serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'superfluous' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'superfluous' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'superfluous' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'superfluous' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'superfluous' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'superfluous' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'superfluous' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'superfluous' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'superfluous' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'superfluous' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted