Synonyms for excess
- noun
- adjective
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Surplus — the state of surpassing or going beyond a limit; the state of being beyond sufficiency, necessity, or duty…
surplus, surfeit, overabundance, superfluity, superabundance, abundance, overflow, glut, profusion, plethora, exuberance, redundancy, surplusage, oversupply, nimiety
2. Excessiveness
3. Extravagance
extravagance, intemperance, overindulgence, dissipation, overdoing, debauchery, incontinence, immoderation, prodigality, exorbitance, dissoluteness dated
Other
fat informal, balance, residue, remainder, plus, deductible US, overplus, crapulence, supererogation, prodigiousness
Adjective
1. Extra
extra, unnecessary, unneeded, superfluous, spare, redundant, supernumerary, supererogatory
Definitions
- n. 1
The state of surpassing or going beyond a limit; the state of being beyond sufficiency, necessity, or duty; more than what is usual or proper.
I leaped up in an excess of enthusiasm.
- n. 2
The degree or amount by which one thing or number exceeds another; remainder.
The difference between two numbers is the excess of one over the other.
- n. 3
An act of eating or drinking more than enough.
- adj. 1
More than is normal, necessary or specified.
Related words
- Word family
- exceed excessive
- Phrases
- in excess of
Forms
- Plural
- excesses → surpluses, surfeits, overabundances, superfluities…
Choose the right word
Excess is more than enough of anything, and, since this in very many cases indicates a lack either of judgment or of self-control, the word is used frequently in an unfavorable sense. Careless expenditure in excess of income is extravagance; we may have also extravagance of language, professions, etc.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- surplus Thanks to exports, the trade surplus is maintained.
- overabundance I read the article "An Overabundance of Low-density Neptune-like Planets."
- surfeit A surfeit of alternatives leads to a bad choice.
- extravagance His extravagance is out of proportion to his wage.
- balance The balance at the bank stands at two million yen.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| excess | falling | |
| surplus | falling | |
| overabundance | rising | |
| surfeit | steady | |
| superfluity | steady | |
| extravagance | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- fat1
- 4 letters
- plus1, glut1
- 5 letters
- extra2, spare1
- 6 letters
- offcut
- 7 letters
- balance2, surplus2, residue3, surfeit2, nimiety
- 8 letters
- overflow3, plethora3, unneeded3, overplus
- 9 letters
- remainder3, abundance3, redundant3, overdoing4, profusion3
- 10 letters
- deductible4, redundancy4, exuberance4, debauchery4, oversupply4, surplusage, crapulence
- 11 letters
- unnecessary5, superfluous3, dissipation4, superfluity, prodigality, exorbitance
- 12 letters
- incontinence4, extravagance4, intemperance, immoderation
- 13 letters
- overabundance5, supernumerary, excessiveness, dissoluteness
- 14 letters
- overindulgence, superabundance, supererogatory, inordinateness, supererogation, prodigiousness
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (extra2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- excès
- Italiano
- eccesso
- Español
- exceso
- Deutsch
- Ausschreitung