Synonyms for superfluous
- adjective
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Unnecessary
unnecessary, redundant, extraneous, unneeded, excessive, supernumerary, extra, dispensable, surplus, expendable, spare, excess, expletive, extravagant, adventitious, superabundant, pleonastic, gash, supererogatory, adscititious, supervacuous, supervacaneous dated
Definitions
- adj. 1
In excess of what is required or sufficient.
With a full rain suit, carrying an umbrella may be superfluous.
Example sentences
- unnecessary The facts proved that our worries were unnecessary.
- redundant The company made most of its employees redundant.
- extraneous Love is what matters; everything else is extraneous.
- unneeded Unneeded gifts can be re-gifted.
- useless There's nothing in here but a lot of useless junk.
- needless Needless to say, that's not going to happen today.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| superfluous | steady | |
| unnecessary | falling | |
| redundant | rising | |
| extraneous | falling | |
| unneeded | falling | |
| useless | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- gash1
- 5 letters
- extra2, spare1
- 6 letters
- excess2, wasted2, otiose3
- 7 letters
- useless2, surplus2
- 8 letters
- needless2, unneeded3
- 9 letters
- excessive3, pointless2, redundant3, senseless2, expletive3, escapable
- 10 letters
- expendable4, extraneous4, pleonastic, excrescent
- 11 letters
- unnecessary5, extravagant4, dispensable4, purposeless3
- 12 letters
- adventitious, adscititious, supervacuous
- 13 letters
- supernumerary, superabundant
- 14 letters
- supererogatory, supervacaneous
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (extra2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- superflu
- Italiano
- superfluo
- Español
- superfluo
- Deutsch
- überflüssig