adjective
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exceeding what is sufficient or required
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not necessary or relevant; uncalled-for
-
obsolete extravagant in expenditure or oversupplied with possessions
Other Word Forms
- superfluously adverb
- superfluousness noun
- unsuperfluous adjective
- unsuperfluously adverb
- unsuperfluousness noun
Etymology
Origin of superfluous
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin superfluus, from super- super- + flu- (stem of fluere “to flow”) + -us -ous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Everything in the cabin, whether or not it made it into the final movie, was used and touched. There was nothing superfluous, really.”
From Los Angeles Times
That final scene seems superfluous, but as for the rest of the movie: Its audacious energy is more apparent than ever.
This provoked yelps from technocrats who said it was impractical and superfluous.
Maybe a few of the how-to asides are superfluous; I really didn’t need a lesson on how to gift wrap books.
From Salon
Back in the winter, when some corners of the sport were bemoaning their heavy spending, they were imagining a world in which they’d actually be able to sell superfluous pieces.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
