Meaning & use
superfluously
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Meaning
adverbnot comparable
In a way that goes beyond what is needed, so that the extra part adds nothing useful.
Grammar: Sits before an adjective or verb: superfluously long, superfluously repeated.
Patterns
- superfluously + adjective
- superfluously + past participle
The manual superfluously repeats every warning on three separate pages.
He superfluously thanked everyone twice before sitting down.
The logo was superfluously large for such a small business card.
Common combinations
- superfluously long
- The email was superfluously long for a simple yes-or-no question.
- superfluously add
- Don't superfluously add extra steps to a recipe that already works.
- superfluously detailed
- The report was superfluously detailed about the office's coffee machine.
- repeat superfluously
- Teachers sometimes repeat instructions superfluously when students have already understood.
- superfluously decorated
- The room was superfluously decorated with cushions nobody ever used.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unnecessarily
- Unnecessarily is the everyday word and works in any register, while superfluously sounds more formal and stresses that something extra is useless.
- needlessly
- Needlessly often implies avoidable effort or harm, such as needlessly worrying, whereas superfluously focuses on surplus material.
- redundantly
- Redundantly suggests that something duplicates what is already there, while superfluously only says it is more than required.
- excessively
- Excessively points to too great an amount, not to something being useless.
Opposites
Word family
- superfluous adjective
- more than is needed
- superfluity noun
- an excessive amount of something
- superfluousness noun
- the quality of being unnecessary
Commonly confused: superfluously or superficially?
superfluously vs superficially
Superficially means on the surface only, not deeply. Superfluously means beyond what is needed.
Practice
The editor deleted the sentence because it superfluously repeated the point made in the previous paragraph. What does 'superfluously' tell us?
Choose one answer.
Superfluously means in a way that adds more than needed, so the repeated point was unnecessary. 'Only on the surface' describes superficially, a tempting but different word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “superfluously”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.