superfluous

WOTD – 5 June 2007    

English

Etymology

From Latin superfluus (“superfluous”), from superfluō (“overflow”), from super (“above, over”) + fluō (“flow”). Compare mellifluous and fluid, also from Latin. Literally corresponds to overflow, which is from Germanic, rather than Latin.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /suːˈpɜːflu.əs/, /sjʊˈpɜːflu.əs/
• (US) IPA: /suːˈpɝːflu.əs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

superfluous (not comparable)

1. In excess of what is required or sufficient.

   With a full rain suit, carrying an umbrella may be superfluous.

Synonyms

• excessive, extraneous, extra, pleonastic, supernumerary, surplus, unnecessary, extravagant

Coordinate terms

• gratuitous

Related terms

• superflux
• superfluity
• mellifluous

Translations

excess of what is sufficient

• Armenian: ավելորդ (hy) (avelord)
• Asturian: superfluu (ast)
• Catalan: superflu (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 多餘 (cmn), 多余 (cmn) (duōyú)

• Czech: zbytečný (cs) m, nadbytečný (cs) m
• Danish: overflødig (da)
• Dutch: overtollig (nl), overdadig (nl), overvloedig (nl)
• Finnish: ylenpalttinen (fi), tarpeeton (fi), ylitsevuotavainen (fi), liiallinen (fi)
• French: superflu (fr)
• Galician: superfluo (gl)
• German: überflüssig (de)
• Hungarian: felesleges (hu)

• Italian: superfluo (it)
• Japanese: 冗長な (ja) (じょうちょうな, jōchō na)
• Latin: supervacuus (la), superfluus (la), supervacāneus (la), superforāneus (la)
• Polish: niepotrzebny m, zbyteczny m, nadmierny m
• Portuguese: supérfluo (pt) m
• Russian: лишний (ru) (líšnij), излишний (ru) (izlíšnij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сувишан (sh) m

  Roman: suvišan (sh) m

• Spanish: superfluo (es) m
• Swedish: överflödig (sv)