adj · academic
superfluous
UK/suːˈpɜːflʊəs/US/suːˈpɜːrflo͞oəs/su·PER·flu·ous
unnecessary, especially through being more than enough
Examples
“Cut any superfluous words from your essay to make the argument clearer.”
“The final paragraph felt superfluous and was removed.”
“Avoid superfluous detail in the introduction.”
Band 8 sentence
“In concise academic writing, any superfluous explanation should be omitted to maintain clarity.”
Collocations
- superfluous detail
- superfluous words
- be superfluous
Word family
Common mistakes
There were many superfluous informations in the report.→There was much superfluous information in the report.
The comment was superfluously and unhelpful.→The comment was superfluous and unhelpful.
Say it for a higher band
5unnecessary→6redundant→7+superfluous
Synonyms
unnecessary
redundant
Easily confused
redundant
“The final paragraph was redundant and repeated earlier points.”
Related words
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In -ous
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