Redundancy
rɪˈdʌndənsi
Definitions
2 meaningsThe state of being unnecessary or no longer needed, often due to changes in circumstances or the availability of alternatives.
rɪˈdʌndənsi
The state of being not or no longer needed or useful; superfluous.
The new software made several departments' tasks redundant.
💡 Simply: Imagine you have a bunch of pencils, but you only need one. All the extra ones are redundant – they're not needed! Just like when a company has too many employees and has to let some go.
👶 For kids: It's like having too much of something so you don't need it anymore.
More Examples
Faced with falling sales, the company announced a series of redundancies.
To ensure data integrity, we implemented system redundancy.
The report was filled with redundant information.
How It's Used
"The company announced staff redundancies due to financial difficulties."
"Data redundancy is crucial for backup systems."
The unnecessary repetition of information or words; superfluity.
rɪˈdʌndənsi
The state of being repeated or unnecessary; superfluous.
The lawyer edited the document to remove any redundancy.
💡 Simply: When you say the same thing over and over without adding anything new, that’s redundancy. It's like repeating yourself when you've already made your point.
👶 For kids: Saying the same thing twice when you only need to say it once.
More Examples
The report was criticized for its redundancy.
The presentation was long and full of redundancy.
Eliminating redundancy is an important part of writing concisely.
How It's Used
"The author's prose suffered from redundancy in its descriptions."
"The sentence contained several redundancies that made it difficult to understand."
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
Antonyms
Idioms & expressions
Making redundant
To eliminate something or someone because it is no longer necessary or useful.
"Automation is making some human jobs redundant."
From Latin redundans, present participle of redundare 'to overflow, be excessive,' from re- 'again' + undare 'to surge, flow'.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, 'redundancy' was often used in a religious context to describe excessive rhetoric or repetitions in sermons. It later gained prominence in business and employment contexts in the 20th century.
Memory tip
Think of a surplus of ducks – too many, therefore redundant. The 'd' in Redundant and Ducks helps you remember.
Word Origin
"to overflow, be excessive"