redundant

[ ri-duhn-duhnt ]
See synonyms for redundant on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. exceeding what is needed or useful; superfluous: You can shorten the article by omitting these redundant paragraphs.I decided that a sixth pair of dress shoes was redundant.

  2. characterized by unnecessary words or repetition; verbose: He writes in a redundant style.

  1. serving or added as a backup; extra: If the latch fails on this backwards-opening car hood, the wind will blow it down rather than up, so a redundant latch is not needed.

  2. having one or more extra or duplicate parts or features: The genetic code is redundant, meaning that more than one codon can map to the same amino acid.

  3. Chiefly British. (of a worker) laid off or unemployed: If the mine were to close, the result would be 183 redundant workers.

  4. Computers.

    • (of code, or of a signal communicating a message) including or encoding more than the required information, so as to provide a fallback, a means of validating data, an accommodation for different platforms, etc.

    • (of network or system components) providing an additional traffic path or storage place for data, so that if one fails, the other can take over or serve as backup.

  5. Engineering.

    • (of a structural member or part) designed to withstand stresses greater than or different from those that can be calculated or predicted.

    • (of a structure) having members or parts designed to withstand stresses that cannot be calculated or predicted.

    • (of a complete truss) having additional members enabling it to withstand loads that are not centered.: Compare complete (def. 8), incomplete (def. 3).

    • (of a device, circuit, etc.) having extra or duplicate parts that can serve as a backup in case other parts malfunction.

  6. Linguistics. including or encoding more information than is necessary for communication: for example, in my three sons, the plural ending "-s" on sons is redundant because three already indicates plurality.

  7. extremely lush or abundant: The jungle, with its exuberant, redundant vegetation, hides bizarre and exotic creatures.

Origin of redundant

1
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin redundant-, stem of redundāns “flowing back, being excessive,” present participle of redundāre “to flow back, overflow, be excessive”; see redound, -ant

synonym study For redundant

2. See wordy.

Other words for redundant

Other words from redundant

  • re·dun·dant·ly, adverb

Words Nearby redundant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use redundant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for redundant

redundant

/ (rɪˈdʌndənt) /


adjective
  1. surplus to requirements; unnecessary or superfluous

  2. verbose or tautological

  1. deprived of one's job because it is no longer necessary for efficient operation: he has been made redundant

  2. (of components, information, etc) duplicated or added as a precaution against failure, error, etc

Origin of redundant

1
C17: from Latin redundans overflowing, from redundāre to run back, stream over; see redound

Derived forms of redundant

  • redundantly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012