redundancy

noun

re·​dun·​dan·​cy ri-ˈdən-dən(t)-sē 

plural redundancies

1

a

: the quality or state of being redundant : superfluity

b

: the use of redundant components

also : such components

c

chiefly British : dismissal from a job especially by layoff

2

: profusion, abundance

3

a

: superfluous repetition : prolixity

b

: an act or instance of needless repetition

4

: the part of a message that can be eliminated without loss of essential information

Did you know?

Redundancy, closely related to redound, has stayed close to the original meaning of "overflow" or "more than necessary". Avoiding redundancy is one of the prime rules of good writing. ""In the modern world of today" contains a redundancy; so does "He died of fatal wounds" and "For the mutual benefit of both parties". But redundancy doesn't just occur in language. "Data redundancy" means keeping the same computer data in more than one place as a safety measure, and a backup system in an airplane may provide redundancy, again for the sake of safety.

Synonyms of redundancy

• repetition
• repetitiveness
• verbosity
• wordiness
• prolixity
• diffusion
• diffuseness
• wordage
• logorrhea
• circumlocution

Examples of redundancy in a Sentence

Avoid redundancy in your writing.

Try to avoid using redundancies in your writing.

The design incorporates several redundancies.

a system with a high level of redundancy

The restructuring is expected to result in the redundancy of several hundred workers.

The workers are now facing redundancy.

Recent Examples on the Web

According to the release, the removal of the citation addressed a legal redundancy in the bill’s language. — Sofia Williams, Sacbee.com, 21 Aug. 2026

When pressed further on the potential redundancy of Allen and Downs in particular, since both have thrived in the slot, Steichen again pushed back on any issues. — James Boyd, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026

Then three experienced operations managers took redundancy, and within weeks, the system missed a supplier disruption that any one of them would have caught with a single phone call. — Mohamed Khater, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026

Instead, disaster resilience depends on redundancy – having backup sources of the same information that don’t require electricity or a cellphone connection to see. — Lee Ann Rawlins Williams, The Conversation, 17 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1601, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

redundancy

noun

re·​dun·​dan·​cy ri-ˈdən-dən-sē 

plural redundancies

1

: the quality or state of being redundant

2

a

: the use of unnecessary words

b

: an act or instance of needless repetition