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

• circumlocution
• diffuseness
• diffusion
• garrulity
• garrulousness
• logorrhea
• long-windedness
• periphrasis
• prolixity
• verbalism
• verbiage
• verboseness
• verbosity
• windiness
• wordage
• wordiness

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

Consolidating your tool set can limit redundancy and increase visibility. —Roi Cohen, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025

But the scale, redundancy, and continued growth of China’s information systems capabilities, mobile missile inventory, and underground facilities are likely to make such an objective difficult to achieve. —Andrew S. Lim, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025

In a fact sheet, HHS said CDC's workforce was being reduced by 2,400 people, and that the goal is to streamline divisions within the agency and get rid of redundancies. —Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 15 Apr. 2025

There’s value in that redundancy, as journalists compete with one another in their search for facts, and news junkies value the subtle differences among competing accounts of the same events. —Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2025

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