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

The key to packing light is zero redundancy, so having a wallet that fit my passport and could double as a cross-body bag was perfect. —Maggie Slepian, Travel + Leisure, 10 Jan. 2026

Safety through advanced technology Safety remains the primary concern for any personal aircraft, and Plaut addresses this through extreme hardware redundancy. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 10 Jan. 2026

The administration also closed two other offices with mandates to protect the public from misconduct—the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman and the Immigration Detention Ombudsman—saying the cuts were necessary to limit redundancy. —Caitlin Dickerson, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2026

There is some positional redundancy, especially considering the number of right-handed hitters on the roster, and the Dodgers could use that as a way to open the door for other offseason moves. —Katie Woo, New York Times, 9 Jan. 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