surplus to requirements

phrase

British, formal

: no longer needed

His services had become surplus to requirements.

Examples of surplus to requirements in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Some were related to fringe players or youngsters who were surplus to requirements; others were additions designed to give new manager Pierre Sage a deeper squad. — Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026

Araujo has apparently become surplus to requirements at the Spotify Camp Nou, having fallen behind Gerard Martin and Pau Cubarsi in the center-back pecking order, and Jules Kounde at right-back. — Tom Sanderson, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

Except that, in the last few years, humans have become surplus to requirements. — Nikita Ostrovsky, Time, 10 Sep. 2025

There are still several players, including Antony, Jadon Sancho and Alejandro Garnacho, who are seemingly surplus to requirements at United, as Amorim looks to freshen up a team which has been thrown from one disaster to the next in recent years. — Ben Church, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2025

Rhymes for surplus to requirements

• acquirements
• retirements