redundancy
noun
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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
Examples of redundancy in a Sentence
Chris Quintana, USA TODAY, 29 Mar. 2024
Many firms have no room for error or redundancy and thus hire the person best for the position.
—Sue Biglieri, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
To minimize the potential of ships bringing down bridges, bridges need to be built with what are known as redundancies— protections around bridges’ danger points.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 30 Mar. 2024
Some of the crucial layers of redundancies that are supposed to ensure that Boeing’s planes are safe appear to be strained, the people said.
—Santul Nerkar, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
Focus On The Soft Assets Evaluating the soft assets of a deal, such as company culture and synergies, role redundancies and other employee- and client-centric concerns, is mission-critical in any acquisition.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024
Lowe can senses when the film might grow tiresome when Agnes is stuck in a self-defeating cycle, apt to throw in a particularly sadistic flourish into the mix any time a feeling of redundancy could set in.
—Stephen Saito, Variety, 16 Mar. 2024
While perhaps nobody is more directly impacted by the move than Davis, the incumbent third baseman who now is a bit of a redundancy with Wilmer Flores already on the roster as a right-handed hitting reserve corner infielder, adding a player of Chapman’s caliber carries larger implications.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 2 Mar. 2024
Multiple fans add a level of redundancy if one system fails, and there will be a ballistic parachute for a total failure.
—Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 1 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'redundancy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
1601, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Dictionary Entries Near redundancy
Cite this Entry
“Redundancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redundancy. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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redundancy
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on redundancy
Nglish: Translation of redundancy for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of redundancy for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about redundancy
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