Pleonastic

/ˌpliː.əˈnæs.tɪk/

Synonyms for "pleonastic" (43 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Closest matches (9)

Strong matches (13)

Related words (21)

Verb(1 words)
repeated
Adjective(1 words)
verbose

Choosing the right synonym

  • Closest matches in this entry: abundant, copious, de trop, diffuse, dispensable.
  • Sentence evidence is available for pleonastic, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
  • Ranking signals come from derived_reverse, wordnet.

Synonym selection checklist

  • Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
  • Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
  • Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "pleonastic".
  • Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.

When not to replace "pleonastic"

Keep "pleonastic" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.

If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.

Replacement workflow

1. Preserve meaning

Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "pleonastic" intact in the sentence you are editing.

2. Tune tone

Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.

3. Re-read context

Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.

Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.

Final fit check

After choosing a replacement for "pleonastic", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.

If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "pleonastic" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

1 relation types

similar

2 entries

Sample sentences

5 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

A second class of Subject Expressions in English are so-called pleonastic pronouns such as it and there in sentences like: (104) (a) It is raining/It is a long way to Dallas/Itʼs time to leave/It is obvious that youʼre right (104) (b) There must have been some mistake/There walked into the room the most beautiful woman I had ever encountered These Pronouns are called ‘pleonasticʼ (which means ‘redundantʼ) in traditional grammar because (in their ‘pleonasticʼ use, but not in other uses) they are felt to be (in some vague intuitive sense) ‘semantically emptyʼ, and thus cannot have their reference questioned (cf. ^✽What is raining? ^✽Where must have been some mistake?).

Source: wiktionary

1988 [Hutchinson Educational], Anna Laura Lepschy, Giulio C. Lepschy, The Italian Language Today, 2nd Edition, Reprinted 1992, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), page 107, In these sentences finchè may be followed by a non which is called ‘pleonastic’ and does not negate the predicate in the subordinate clause: Ugo aspetta finchè non lo chiamano 'Ugo is waiting until they call him'. When the main clause is negative one must always use the pleonastic non after finchè in the subordinate clause: Ugo non si muove finchè non lo chiamano 'Ugo is not moving until they call him'.

Source: wiktionary

Before undertaking to show the connection which this papyrus seems to establish between an apparently historical king of the IId dynasty and the hero of a romance of the XIXth (an interval of two or three thousand years), I will give an English version of Dr. Brugsch's German translation, condensing somewhat its more pleonastic passages, but preserving its genuine Egyptian features.

Source: wiktionary

1974, Olgierd Wojtasiewicz (translator), Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, Pragmatic Logic, [1965, Logika Pragmatyczna], D. Reidel Publishing Company, PWN-Polish Scientific Publishers, page 44, A characteristic intension of a term unambiguously describes the extension of that term. But a characteristic intension of a term may be pleonastic, i.e., it may contain more properties than it is necessary to define the extension of that term. For instance, the intension of the term "square" consisting of the properties "planeness, quadrilaterality, rectangularity, equilaterality, being inscribable in a circle" would be pleonastic since it would include more properties than it is necessary to describe the extension of the term "square". […] The complete intension always is characteristic and pleonastic. It is the most pleonastic of all those intensions which are characteristic of a given set of objects.

Source: wiktionary

Showing 4 of 5 available sentences.

Common questions

What are the closest synonyms for "pleonastic"?

Closest matches include abundant, copious, de trop, diffuse, dispensable.

How should I check whether a synonym fits "pleonastic"?

Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.

More for "pleonastic"

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