pleonasm

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Note he won’t shout loudly – that’s known as a pleonasm, when more words than necessary are used.

From The Guardian • Apr. 29, 2019

The phrase 'think for one's self' is a pleonasm.

From Time Magazine Archive

The preceding examples illustrate an apparent paradox, viz., the fact of pleonasm and ellipsis being closely allied.

From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)

To lean is a neuter verb, and 'seizing on' is not properly to be called a pleonasm, merely because it is—nothing at all.

From International Weekly Miscellany - Volume 1, No. 6, August 5, 1850 by Various

If we say the full phrase is, "All things whatsoever he doeth, shall prosper;" this presents, to an English ear, a still more obvious pleonasm.

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold