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Compact Oxford Thesaurus for Students

Getting rid of unnecessary words

Getting rid of unnecessary words

Look at the words in bold (heavy) type in the sentences below:

They are constantly working on new innovations in gaming.
He was the younger of the two twins.
The events will start at 11 a.m. on the following dates below.

In each case, one of the two words is unnecessary because it just repeats the meaning that's already contained in the other one. An innovation is defined in the Compact Oxford English Dictionary for Students as 'a new method, idea, or product', so there's no need to use new to describe it. Following means 'coming after', so it's not necessary to say below as well, and as for twins, there can only ever be two of them. This sort of repetition of meaning is known as redundancy or tautology and it's something to beware of when you are writing.

You'll hear or read redundant expressions all the time: people often use them without realizing it. But in academic assignments or job applications every word matters and you should try to be more careful. Developing your understanding of what individual words really mean (using a good dictionary if necessary) will help you to identify redundant expressions and eliminate them from your writing.

Different types of redundant expression

• Groups of words in which an adjective repeats the meaning contained in the word that it's being used to describe, e.g.:



In a moment of hopeful optimism, she jutted her chin out.

The noun optimism means 'a feeling of hopefulness about the future', so there's no need to include the adjective hopeful in the sentence:


In a moment of optimism, she jutted her chin out.


• Expressions that consist of an adverb that repeats the meaning contained in a verb, e.g.:



On her death, the throne reverted back to the next male in the line of succession.


In this case, the verb revert means 'return to a previous situation' which makes the adverb back unnecessary:


On her death, the throne reverted to the next male in the line of succession.


• Groups of different words in which one means exactly the same as another, e.g.:



The fertilizer had no direct fungicidal effect but nevertheless it completely arrested the spread of the fungus.

If you look up nevertheless in a thesaurus, you'll almost certainly find that but is given as a synonym for it: you only need one or the other to get your point across:


The fertilizer had no direct fungicidal effect but it completely arrested the spread of the fungus.

A clear, clutter–free writing style will also avoid the use of clichés, well-worn words or expressions that have been used so often and by so many people that they are quite likely to irritate or annoy a reader.

Help and advice on avoiding clichés