How to pinpoint (and avoid) pleonasm

What is pleonasm?

The definition of pleonasm is “using more words than necessary.” In other words, if you’re speaking or writing in a way that’s redundant, you’re falling victim to pleonasm. The word “pleonasm” comes from the Greek verb “pleonazein,” which means “to be excessive.”¹

Examples of pleonasm

Use these sentences to help you understand pleonasm.

• Let’s cooperate together to finish this project.

In this sentence, the pleonasm is “cooperate together.” “Cooperation” already means working together with other people.

• Please prepay for your tickets in advance.

In this case, “in advance” is the pleonasm. If you ask someone to prepay for tickets, you’re asking them to buy them beforehand, making “in advance” unnecessary.

• They heard it with their own ears.

To hear something, you have to use your ears, making this common phrase a pleonasm.

• My cat likes the tuna fish-flavored treats.

In this sentence, “fish” is the pleonasm, since “tuna” is a type of fish. The use of the word “fish” is redundant and unnecessary.

• My dad purchased an exact replica of the Declaration of Independence.

Since a replica is a carbon copy of something, calling it an “exact replica” is redundant.

• The new company policies caused a mass exodus of employees.

The word “exodus” already means that a large number of people are leaving a place or situation, making “mass exodus” a pleonasm.

• Her visit was an unexpected surprise.

“Unexpected surprise” is a pleonasm. Something unexpected had to happen in order to be surprised, making “unexpected surprise” a pleonasm.

• The burning fire destroyed the home in minutes.

Fires are always burning—if they’re not burning, then there’s no fire. Therefore, “burning fire” is a pleonasm.

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Why do writers use pleonasms?

Writers may use pleonasm in order to emphasize their point. They may also use pleonasm in an attempt to make their writing more vivid and descriptive. Sometimes, pleonasms are made by mistake when the writer isn’t thinking carefully enough about what they’re writing. Lots of writers use pleonasms without realizing it, and now that you know what a pleonasm is, you may start to notice it in your writing and the writing of others.

How to avoid pleonasm in your writing

Since pleonasms are redundant, they should be avoided in your writing. The best way to avoid pleonasms is to carefully proofread your work before submitting or publishing it. Carefully consider each word choice in every sentence to make sure that your work isn’t repetitive. Here are some more editing tips:

• Read your work out loud. Reading what you’ve written out loud is a great way to spot pleonasms. When you read your work out loud, you pay more attention to how the sentences sound, allowing you to uncover pleonasms with ease.
• Focus on one problem at a time. Read your work for typos and other grammatical errors first, then focus on looking for pleonasms in your second proofreading round. When you focus solely on looking for pleonasms, they’ll be easier to spot.
• Try Microsoft Editor. Microsoft Editor is a free grammar and spellcheck extension that you can add to your browser. It provides recommendations on how you can make your online writing more concise, so if you write something like “a burning fire,” it’ll underline the text and provide an updated suggestion for you.

Now that you know what pleonasms are, you can try to avoid them in your writing. Next, refine your writing by learning about lexical ambiguity.

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