Does Your Writing Contain Redundant Words?

A redundant word is one that’s not necessary for the transmission of a thought, which is the purpose of effective communication.

Redundancy

People sometimes use a redundant word to try to emphasize or strengthen a point, but they can often clutter and dilute a sentence and cause it to lose direction and power. Redundant words usually repeat an adjacent word and the writer ends of saying the same thing twice.

Example: I live in a small little house. So, among all little houses, there are small ones, medium size ones and large ones. I live in the small size little house. What the writer is actually trying to convey is that he or she lives in a very small house, which would be the better way to write the sentence.

Here are some other redundant words and phrases (in alphabetical order). The redundant word is in italics.

absolutely certain / essential / guaranteed / necessary / sure
actual fact / experience
advance planning / preview / reservations / warning
add up — Is there an add down?
alternative choice
basic
necessities
best ever
but
/ as of yet
change out
collaborate / cooperate together
combine / mix together
compete with each other
completely
annihilate / destroy / eliminate / fill / finish / opposite / surround
connect up
connect / fuse / integrate / join / merge / splice together
cool down — Can one cool up?
desirable benefits
empty out
end
result
fall down — Can one fall up?
false pretense
few in number
final
conclusion / end / outcome
free gift
free / order up
future
plans
gather / meet together
heat up — Can one heat down?
hurry / speed up — Can one hurry down?
Inside / outside of
joint
collaboration
lift up—Can one lift down?
might possibly
natural
instinct
never before
off of
old
adage/ cliché / custom / proverb
open up — Can one open down?
or either
originally
created
past experience / history / memory / record
plan ahead
postpone until later
protest against
reason why
red / green / blue (any shade) in color
refer back
regular
routine
reinvest back into
round (square, etc.) in shape
same exact / identical
share together
shut down — Can one shut up? Uh, skip this one!
skip over
small size
start off / out
sudden
impulse
sum total
tall skyscraper
therapeutic treatment
these / those ones
totally
spectacular
true facts
tuna fish
unexpected
surprise
usual custom
usually, I’m always (something) — Which is it, usually or always?
very / somewhat unique
warm up — Can one warm down?
whether or not
write down

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