- 1
Superfluous describes something that is more than you need, so it could be taken away and nothing would be lost. It is a slightly formal word, common in writing, reports, and careful speech.
Superfluous describessuperfluous形容的是 something that is more than you need超出你需要的東西, so it could be taken away and nothing would be lost所以拿掉它也不會有任何損失。It is a slightly formal word它是一個稍微正式的字, common in writing, reports, and careful speech常出現在寫作、報告，還有講究的說話裡
The key idea is not that the thing is bad — it is that it is unnecessary: a superfluous sentence may be perfectly well written, but the paragraph works without it. You will often hear it about words, details, steps, staff, and objects.
The key idea is not that the thing is bad這個字的重點不是這東西不好 — it is that it is unnecessary而是它不必要: a superfluous sentence may be perfectly well written一個superfluous的句子可能寫得非常好, but the paragraph works without it但這段話沒有它也一樣說得通。You will often hear it about words, details, steps, staff, and objects你常常會聽到它被用來形容字句、細節、步驟、人員和物品
Two habits of use are worth knowing. It very often appears in the phrase 'it would be superfluous to say/add…', a polite way of saying 'I don't need to explain this, we both know it'. And it is a favourite word in editing and design, where cutting the superfluous is the whole job.
Two habits of use are worth knowing有兩個常見的用法值得知道。It very often appears in the phrase它很常出現在這個句型裡 'it would be superfluous to say/add…''it would be superfluous to say/add…', a polite way of saying這是一種禮貌的說法 'I don't need to explain this, we both know it'意思是「這個我不用解釋，我們都心知肚明」。And it is a favourite word in editing and design而且它也是編輯和設計特別愛用的字, where cutting the superfluous is the whole job因為砍掉多餘的東西正是那份工作的全部
In everyday talk, many people would just say 'unnecessary' or 'not needed'; superfluous sounds a little more educated, sometimes deliberately so.
In everyday talk在日常對話裡, many people would just say 'unnecessary' or 'not needed'很多人就只會說'unnecessary'或'not needed'; superfluous sounds a little more educatedsuperfluous聽起來比較有學問, sometimes deliberately so有時候是刻意這樣說的
組成Latin super ('above, more than, over') + fluō ('flow') → superfluus, 'overflowing', plus the adjective ending -ous. The literal picture is water flowing over the top of a full cup. English already had a Germanic word for exactly this idea — overflow — which is a piece-by-piece match: super = over, fluere = flow.
同家族的字
- fluidLatin fluere, 'to flow'
- mellifluous'honey-flowing' — same fluere root, used of sweet-sounding voices
- fluentlanguage that flows — fluere again
- superfluitythe noun form of this word
原始詞典資料1 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
superfluousadj/suːˈpɜːflu.əs/
- 1
In excess of what is required or sufficient.
- With a full rain suit, carrying an umbrella may be superfluous.
- Then I began to play in timid fashion, venturing only twenty or thirty gulden at a time. Meanwhile, I observed and took notes. It seemed to me that calculation was superfluous, and by no means possessed of the importance which certain other players attached to it, even though they sat with ruled papers in their hands, whereon they set down the coups, calculated the chances, reckoned, staked, and—lost exactly as we more simple mortals did who played without any reckoning at all.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。