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Glite Dictionary
tautologous

tautologous

9.9
Saying the same thing twice in different words without adding new information
  • adjective
  • /ˌtɔːtəˈlɒɡəs/
translation icon : tautológico
  • His explanation of the procedure was tautologous, repeating what was already clear.

Examples

  • As such, her point appears to be tautologous.

    Academic text (2004)

  • This is not tautologous, for it cannot be said of coffee or orange juice.

    Blog text (7)

  • Islam, he finds, recommends "forsaking marriage between close kin" (he uses the notably tautologous expression "the possessors of close closeness" dhawi al-qurba al-qaribah),

    Academic text (2007)

  • The author's tautologous writing style made the book tedious to read.

  • It seemed tautologous to say that the free gift was given without charge.

Synonyms

duplicative
vstautologous
3 7.0

Doing the same thing again when it is not needed

applies more broadly to copying, not only to repeated wording
tautological
vstautologous
2 8.3

Saying the same thing again using different words

has identical meaning but differs only in the form of expression
tautologic
vstautologous
9.9

Saying the same thing twice in different words

refers to the same needless restating rather than a different error
pleonastic
vstautologous
9.9

Using more words than needed, often repeating the same idea

focuses on extra wording as the source of repetition

Antonyms

concise
37 4.2

Using few words to give important information clearly

succinct
18 6.4

Short and clear, using only a few words

How Redundant

tautologous
9.9
redundant
49 5.1
repetitive
58 3.5

Surface Forms

tautologous positive

Morphology

tautologous = tautology (transparent) = tautology + ous

Standard adjective formation from the noun 'tautology' with '-ous' yields 'characterized by tautology', so the relation is morphologically regular and predictable.

Etymology

Tautologous comes from the Greek parts tauto- meaning 'same' and -logos meaning 'word' or 'reason', the same root you see in logic. So if something is tautologous it simply repeats the same idea in different words and gives no new information.