What Are Redundancies?

These nuisances are superfluous words or phrases also known as pleonasms. Rather than augment writing, they slow action scenes and increase word count — without adding constructive details.

About The Quiz

This quiz, the tenth in its series, offers ten sentences containing redundancies, and ten suggested solutions.

They are edited examples from books, news media, television shows, and overheard conversations.

Can You Find Every Redundant Word or Phrase?

1. The archers completely annihilated the enemy.
2. The consequences were blatantly obvious.
3. She writes fiction novels.
4. Bellbottoms were a temporary fad of the 1960s and 70s.
5. At the bottom of the invitation he wrote, “Please RSVP.”
6. He considered his girlfriend’s apartment a safe haven from the worries of his job.
7. She acted on a sudden impulse and dialed his number.
8. He insisted that a speedy reply was absolutely essential.
9. She spoke quite frankly about her hopes and aspirations.
10. We intend to wait for the results before we make a final decision.

Suggested Edits

Edit #1: The archers completely annihilated the enemy.

completely: to the greatest possible extent or degree

annihilate: destroy completely; obliterate

As worded, the sentence could be construed as: The archers completely destroyed completely the enemy.

Did I completely annihilate any doubt about the redundancy?

If you don’t like the alliteration of archers annihilated, try an alternative:

The archers [crushed, destroyed, obliterated, wiped out] the enemy.

Edit #2: The consequences were blatantly obvious.

blatantly: obviously or intentionally

Paraphrased: The consequences were obviously obvious.

Alternate wording: The [ramifications, repercussions] were [inevitable, undeniable, unequivocal].

Edit #3: She writes fiction novels.

novel: fictitious book-length narrative

Although fiction in this case is redundant, the following instances would be valid.

She writes science fiction novels.

She writes speculative fiction novels.

She writes historical fiction novels.

She writes literary fiction novels.

Deleting novels from the previous four sentences would satisfy most situations, unless, perhaps, the person writes poetry or short stories.

Edit #4: Bellbottoms were a temporary fad of the 1960s and 70s.

fad: a temporary activity, style, product, etc., embraced with zeal

Would this make sense? Bellbottoms were a temporary temporary style of the 1960s and 70s.

Alternate wording: Bellbottoms were a [craze, fashion trend, novelty] of the 1960s and 70s.

It’s ironic, perhaps, that bellbottoms have returned to the fashion scene. Celebrities such as Victoria Beckham are wearing them. Can we still call them a fad?

Edit #5: At the bottom of the invitation he wrote, “Please RSVP.”

RSVP: respond, if you please (répondez s’il vous plaît in French)

The acronym already contains please.

Perhaps invitations should scrap RSVP and replace it with Please respond by [date].

Edit #6: He considered his girlfriend’s apartment a safe haven from the worries of his job.

haven: a place of safety; refuge

The definition shows that safe is a superfluous word.

Alternate wording: He considered his girlfriend’s apartment [an escape, a respite, a retreat, a vacation] from the worries of his job.

Edit #7: She acted on a sudden impulse and dialed his number.

impulse: a sudden urge or desire to do something

Note that no indefinite article is required before impulse.

Alternate wording: Without [deliberation, forethought, thinking] she dialed his number.

Edit #8: He insisted that a speedy reply was absolutely essential.

essential: absolutely necessary

Whenever you see an adverb like absolutely, stop for a moment. Can you find a better alternative?

Alternate wording: He insisted that [an immediate, a prompt] reply was [crucial, imperative, necessary, vital].

Edit #9: She spoke quite frankly about her hopes and aspirations.

frankly: in an unmistakably evident manner

quite: very; completely; entirely

If something is unmistakably evident, can it be very, completely, or entirely unmistakably evident?

aspiration: a strong hope or ambition of achieving a goal

Alternate wording: She [announced, declared, proclaimed] her [ambitions, goals, objectives].

Edit #10: We intend to wait for the results before we make a final decision.

decision: a conclusion or resolution made after considering various possibilities

A decision is a specific action. It’s conclusive, and by definition final.

Alternate wording: We will await the results before we [act, choose, decide, proceed].

How Did You Do?

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