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 twenty-third 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.

The Answers Are in the Definitions

It’s time to remove and cross out those needless redundancies.

In most cases, you should recognize the superfluous words when you scrutinize the definitions provided with each edit.

And maybe your muse will find story ideas among the changes and suggestions.

Can You Find Every Redundant Word or Phrase?

1. She rinsed off her sticky fingers and dried them off with a paper towel.
2. A burning fire of vengeance filled his soul.
3. She was the older of the two twins.
4. Following next, you will see more examples of redundancies, also known as pleonasms.
5. With hopeful optimism and a smile on his face, he opened the door.
6. The promontory protruded out into the ocean.
7. She witnessed the abduction with her very own eyes.
8. He grabbed hold of her hand and refused to let it go.
9. He was caught in the process of snitching the cookies.
10. It cost a lot of money to build the new hospital.

Suggested Edits

Edit #1:  She rinsed off her sticky fingers and dried them off with a paper towel.

rinse: wash off (soap, dirt, etc.)

dry: wipe moisture off something; make something become dry

Alternate wording: She [decontaminated, disinfected, sterilized] her [bony, diseased, putrescent] fingers and [painted, smeared, sprinkled] them with [honey, rat poison, the victims’ blood].

Edit #2: A burning fire of vengeance filled his soul.

fire: light and heat and especially the flame produced by burning; combustion; burning

Alternate wording: The [hunger for retribution, lust for revenge, resolve for retaliation] consumed him.

Edit #3: She was the older of the two twins.

twin: one of two humans or animals born during the same birth

Alternate wording: She [was born at 12:59 in 2021 and her sister at 1:03 in 2022, never let her younger twin forget who was born first].

Edit #4: Following next, you will see more examples of redundancies, also known as pleonasms.

following: what comes next; next in time

Alternate wording: Check these [additional, extra] examples of redundancies.

Edit #5: With hopeful optimism and a smile on his face, he opened the door.

optimism: confident hopefulness about the successful outcome of something

smile: a pleased expression on one’s face, in which the ends of the mouth curve up

Alternate wording: He checked the peephole, flung the door open, and [bear-hugged his buddy, embraced his mother, high-fived his co-conspirator].

Edit #6: The promontory protruded out into the ocean.

protrude: jut out; stick out

Alternate wording: The promontory [changed shape with the tides, provided harbor for a colony of penguins, sheltered a ramshackle fishing cabin].

Edit #7: She witnessed the abduction with her very own eyes.

witness: to see for oneself

see: to perceive with the eyes

Alternate wording: She corroborated [her assertion that the abductor was (an alien, a Bigfoot, a giant ape), the accounts of all witnesses, the identity of the abductor].

Edit #8: He grabbed hold of her hand and refused to let it go.

grab: take hold of

Alternate wording: He [clutched, grasped, seized] her hand [with an iron grip, in a vise-like grip] and refused to let it go.

Edit #9: He was caught in the process of snitching the cookies.

-ing: a suffix to indicate the process of or action of

Alternate wording: His [boss, daughter, lawyer] caught him [snitching a ream of paper, sneaking into the pantry, embezzling the books].

Edit #10: It cost a lot of money to build the new hospital.

cost: require the payment of money

Cost can also refer to nouns such as effort, for example, but the context of this example makes it clear that money is involved.

Some editors would also recommend deletion of new, although if the hospital is a replacement for one that already exists, new should stay in place.

Alternate wording: The (new) [bomb shelter, cryogenics center, launchpad] required [financing that would take two centuries to repay, a fortune in cryptocurrency, more money than its investors could provide].

Master List of Redundancy Quizzes for Writers