7 Redundant Adjectives

7 Redundant Adjectives 7 Redundant Adjectives 7 Redundant Adjectives By Maeve Maddox Redundancies abound in everyday speech: phrases that say the same thing twice. For example, two of the most common expressions that include a redundant adjective are â€Å"free gift† and â€Å"closed fist†: Credit cards  offer free gifts  to new cardholders.   Still she came at me, so this time I  hit her with a closed fist. 1. free gift A gift is a thing given willingly to someone without payment. The adjective free is redundant. 2. closed fist A fist is by definition a hand with the fingers folded inward toward the palm and held there tightly, typically in order to strike a blow or grasp something. The adjective closed is redundant. 3. verdant green The adjective verdant derives from a Latin word meaning â€Å"green.† Verdant came into English from a French word meaning â€Å"becoming green.† The English meaning of verdant is â€Å"green† or â€Å"green with vegetation.† An enthusiastic fertilizer manufacturer advertises a product that will provide the consumer with â€Å"a verdant green lawn.† Either verdant or green will do. 4. rubicund red The adjective rubicund derives from a Latin verb meaning, â€Å"to be red.† Something that is rubicund is red or reddish. This description from fan fiction can do without one of the adjectives: â€Å"Drawing rivulets of blood, his fingertips glowed a rubicund red.† 5. overused clichà © The blogger who wrote this sentence could have saved an adjective: â€Å"The overused clichà © I hate the most is ‘off the beaten path.’† In reference to language, a clichà © is an overused expression. 6. unexpected surprise A surprise is an unexpected occurrence. The phrase is not uncommon on the Ngram Viewer, and is frequent online: An  unexpected surprise  greeted us upon our  arrival  home. Life is full of unexpected surprises. A foreigner in the dining hall was an  unexpected surprise. As â€Å"unexpectedness† is part of the definition, it’s enough to say that something is a surprise. 7. universal panacea Panacea derives from a Greek word meaning, â€Å"cure-all† and is defined in English as â€Å"a universal remedy.† Because panacea contains the meaning universal, it’s not necessary to tack universal onto it, as in this sentence written by a journalist: â€Å"When Henry Grady was inviting Northern capital South, we were much more certain that industrialization was the universal panacea for all economic and social ills.† Panacea is sufficient. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:35 Synonyms for â€Å"Look†Email EtiquetteTypes of Plots