冗 (rǒng) - superfluous, redundant & excessive

冗Tone 3

rǒng ｜ 4 strokes ｜ radical: 冖

榕儒

冗 · rǒng

superfluous, redundant;

excessive;

busy, occupied with trivialities

superfluous, redundantexcessivebusy, occupied with trivialities

Usage highlights

redundantsuperfluous personneltrivial businessredundant wordslengthy and tedioussuperfluous official

Synonyms

  • 多余— superfluous, extra
  • 繁杂— complicated, miscellaneous
  • 繁琐— tedious, complicated

Antonyms

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • This paragraph is too wordy (冗长).
  • We need to eliminate redundant personnel (冗员).
  • He was busy with miscellaneous affairs (冗务).
  • The meeting was unnecessarily long (冗长的会议).

Collocations

  • redundant(冗长)
  • superfluous personnel(冗员)
  • trivial business(冗务)
  • redundant words(冗词)
  • lengthy and tedious(冗繁)
  • superfluous official(冗官)

Idioms

  • Cut out the superfluous and retain the essential(删冗就简)
  • Lengthy and tedious(冗长乏味)
  • Superfluous officials and excessive troops(冗官冗兵)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Originally meant 'scattered, scattered' in ancient texts, later extended to mean 'superfluous, redundant'.
  • In traditional Chinese bureaucracy, '冗官' referred to excessive officials who consumed resources without contributing effectively.
  • Reflects the Chinese cultural value of conciseness and efficiency in language and administration.

FAQ