1. using more words than necessary; redundant
Usage: formal; linguistics

Examples

• The phrase ‘free gift’ is pleonastic since gifts are inherently free.
• His pleonastic writing style made the report unnecessarily long.
• The expression ‘PIN number’ is pleonastic because PIN already means personal identification number.
• She avoided pleonastic phrases to make her speech more effective.
• The editor removed several pleonastic expressions from the manuscript.
• Many common phrases like ‘ATM machine’ are pleonastic but widely accepted.