- Today's Word
Tautological
taw-tuh-LODGE-ih-kul
Definition
(adjective) Needlessly repetitive; expressing something using different words that add no new meaning.
Example
Saying “free gift” is tautological—gifts are already free.
Fun Fact
While it sounds academic, tautological shows up all over everyday conversation—and advertising. “Added bonus,” “final conclusion,” “completely unanimous”—all examples of tautologies, or statements that repeat themselves. In formal logic, a tautology is always true (like “it will rain or it won’t”), but in writing and speech, it’s often just a filler phrase that adds no substance. Editors, professors, and debate judges hate it because it pretends to sound smart while saying absolutely nothing new.
(adjective) Full of knots; or, figuratively, extremely difficult and complex, with no straightforward solution.
The lawyers spent weeks untangling the knotty language buried deep in the old property deed.