mindmap
root((SUPER))
superfluous
Beyond what is needed; extra.
🌱My Freshman Comp professor removes all superfluous words from our essays, and usually ends up shortening mine by about 40 percent. 🌳Since the Latin *fluere* means "to flow" （See FLU,） you can think of *superfluous* as describing a river with so much water that it's overflowing its banks. The word is used in all kinds of contexts. Superfluous characters in computer code may keep it from working. Most of the buttons on a remote control may strike us as superfluous, since we never use them. When a situation "speaks for itself," any comment may be superfluous. And whenever you yourself are feeling superfluous, as in a "Two's company, three's a crowd" situation, it's probably time to leave. insuperable Incapable of being solved or overcome.
🌱In learning to speak again after suffering a massive stroke, he had overcome what seemed like insuperable odds. 🌳From its roots, the literal meaning of *insuperable* would be something like "un-get-overable"; *insurmountable* is a fairly exact synonym. *Insuperable* is used to describe obstacles, difficulties, barriers, obstructions, problems, and objections. Americans love stories of people who succeed in spite of terrible handicaps, whether as a result of physical limitations, prejudice, poverty, or lack of opportunity; such rugged spirits may be called *indomitable*, "incapable of being subdued." supersede To take the place of; to replace with something newer or more useful.
🌱The notorious decision in the Dred Scott case was superseded by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which stated that anyone born in the U.S. had all the rights of a citizen. 🌳The Latin word *supersedere* means "sit on top of"—which is one way of taking someone else's place. Your boss may send around a memo that supersedes the memo she sent the day before （the one with all the errors in it）. Every time the first-class postage rate goes up, the new stamps supersede the old ones. In science, a new theory often supersedes an older one; for example, the theory that a characteristic you acquire during your lifetime can be passed on biologically to your children （called *Lamarckism*） was superseded by Darwin's theory of evolution. Watch out when spelling this word; *supersede* is practically the only English word that ends in *-sede*. superlative Supreme, excellent.
🌱The new restaurant turned out to be an elegant place, and we all agreed that the food and wine were superlative. 🌳*Superlative* may sound high-flown when compared with a synonym like *outstanding*, but if your next paper comes back from your teacher with the comment "Superlative work!" at the top you probably won't complain. Since *superlative* means "best, greatest," it makes sense that *superlative* is also a term used in grammar for the highest degree of comparison. So for the adjective *simple*, for example, the comparative form is *simpler* and the superlative form is *simplest*; and for the adverb *boldly*, the comparative form is *more boldly* and the superlative is *most boldly*.
🌱My Freshman Comp professor removes all superfluous words from our essays, and usually ends up shortening mine by about 40 percent. 🌳Since the Latin *fluere* means "to flow" （See FLU,） you can think of *superfluous* as describing a river with so much water that it's overflowing its banks. The word is used in all kinds of contexts. Superfluous characters in computer code may keep it from working. Most of the buttons on a remote control may strike us as superfluous, since we never use them. When a situation "speaks for itself," any comment may be superfluous. And whenever you yourself are feeling superfluous, as in a "Two's company, three's a crowd" situation, it's probably time to leave. insuperable Incapable of being solved or overcome.
🌱In learning to speak again after suffering a massive stroke, he had overcome what seemed like insuperable odds. 🌳From its roots, the literal meaning of *insuperable* would be something like "un-get-overable"; *insurmountable* is a fairly exact synonym. *Insuperable* is used to describe obstacles, difficulties, barriers, obstructions, problems, and objections. Americans love stories of people who succeed in spite of terrible handicaps, whether as a result of physical limitations, prejudice, poverty, or lack of opportunity; such rugged spirits may be called *indomitable*, "incapable of being subdued." supersede To take the place of; to replace with something newer or more useful.
🌱The notorious decision in the Dred Scott case was superseded by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which stated that anyone born in the U.S. had all the rights of a citizen. 🌳The Latin word *supersedere* means "sit on top of"—which is one way of taking someone else's place. Your boss may send around a memo that supersedes the memo she sent the day before （the one with all the errors in it）. Every time the first-class postage rate goes up, the new stamps supersede the old ones. In science, a new theory often supersedes an older one; for example, the theory that a characteristic you acquire during your lifetime can be passed on biologically to your children （called *Lamarckism*） was superseded by Darwin's theory of evolution. Watch out when spelling this word; *supersede* is practically the only English word that ends in *-sede*. superlative Supreme, excellent.
🌱The new restaurant turned out to be an elegant place, and we all agreed that the food and wine were superlative. 🌳*Superlative* may sound high-flown when compared with a synonym like *outstanding*, but if your next paper comes back from your teacher with the comment "Superlative work!" at the top you probably won't complain. Since *superlative* means "best, greatest," it makes sense that *superlative* is also a term used in grammar for the highest degree of comparison. So for the adjective *simple*, for example, the comparative form is *simpler* and the superlative form is *simplest*; and for the adverb *boldly*, the comparative form is *more boldly* and the superlative is *most boldly*.
SUPER, a Latin prefix meaning "over, higher, more than," has become one of the most familiar prefixes in English, one of those prefixes that we use to create new words all the time: supermodel, superpowerful, superjock, supersize, supersweet—the list goes on and on. This all seems to have started in 1903 when the playwright G. B. Shaw translated the German word Übermensch, Nietzsche's famous term for the person who rises to heroic heights through discipline and creative power, in the title of his play Man and Superman. The comic-book character with the same name wouldn't make his appearance for another 30 years.🌸