Word
unnecessarily
Phoneticsun·nec·es·sar·i·ly
US/ənˈnɛsəˌsɛɹəɫi/
UK/ʌnnˌɛsɪsˈɛɹəli/
Definitions
01without need
adv. in a way that is not needed or has no good reason.
adv. in a manner that lacks necessity or justification; performed without a compelling reason.
“The movie was unnecessarily long and could have been thirty minutes shorter.”
“The manager was unnecessarily rude to the new staff, which created a tense atmosphere in the office for the rest of the day.”
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02to an excessive degree
adv. more than is needed or more than is normal.
adv. to an extent that exceeds what is required, useful, or appropriate.
“The instructions for the game were unnecessarily complicated.”
“The legal document was written in unnecessarily dense language, making it difficult for the average person to understand their rights.”
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Real-World Examples
“But advertisements where AI is used unnecessarily, such as creating animation that could be made by human designers, can leave consumers feeling upset or unnerved.” “Do schools demand an unnecessarily narrow range of behaviour from children?” Etymology
From unnecessary + -ly or un- + necessarily.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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englishreference.com/q/unnecessarily