Definition

Describing something that is unnecessarily repetitive or redundant, often in language or reasoning.

Example

His explanation was tautological, repeating the same idea in different words without adding any new information.

Conversation

I was reading that article, and it felt a bit tautological at times.

Really? What do you mean by that?

It just kept repeating the same ideas over and over without adding anything new.

I hate when things are like that; it makes reading so tedious!

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Tautological → It is formed from "tauto-" (from Greek "tautologos", meaning the same) and "-logical" (from Greek "logikos", meaning pertaining to reason or logic). The word describes a statement that is redundant or repeats the same idea in different words, hence, it is logically the same.

Memory Tip

Think of 'the same' ('tauto-') being related to 'reason' ('logical') — that's why tautological means repeating the same idea.

Visually Confused Words