Meanings
comparative more supererogatory · superlative most supererogatory
- Pertaining to supererogation; doing more than is required.
It is, for example, not clear whether “love thy enemy” is a precept or a supererogatory counsel.
2002, David Heyd, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy3 more examples
They passed into the ancient shipyard which lay beyond, and which was now a mere vague, grass-grown approach to the waterside, bestrewn with a few remnants of supererogatory timber.
1885–1886, Henry James, The Bostonians […], London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 16 February 1886, →OCLC"In now you come," she ordered, "and we make love." That seemed supererogatory to David Jones, who, under the gaze of the painted deer, got in there and did as he was told.
1989, Anthony Burgess, “Un”, in Any Old Iron, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Washington Square Press, Pocket Books, 1990, →ISBN, page 20It [capitalism] increasingly deploys not just bureaucratic repression but an invested, overt, supererogatory sadism.
2022, China Miéville, chapter 6, in A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto, →OCLC - CatholicismOf a deed or action, morally benevolent and exceeding the strict requirement of God.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivemore than is needed, desired, or required
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinsuperērogātōrius“supererogatory”
- Englishsupererogatory
From Latin superērogātōrius (“supererogatory”), from superērogātiō (“payment in addition”), from superērogō (“pay out over and above”), from super (“above”) + ērogō (“pay out, expend”); from ex (“out of, from”) + rogō (“ask; request”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch zonder verplichting, overdadig
- zonder verplichtingdoing more than is required
- overdadigdoing more than is required
French surérogatoire
- surérogatoiredoing more than is required
German übergebührlich
- übergebührlichdoing more than is required
Greek περιττός, πέραν του δέοντος
- περιττός (perittós)doing more than is required
- πέραν του δέοντος (péran tou déontos)doing more than is required
Italian supererogatorio
- supererogatoriodoing more than is required
Latin superērogātōrius
- superērogātōriusdoing more than is required
Portuguese supererrogativo, supererrogatório
- supererrogativodoing more than is required
- supererrogatóriodoing more than is required
Spanish supererogatorio
- supererogatoriodoing more than is required
Cite this entry
supererogatory. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supererogatory
“supererogatory.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supererogatory. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “supererogatory,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supererogatory.
Source: supererogatory on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.