unnecessarily

comparative more unnecessarily · superlative most unnecessarily

1. In an unnecessary way; not by necessity.

   He unnecessarily repeated much of what others had covered.

   4 more examples

   There be […] lords that can prate As amply and unnecessarily As this Gonzalo;

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]

   Pray let not any-body unnecessarily be acquainted with this shocking affair;

   1753, Samuel Richardson, The History of Sir Charles Grandison, London, Volume 1, Letter 33, p. 235

   “Wait a moment,” said he, quite unnecessarily, for she could not have stirred;

   1864 August – 1866 January, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, “A Crisis”, in Wives and Daughters. An Every-day Story. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1866, →OCLC, pages 113-114

   […] they made good laws and kept the peace and saved good trees from being unnecessarily cut down,

   1950, C. S. Lewis, chapter 17, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, New York: Macmillan

   Synonyms: needlessly, pointlessly, uselessly, for no reason

2. To an extent beyond what is needed.

   The food provided was unnecessarily generous, especially for an event meant to raise money for the hungry.

   5 more examples

   In the days of their [the Roman armies’] grandeur, when no enemy appeared capable of opposing them, their heavy armour was laid aside as unnecessarily burdensome, their laborious exercises were neglected as unnecessarily toilsome.

   1776, Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, Volume 2, Book 5, Part 1, pp. 307-308

   His absence was unnecessarily long.

   1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XI, in Mansfield Park: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 245

   About the turn of the century, the company had several ambitious and costly plans in hand—including direct lines to the West Country, South Wales and Birmingham—and so had no wish to incur additional expenditure unnecessarily.

   1957 September 28, E. W. P. Veale, “The Marlow & Henley Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 656

   […] it seemed that she used his name unnecessarily often,

   2007, Alan Bennett, The Uncommon Reader, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, published 2008, page 28

   The pregame crew then showed a pair of faux-Super Bowl ads, including an unnecessarily woke Cheez-It commercial and a Papa John’s ad that fully embraces Pizzagaters.

   2021 February 7, Daniel Kreps, “Watch ‘Saturday Night Live’ Skewer Super Bowl Sunday”, in Rolling Stone, archived from the original on 07 Aug 2022

   Synonyms: unduly