多余 (duō yú) is an adjective meaning 'superfluous' or 'redundant'—describing something that exists beyond what is necessary, useful, or wanted. The character 多 means 'many' or 'excess', and 余 means 'remaining' or 'leftover'; together, they convey the idea of 'what remains after necessity is met'—hence, unnecessary surplus. It’s commonly used to describe objects, information, people in a given context, or even abstract elements like words in a sentence or steps in a process.

This word carries a neutral-to-slightly-negative connotation; it implies inefficiency or lack of purpose rather than mere abundance. It often appears in critiques of bureaucracy, over-engineering, or verbose communication. While it can modify nouns directly (e.g., 多余的步骤), it frequently follows 是 (shì) in predicate constructions (e.g., 这是多余的). It does not function as a noun on its own—unlike English 'the redundant', Chinese requires a noun or measure word for nominal use (e.g., 多余的东西).