Phrase guide

needless to say

adv · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adv

Meaning 1

Clearly, obviously.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, not-comparable

Examples

  • Having won the championship, he is, needless to say, a very happy man.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: разбира се (razbira se) — obviously
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不言而喻 (bùyán'éryù) — obviously
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不待說 /不待说 (bùdàishuō) — obviously
  • Finnish: sanomattakin selvästi — obviously
  • Finnish: silmin nähden — obviously
  • Finnish: ilmiselvästi — obviously
  • Finnish: sanomattakin lienee selvää — obviously
  • French: cela va sans dire — obviously
  • French: inutile de dire que — obviously
  • French: autant dire que — obviously
  • German: selbstredend — obviously
  • German: selbstverständlich — obviously
  • German: ohne Frage — obviously
  • German: ohne Zweifel — obviously
  • German: zweifellos — obviously
  • German: überflüssig zu erwähnen — obviously
  • German: unnötig zu erwähnen — obviously
  • Hungarian: mondanom se kell — obviously
  • Italian: inutile a dirsi — obviously
  • Japanese: 言うまでもない (iu made mo nai) — obviously
  • Norwegian: selvsagt — obviously
  • Norwegian: selvfølgelig — obviously
  • Polish: rzecz jasna — obviously
  • Polish: jasna rzecz — obviously
  • Polish: wiadomo — obviously
  • Russian: само́ собо́й разуме́ется (samó sobój razuméjetsja) — obviously
  • Spanish: sobreentendidamente — obviously
  • Spanish: subentendidamente — obviously