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Is there a word or term commonly used to describe the act of stating the obvious (or a person who continually does so)?

He constantly states the obvious, he is such a __.

She is always ___ing.

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3  
I was going to say 'duh' ... – Robusto Feb 2 '11 at 19:40
I am familiar with many of the responses to someone stating the obvious, most of which are not meant to be kind: "Duh," "No duh," "No shit," "No shit, Sherlock," and others. – JYelton Feb 2 '11 at 20:01
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Sorry to state the obvious, but for the verb form, what is wrong with “She is always stating the obvious?” :-P – PLL Feb 2 '11 at 20:51
@PLL I was hoping for something that might be more concise, yet at the same time be somewhat derogatory. I thought there was such a term, but it's becoming apparent there is not. – JYelton Feb 2 '11 at 21:12
+1 hahaha for Robusto's "duh" :) – Paul Amerigo Pajo Apr 25 '11 at 23:21

6 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

As a somewhat insulting noun, "Captain obvious" can be used for someone who is always stating the obvious.

Prolixity can be used to describe someone who says too much. This may be applicable in some cases.

In addition, Logorrhoea is a term with a similar meaning to prolixity although again the primary meaning is simply too much vs. stating the obvious.

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Wow... prolixity. You'll get quizzical looks if you use words like that with people. I'd probably use verbose in conversation. – Atømix Feb 2 '11 at 21:08
@Atømix: I agree that prolixity is probably not in most people's vocabulary (it certainly wasn't in mine until this answer!). Verbosity to me is not the same as stating the obvious, I generally take it to mean "sparing no detail" which may be crucial, for example, in a crime investigation. – JYelton Feb 3 '11 at 16:48
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Both Verbosity and Logorrhoea are about the sheer number of words being used. They don't need to be obvious words. – slim Jan 3 '12 at 13:40
up vote 6 down vote

I don't believe there's a single word that has the exact meaning you want, but the phrase "belaboring the obvious" is a classic idiom for your second case.

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+1 for a great suggestion, I wanted to avoid the description "stating the obvious" because it lacks a certain negative connotation that I was needing. "Belaboring" conveys more acutely the sense I was wanting. – JYelton Feb 3 '11 at 16:50
up vote 2 down vote

Stating the obvious is perhaps best stated as "self-evident." For example, "A street is better than a little trail to connect those two large neighborhoods." "That's self-evident."

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up vote 1 down vote

Redundant is the word that your looking for, according to the merriamwebster definition, Redundant means a : exceeding what is necessary or normal : superfluous

So you can say:

Please could you be less redundant and get straight to the point?

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I find redundant implies duplication, not just over-abundance or pletoric (?) – Richard Haven Oct 31 '12 at 17:25
up vote 0 down vote

I believe you're looking for belabor, which means to redundantly or excessively state the obvious.

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2  
Don't you mean belabor the obvious? Someone already suggested that phrase, however, so if you have nothing to add to it, there is no need for an answer. – Daniel δ Mar 30 '12 at 18:36
@Danielδ: you can belabour a point (or even labour it.) – TimLymington May 19 '12 at 17:18
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Platitude, as in "He is full of platitudes"?

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I think is more related to the tropes of cliché or Dutch Uncle (no offence intended); i.e. content rather than delivery. – Richard Haven Oct 31 '12 at 17:26

protected by RegDwighт♦ Jan 1 at 13:46

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