surplus
An amount left over when you have more than you need.
surplus in a sentence
- After the harvest there was a surplus of apples, so the farm gave boxes away to neighbours.
- The bake sale left us with a surplus of cupcakes, far more than anyone could possibly eat.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to surplus?
- Ashortage
- Black
- Cextra
- Dneed
Show the answer
C: extra. The other three mean the opposite of surplus.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to surplus?
- Aexcess
- Bshortage
- Cextra
- Dleftover
Show the answer
B: shortage. The other three mean nearly the same as surplus.
Words that mean something similar
extra, excess, leftover
Words that mean the opposite
shortage, lack, need
More words about size & amount
- swarm: A large moving crowd of insects or people.
- teem: To be completely full of moving things.
- throng: A large crowd of people packed together.
- tinge: A small amount of a colour or feeling.
- tremendous: Extremely large or extremely good.
- trifle: Something of little value or importance.
- trivial: So small and unimportant that it hardly matters.
- unique: Being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test