needless to say
Goes without saying
Needless to say introduces something the speaker considers obvious or already known: Needless to say, we were disappointed.
The phrase often precedes information that didn't actually need stating—yet the speaker says it anyway, sometimes for emphasis, sometimes redundantly.
It can signal shared understanding or gently remind someone of what should be apparent.
- naturallywithout artificial help
- not to mentionPhrase adding emphasis
- stating the obviousDeclaring the self-evident
- self-evidentRequiring no demonstration
- clear as dayCompletely obvious, undeniable
go without saying · clearly · natch · obvious · tacit · axiomatic · of course · given · implied · plainly · disclaimers · understood · emphasis · unmistakably · irony · apparent · hedging · certainly
- Obviousnessobviously, clearly, of course, duh, no duh
- story phrasesonce upon a time, happily ever after, the end, long ago, a long time ago
- affirmativesyes, yeah, yep, yup, absolutely
- filler phrasesum, uh, like, you know, I mean
needless to saysurprisingly
In unanticipated manner
unexpectedly · believe it or not · shockingly · astonishingly · against all odds
needed, needs, needy, needless, unneeded, needlessly, needful, neediest, needier