extraneous
Americanadjective
-
introduced or coming from without; not belonging or proper to a thing; external; foreign.
extraneous substances in our water.
- Synonyms:
- alien, adventitious, extrinsic
- Antonyms:
- intrinsic
-
not pertinent; irrelevant.
an extraneous remark; extraneous decoration.
- Synonyms:
- superfluous, nonessential, inappropriate
adjective
-
not essential
-
not pertinent or applicable; irrelevant
-
coming from without; of external origin
-
not belonging; unrelated to that to which it is added or in which it is contained
Other Word Forms
- extraneously adverb
- extraneousness noun
- nonextraneous adjective
- nonextraneously adverb
- nonextraneousness noun
- unextraneous adjective
- unextraneously adverb
Etymology
Origin of extraneous
First recorded in 1630–40; from Latin extrāneus “external, foreign,” equivalent to extr(a)- extra- + -ān(us) -an + -eus -eous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The soundtrack captures the subtle smack of lips moving and the flutter of expressive hands moving through air, as well as extraneous sound like the hum of a jet passing overhead.
From Los Angeles Times
Ms. Fanning is important in playing Marissa’s sympathetic friend and partner in guilt; in her job as a book marketer, she has something of an extraneous subplot to pursue.
That they’re the only black principals brings something new to the story, and alliance, and something extraneous to the message of Hedda’s social suffocation and the motive for her misdeeds.
Quality testing in some cases had been put off for more than six months, according to their report, and raw materials tainted with unknown “extraneous matter” were used anyway, mixed into batches of drugs.
From Salon
“I saw myself as this extraneous body that was a bit threatening,” Tres told Salon in a phone interview.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
