excrescent

[ ik-skres-uhnt ]

adjective

1. growing abnormally out of something else; superfluous.
2. Phonetics. (of a speech sound) inserted or added as a result of articulatory interaction or impetus, as the t- sound in sense (sents) or against (from Middle English ageynes ), without grammatical or historical justification; intrusive; parasitic.

Other Words From

• ex·crescent·ly adverb
• super·ex·crescent adjective
• super·ex·crescent·ly adverb
• unex·crescent adjective
• unex·crescent·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of excrescent¹

1600–10; < Latin excrēscent- (stem of excrēscēns ), present participle of excrēscere to grow out. See ex- ¹, crescent

Example Sentences

It was a prodigious white fang excrescent from the jaw of the world.

From Project Gutenberg

However, from a recessed area at the back its narrow casements and excrescent stairways are yet to be seen.

From Project Gutenberg

It was that of a man six feet high, and broad in proportion, whose majestic and spacious brow betokened realms of elysian thought and excrescent ideality.

From Project Gutenberg

Now if Vanitas had not cultivated those excrescent sensibilities by assiduous compression, if he had thought more of big brains than little feet, his tattered, cowhided friend might have trodden harmlessly on his pedal phalanges.

From Project Gutenberg

All detail was lost—all color, all outline; even the surrounding mountains seemed to be but excrescent ridges of the plain.

From Project Gutenberg