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.
These highly automated sites run 24/7 and can’t afford even tiny traces of extraneous gases or chemicals to contaminate their precision production, says Liu.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
"He was just quietly sitting there, taking script pages out, cutting them up, removing extraneous stuff like scene descriptions, and then sticking them back onto blank pages," he said.
From BBC • Mar. 1, 2025
On Jan. 24, Wegmans issued a recall for its store-brand frozen, breaded chicken breast nuggets over possible contamination with extraneous material, specifically bone fragments.
From Salon • Jan. 30, 2025
Vitrines holding wildly different white or black objects make no sense, because whatever might be the specific visual point of the art objects is extraneous.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 22, 2024
I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give.’
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
