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View synonyms for extraneous

extraneous

[ ik-strey-nee-uhs ]

adjective

  1. 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

  2. not pertinent; irrelevant:

    an extraneous remark; extraneous decoration.

    Synonyms: superfluous, nonessential, inappropriate

    Antonyms: pertinent, relevant



extraneous

/ ɪkˈstreɪnɪəs /

adjective

  1. not essential
  2. not pertinent or applicable; irrelevant
  3. coming from without; of external origin
  4. not belonging; unrelated to that to which it is added or in which it is contained


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Derived Forms

  • exˈtraneousness, noun
  • exˈtraneously, adverb

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Other Words From

  • ex·trane·ous·ly adverb
  • ex·trane·ous·ness noun
  • nonex·trane·ous adjective
  • nonex·trane·ous·ly adverb
  • nonex·trane·ous·ness noun
  • unex·trane·ous adjective
  • unex·trane·ous·ly adverb

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Word History and Origins

Origin of extraneous1

First recorded in 1630–40; from Latin extrāneus “external, foreign,” equivalent to extr(a)- extra- + -ān(us) -an + -eus -eous

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Word History and Origins

Origin of extraneous1

C17: from Latin extrāneus external, from extrā outside

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Example Sentences

The whole stack was re-evaluated—a “one-time decision,” said a memo from the advisory council, due to “extraneous circumstances.”

It is clean, precise, and devastating—nothing extraneous, nothing false—and it comes as close as any fiction I know to perfection.

You know where you find a clear, neat story with no extraneous details?

He realized, as well, that there is a great deal of redundant information—extraneous bits—in human communication.

Her writing is marked by an utter lack of the extraneous, and bristles with a sense of the uncanny.

It was tightly clasped, and its boards were warped by having for years been obliged to embrace a number of extraneous sheets.

There were practically no burgesses extraneous to the Merchant Gild, though there were often Gildsmen who were not burgesses.

We saw, also, how there grew up a large class extraneous to the privileged Merchant Gild.

You defeated your end if you insisted on conditions, if you allowed anything extraneous to count as much as that.

He lives on extraneous resources, the wages of labour, realised means, or the aid of his family.

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