excrescent
Americanadjective
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growing abnormally out of something else; superfluous.
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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 Englishageynes ), without grammatical or historical justification; intrusive; parasitic.
adjective
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denoting, relating to, or resembling an abnormal outgrowth
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uselessly added; not essential; superfluous
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denoting or relating to a speech sound or letter inserted into a word without etymological justification, such as the b in nimble
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of excrescent
1600–10; < Latin excrēscent- (stem of excrēscēns ), present participle of excrēscere to grow out. See ex- 1, crescent
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.
It was a prodigious white fang excrescent from the jaw of the world.
From Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 by Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury
However, from a recessed area at the back its narrow casements and excrescent stairways are yet to be seen.
From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Samuel Adams Drake
Other chapels, less distinguished, which have been added from time to time, line the nave both north and south, and all are excrescent to the original plan.
From Cathedrals and Cloisters of the South of France, Volume 1 by Elise Whitlock Rose
The front door and the overhanging roof are just as in the time of the witches, and from a recessed area at the back, narrow casements and excrescent stairways are still to be seen.
From The Romance of Old New England Rooftrees by Mary Caroline Crawford
An excrescent r appears in a number of words, so in dynnart, a variant of the word above, Dunbar, T.M.W.
From Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch by George Tobias Flom
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.
