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.
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.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 5, 2025
Ellie’s choppy boat ride, the rogue wave washing her ashore, her capture and release at the hands of the cult — all were colorful and dramatic but felt abrupt and even extraneous to the story.
From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2025
"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
One could read this strange, extraneous sight as Perkins’ attempt to send up our macabre fixation with death, rubbernecking at gruesome sights we should want to turn away from.
From Salon • Feb. 21, 2025
They have no compulsion to prevent one coming to harm through an extraneous agency such as gamma rays.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
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.
