gratuitously
Americanadverb
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without apparent reason, cause, or justification.
The chase scene seems gratuitously thrown in for the sake of an action sequence.
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without charge or payment; freely or voluntarily.
Love is a spontaneous gift that cannot be earned—it is gratuitously given.
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Law. without receiving any return value.
The plaintiff must show that they will be forced to either hire someone to perform such household services or have someone perform them gratuitously.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gratuitously
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.
“Not in the sense that you would ever vary a ruling, but in the sense that you don’t want to gratuitously offend.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2025
I find all the blindfolded kissing troubling, the close-ups of those waiting to be voted safe or dumped gratuitously painful and the endless shots of contestant-grooming tedious.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2025
Welsh Secretary David TC Davies called it an "absolutely appalling suggestion", telling the BBC's Politics Wales programme Mr Antoniw should "apologise and withdraw that gratuitously offensive tweet which he put out yesterday".
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2023
You sort of get the sense that Dominion was really pissed off about having its reputation gratuitously smeared by some of television’s least prudent commentators.
From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2023
“I came to tell you like you said. I—I got ’em at Ginsberg’s,” she added gratuitously.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
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.
