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Definitions

extraneous

[ik-strey-nee-uhs] / ɪkˈstreɪ ni əs /
ADJECTIVE
unneeded; irrelevant
Synonyms
STRONGEST
additional immaterial incidental nonessential superfluous supplementary unconnected unnecessary unrelated
WEAK
accidental adventitious beside the point extra foreign impertinent inadmissible inapplicable inapposite inappropriate inessential needless off the subject peripheral pointless redundant unessential
Antonyms
STRONGEST
essential important material necessary needed relevant
WEAK
appropriate basic integral national native pertinent
ADJECTIVE
foreign
Synonyms
STRONGEST
external
WEAK
adventitious alien exotic extrinsic out of place strange
Antonyms
WEAK
appropriate basic essential integral national native necessary needed pertinent relevant

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.

And a solo for limber Yuniel Betancourt that is meant to serve as punctuation feels more extraneous than conclusive.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 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

For an even more extraneous cinematic reference, Barry Keoghan reprises his role from Banshees of Inisherin for Squarespace … a service that sells a domain-making tool.

From Slate • Feb. 10, 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

The key to making subject and verb agree is to correctly identify the subject, and for that you have to simplify the sentence in your mind and eliminate the extraneous stuff.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

Vocabulary lists containing extraneous

300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

Grade 11, List 5

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Good Riddance

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