Vocabulary in context
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Extraneous
Not related to the matter at hand; not essential; irrelevant or unnecessary.
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Imagine This
An extra column of comics is added to the newspaper to appeal to comic readers, but it was not essential to those who only read the news, business, or sports sections.
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Sounds Like
ek-STRAY-nee-us
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Looks Like
Looks like: extra + neous
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Remember This
Root means outside or foreign; extraneous things are outside the main matter.
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Other Forms
extraneouslyadverb
extraneousnessnoun
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Connect With
irrelevant, unrelated, incidental, superfluous, redundant
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Note
Do not confuse extraneous with simply 'additional.' Extraneous implies irrelevance or unnecessary detail to the topic being considered.
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Study Deeper
Examples
- The report contained extraneous details that distracted from the main conclusions.
- During editing, the author removed extraneous paragraphs to improve clarity.
Synonyms
irrelevantunrelatedsuperfluousredundantincidental
Antonyms
essentialrelevantpertinent
Etymology
From Latin extrāneus 'foreign, external', from extrā 'outside'; the English form came to be through Old French extraneux.
Mnemonic
EXTRA items are not NE-cessary: extraneous = extra stuff that isn’t needed.
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Candid
adjectiveTruthful and straightforward; frank, open, and not rehearsed.
Salvage
verbTo rescue or recover something from loss, damage, or ruin, or to reclaim usable material from discarded or damaged items.
Consign
verbTo deliver or hand over to another's care, custody, or control, often for safekeeping, shipment, or disposal; to assign or commit to a particular fate or course of action.
Similar Words
Related words and words with the same part of speech.
Irrelevant
adjectiveNot related to or important for the matter at hand; not on-topic.
Incidental
adjectiveHappening as a minor or accompanying part; not essential to the main purpose, or arising as a secondary consequence or accessory.
Superfluous
adjectiveExcessive; more than is needed or required
Redundant
adjectiveNot needed or useful due to being repetitive or duplicative; containing unnecessary repetition.
Abstruse
adjectiveDifficult to understand; obscure or highly complex.
Accidental
adjectiveHappening by chance or without deliberate planning; not intended. In music, it is also a noun for a symbol that temporarily alters a pitch.
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