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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.

These highly automated sites run 24/7 and can’t afford even tiny traces of extraneous gases or chemicals to contaminate their precision production, says Liu.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

The soundtrack captures the subtle smack of lips moving and the flutter of expressive hands moving through air, as well as extraneous sound like the hum of a jet passing overhead.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 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

He needs a clean sheet of paper, no extraneous marks.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

Vocabulary lists containing extraneous

300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words

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Grade 11, List 5

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Good Riddance

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