Word
extraneous
Phoneticsex·tra·ne·ous
US/ɛkˈstɹeɪniəs/
UK/ɛkstɹˈeɪniəs/
Definition
adj. not necessary or not related to what you are talking about. You use this to describe things that are extra and might be a distraction.
adj. not essential or relevant to the matter at hand; superfluous. Often used to describe information, details, or elements that do not contribute to the core purpose.
Examples
“Please remove any extraneous details from your report.”
“The professor asked the students to focus on the main argument and ignore any extraneous information in the text.”
“While the technical specifications are impressive, the marketing team must ensure that the final presentation does not include any extraneous data that might confuse the average consumer.”
Examples
simple
“Please remove any extraneous details from your report.”
contextual
“The professor asked the students to focus on the main argument and ignore any extraneous information in the text.”
complex
“While the technical specifications are impressive, the marketing team must ensure that the final presentation does not include any extraneous data that might confuse the average consumer.”
Real-World Examples
“Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)
Nicholas Hoult plays the farmhand who forms an implausible alliance with a princess in a fairytale cluttered with extraneous characters.” “The extraneous business accounts for a longer-than-average running time and, for all the ebullience and heart of the cast, a little more trust in the play would be no bad thing.” Etymology
From Latin extrāneus (“from without, strange”). Doublet of strange. Cognate with estrange (verb), Spanish extraño.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/extraneous