gratuitous

CEFRC1

/ɡɹəˈtjuː.ɪt.əs/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Unnecessary, unwanted, or given without a good reason.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    extraneous, interpolated.

Examples

  • The aggression was provoked by all those gratuitous insults.

  • gratuitous violence

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ɡɹəˈtu.ɪt.əs/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Unjustified or unnecessary; not called for by the circumstances.

  2. Given freely; unearned.

More examples

In context

  • Good to see you Mr. Bond. Things've been awfully dull 'round here. […] Now you're on this. I hope we're going to have some gratuitous sex and violence!

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The report contained blank details that were not needed for the argument.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Latin grātuītus (“free”), from Latin grātia (“favor”), grātus (“showing favor”).