extraneous
/ɪkˈstreɪnɪəs
/ /ɛkˈstreɪnɪəs/adjective
1Irrelevant or unrelated to the subject being dealt with: one is obliged to wade through many pages of extraneous material...
- In the present case, the admittedly extraneous and irrelevant material is of a kind which has always attracted the law's anxious scrutiny.
- At the end of his speech Lord Hailsham dealt with two extraneous matters which he found to be irrelevant.
- Maybe after elections, when the passions will cool down the whole issue would be considered on its merits and demerits without bringing in extraneous and irrelevant issues.
Synonyms
irrelevant, immaterial, beside the point, not to the point, neither here nor there, nothing to do with it, not pertinent, not germane, not to the purpose, off the subject, unrelated, unconnected, inapposite, inappropriate, inapplicable, inconsequential, incidental, pointless, out of place, wide of the mark, peripheral, tangential
2Of external origin: when the transmitter pack is turned off no extraneous noise is heard...
- Asked if he was paying attention to extraneous noises, he said: ‘No.’
- The use of the orchestra now seems relatively conventional - no tam tams, marimbas, electric guitars or any of the other extraneous noises that are so popular with the contemporary gang.
- ‘It is absent of any extraneous noises or acts that we would not associate with a normal aviation environment,’ Black said.
Synonyms
external, outside, exterior, extrinsic, outward, adventitious, alien, foreign
2.1Separate from the object to which it is attached: other insects attach extraneous objects or material to themselves...
- To aid in the interpretation of mutant phenotypes, we subjected several of the various stl mutant chromosomes to recombination to remove unrelated extraneous mutations in linked genes.
- Who knows what children born of such techniques may have floating around as extraneous genetic or viral material?
- To create a cocoa powder, processors first must clean the beans well, removing all extraneous material.
Derivatives
extraneously
/ /ɛkˈstreɪnɪəsli / adverb ...- It was only on her final day on the job on Law & Order last January that Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn revealed, somewhat extraneously, that she was a lesbian.
- Now, would that not argue that of their nature suppression orders are interlocutory because circumstances can change and information can get out extraneously - especially in the age of the Internet.
- The guests of the banquet sway extraneously from portrayals as parasites, wild, carnivorous beasts and ravenous dogs to spoilt brats at a kids' party to well mannered socialites.
extraneousness
/ /ɛkˈstreɪnɪəsnəs / noun ...- He feels his extraneousness to the world.
- Although that, itself, raises an interesting point: is consciousness less maladaptive if it is more aware of its own extraneousness?
Origin
Mid 17th century: from Latin extraneus + -ous.
Rhymes
- bicycle kick
- bicycle lane
- bicycle messenger
- bicycle motocross
- bicycle path
- bicycle polo
- bicycle pump
- bicycler
- bicycle rickshaw
- bicycle shed
- bicycle shorts
- bicycle taxi
- bicyclette
- bicyclian
- bicyclic
- bicyclical
- bicyclism
- bicyclist
- bicycloannulation
- bicycular
- bid
- bidarka
- bid caller
- biddability
- biddable