extraneous en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ekˈstɹæɪ.ni.əs/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
- /ɪkˈstɹeɪ.ni.əs/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- audio Queensland
- (California) audio
- /ɛkˈstɹeɪ.ni.əs/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Latin extrāneus (“from without, strange”). Doublet of strange. Cognate with estrange (verb), Spanish extraño.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) Not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing; without or beyond a thing; foreign.
Extraneous substances were found on my cup of water.
to separate gold from extraneous matter
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(not-comparable) Not essential or intrinsic.
If the Government believes that part of the railways' salvation is to be found in ridding them of extraneous concerns, it should have had the courage either to close the railway works down as quickly as possible, or to hive them off as an entirely separate concern, [...].
1964 May, “News and Comment: Minister hamstrings BR workshops”, in Modern Railways, page 291:Reading has come to seem extraneous even to some of the best-educated members of society.
2026 July 8, Rose Horowitch, “The End of Reading Is Here”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:Edward had seen beauty often, and seen it with every possible aid; but never had he seen beauty so perfect, yet so utterly devoid of extraneous assistance.
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:Where workers poured the additional 11-foot-wide strip of foundation, for example, an extraneous column remains, and differences in the finish of the floor can be seen.
2026 May 14, Julie Belcove, “Farm Fresh”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 92:
Antonyms
Deriveds
extraneously · extraneousness · extraneous variable · nonextraneous · unextraneous
Synonyms
external · strange · adscititious · extrinsic · intrusive · acquired · ascititious · extra · foreign · superfluous · alien · additional · extraneous · foreign · adventitious · additional · extraneous · tramontane · fremd · supplemental · intrusive · outlandish · alien · accidental
Translations (33)
nl extra (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · ru посторо́нний (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · de unnötig (not essential or intrinsic) · io stranjera (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · de nicht zugehörig (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · es ajeno (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · sv ovidkommande (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · sh nepripadajući (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · ar خَارِجِيّ (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · ga coimhthíoch (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · hu idegen (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · de überflüssig (not essential or intrinsic) · uk сторо́нній (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · sv yttre (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · de nicht wesentlich (not essential or intrinsic) · es forano (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · es foráneo (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · es no venir al caso (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · ru вне́шний (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · sh stran (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · fr étranger (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · es foraño (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · es no venir al cuento (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · ru чу́ждый (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · pt estranho (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · sv främmande (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · bg въ́ншен (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · de fremd (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · bg чужд (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · nl bijkomende (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · la extrāneus (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · fi asiaankuulumaton (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing) · nl vreemde (not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing)