extraneous
/ɛkˈstɹeɪ.ni.əs/
extraneous means not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing; without or beyond a thing; foreign.
extraneous is pronounced /ɛkˈstɹeɪ.ni.əs/.
Why “extraneous” is a great word
Not essential or intrinsic to a thing; coming from or existing outside. From Latin extrāneus ("external, strange, from without"), a doublet of strange, first attested in English c. 1630s. Unlike "intrinsic," which names the deep, bone-true qualities a thing cannot shed, or "germane," which denotes a closely relevant connection, "extraneous" marks the foreign body, the peripheral noise, the imported complication. It is the scent of someone else’s perfume lingering in a borrowed coat, the footnote that swallows the page, the quiet hum of a light left on in an empty room—the mind’s reluctant guest, never quite at home.
Etymology
From Latin extrāneus (“from without, strange”). Doublet of strange. Cognate with estrange (verb), Spanish extraño.
adj
- Not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing; without or beyond a thing; foreign.e.g.“to separate gold from extraneous matter”
- Not essential or intrinsic.e.g.“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.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.