Meaning & use
extraneous
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Not part of the main subject and therefore unnecessary or off the point.
Grammar: Before a noun or after be: extraneous details; the comment was extraneous.
Patterns
- extraneous to something
- extraneous details
Cut any extraneous details from your essay.
The remarks were extraneous to the topic of the meeting.
She deleted the extraneous files from her computer.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Coming from outside and not belonging to the thing or situation where it appears.
Grammar: Often used in science: extraneous noise, extraneous variables.
Patterns
- extraneous noise
- extraneous variables
Extraneous noise ruined the recording.
The experiment controlled for extraneous variables.
Remove any extraneous matter from the sample.
Common combinations
- extraneous detail
- The report is full of extraneous detail.
- extraneous noise
- The microphone picked up extraneous noise.
- extraneous variable
- An extraneous variable can distort the results.
- extraneous information
- Leave out extraneous information.
- extraneous to
- Her private life is extraneous to the debate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- irrelevant
- Irrelevant means it has no bearing on the question, while extraneous also suggests it is extra or from outside.
- unnecessary
- Unnecessary is plainer and need not be off-topic, only not needed.
- superfluous
- Superfluous stresses that there is more than enough, so some can be dropped.
- external
- External just means outside and does not suggest the thing is unwanted.
Opposites
Word family
- extraneously adverb
- in an irrelevant or outside way
- extraneousness noun
- the quality of being irrelevant
- extrinsic adjective
- coming from outside
Commonly confused: extraneous or extraordinary?
extraneous vs extraordinary
Extraordinary means remarkable, while extraneous means irrelevant or outside. They share an extra- start but differ completely.
Practice
Which would an editor most likely remove as extraneous?
Choose one answer.
Extraneous material is off the point and can be cut. The other parts are central to the piece.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “extraneous”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.