Meaning & use

extraneous

adjective·Advanced

Not directly connected to the main subject; irrelevant or unnecessary.

See it in a sentence

The editor cut several extraneous details that slowed down the story.

Try to remove extraneous information from your report to keep it concise.

A note on using this word

Extraneous is common in academic and scientific writing to describe variables or details that don't belong to the core analysis.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “extraneous”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.