EXTRANEOUS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does extraneous mean? 

• EXTRANEOUS (adjective)
  The adjective EXTRANEOUS has 4 senses:

1. not pertinent to the matter under consideration

2. not essential

3. not belonging to that in which it is contained; introduced from an outside source

4. coming from the outside

  Familiarity information: EXTRANEOUS used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXTRANEOUS (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not pertinent to the matter under consideration

Synonyms:

extraneous; immaterial; impertinent; orthogonal

Context example:

mentioned several impertinent facts before finally coming to the point

Similar:

irrelevant (having no bearing on or connection with the subject at issue)

Derivation:

extraneousness (unrelatedness by virtue of falling outside the matter at hand)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Not essential

Context example:

the ballet struck me as extraneous and somewhat out of keeping with the rest of the play

Similar:

extrinsic (not forming an essential part of a thing or arising or originating from the outside)

Derivation:

extraneousness (unrelatedness by virtue of falling outside the matter at hand)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Not belonging to that in which it is contained; introduced from an outside source

Synonyms:

extraneous; foreign

Context example:

foreign particles in milk

Similar:

adulterant; adulterating (making impure or corrupt by adding extraneous materials)

Derivation:

extraneousness (unrelatedness by virtue of falling outside the matter at hand)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Coming from the outside

Synonyms:

external; extraneous; outside

Context example:

disdaining outside pressure groups

Similar:

extrinsic (not forming an essential part of a thing or arising or originating from the outside)

Derivation:

extraneousness (unrelatedness by virtue of falling outside the matter at hand)

 Context examples 

Accumulation of extraneous inorganic matter in tissues or cavities.

(Deposit, NCI Thesaurus)

A little occasional talk about half-crowns, oysters, or any other extraneous subject produces a pleasing effect of delirium.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"That is my only criticism in the large way. I followed the story, but there seemed so much else. It is too wordy. You clog the action by introducing so much extraneous material."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

There are always extraneous currents flowing in the safety ground conductor.

(Device Electrical Current Leakage Problem Evaluation Result, Food and Drug Administration)

An artifact resulting from the contamination of the imaging field with an extraneous body substance.

(Body Substance Contamination, NCI Thesaurus)

To make something conform to a standard; to remove useless or extraneous entries from a data set.

(Normalize, NCI Thesaurus)

I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give.' The forehead declares, 'Reason sits firm and holds the reins, and she will not let the feelings burst away and hurry her to wild chasms.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

If each, I told myself, could be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was unbearable; the unjust might go his way, delivered from the aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin; and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path, doing the good things in which he found his pleasure, and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The term does not apply to macromolecular compounds like albumin, or compounds like amino acids and sugars that are used in biological products, nor does it apply to process or product-related impurities (e.g. degradation products, residual solvents), or extraneous contaminants.

(Pharmaceutical Excipient, NCI Thesaurus)

He offered her an extraneous thing with which he could part without a pang, while she offered him herself, along with disgrace and shame, and sin, and all her hopes of heaven.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)