gratuitous

What it means

1. Given freely; unearned.

   1 more example

   Also mentioned is the Rev. T. Stock, who has a tablet in St John's church [Gloucester] and "who with Raikes established the four original Sunday schools in this parish ... in 1780. From this small beginning sprung that gratuitous system of Christian instruction which has covered the face of England and Wales with schools."

   2023 January 11, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: castles and cathedrals”, in RAIL, number 974, page 56

2. Unjustified or unnecessary; not called for by the circumstances.

   gratuitous violence

   1 more example

   Good to see you Mr. Bond. Things've been awfully dull 'round here. […] Now you're on this. I hope we're going to have some gratuitous sex and violence!

   1983, Lorenzo Semple Jr., Never Say Never Again, spoken by Q (Alec McCowen)

   Synonyms: uncalled-for

3. Extraneous, interpolated.

   1 more example

   [Chief of the Story Police:] “[…] You are hereby charged with crimes against good and proper storytelling, including the use of outlandish plots, ridiculous characters, silly names, needless repetition—I repeat, needless repetition—too much detail in some places and not enough in others, lack of worthy life lessons, poor dietary habits, unlikely escapes, gratuitous violence, time-wasting chases, and worst of all, clichéd endings, such as it was all just a dream...Need I go on?”

   2019, Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton, The 117-Story Treehouse, American Edition, pages 142-143

In a sentence

Also mentioned is the Rev. T. Stock, who has a tablet in St John's church [Gloucester] and "who with Raikes established the four original Sunday schools in this parish ... in 1780. From this small beginning sprung that gratuitous system of Christian instruction which has covered the face of England and Wales with schools."

2023 January 11, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: castles and cathedrals”, in RAIL, number 974, page 56

Where it comes from

1. Latingrātia“favor”
2. Latingrātuītus“free”
3. Englishgratuitous

From Latin grātuītus (“free”), from Latin grātia (“favor”), grātus (“showing favor”).