Meanings
- not comparableNot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing; without or beyond a thing; foreign.
to separate gold from extraneous matter
1 more example
Extraneous substances were found on my cup of water.
Synonyms: additional, alien, foreign, intrusive, acquired, additional, adventitious, alien
- not comparableNot essential or intrinsic.
Reading has come to seem extraneous even to some of the best-educated members of society.
2026 July 8, Rose Horowitch, “The End of Reading Is Here”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC3 more examples
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.
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLCIf the Government believes that part of the railways' salvation is to be found in ridding them of extraneous concerns, it should have had the courage either to close the railway works down as quickly as possible, or to hive them off as an entirely separate concern, [...].
1964 May, “News and Comment: Minister hamstrings BR workshops”, in Modern Railways, page 291Where workers poured the additional 11-foot-wide strip of foundation, for example, an extraneous column remains, and differences in the finish of the floor can be seen.
2026 May 28, Julie Belcove, “Farm Fresh”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 92Synonyms: superfluous, extra, accidental, adscititious, external, extrinsic
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveNot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing; without or beyond a thing; foreign.
adjectiveNot essential or intrinsic.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot pertinent to the matter under consideration
adjectivenot essential
adjectivenot belonging to that in which it is contained; introduced from an outside source
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic خَارِجِيّ
- خَارِجِيّ (ḵārijiyy)not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
Bulgarian въ́ншен, чужд
- въ́ншен (vắnšen)not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- чужд (čužd)not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
Dutch bijkomende, vreemde
- bijkomendenot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- vreemdenot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- extranot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
Finnish asiaankuulumaton
- asiaankuulumatonnot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
French étranger
- étrangernot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
German fremd, nicht zugehörig
- fremdnot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- nicht zugehörignot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- überflüssignot essential or intrinsic
- unnötignot essential or intrinsic
- nicht wesentlichnot essential or intrinsic
Hungarian idegen
- idegennot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
Irish coimhthíoch
- coimhthíochnot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
Latin extrāneus
- extrāneusnot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
Portuguese estranho
- estranhonot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
Russian посторо́нний, вне́шний
- посторо́нний (postorónnij)not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- вне́шний (vnéšnij)not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- чу́ждый (čúždyj)not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
Spanish ajeno, foráneo
- ajenonot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- foráneonot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- forañonot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- foranonot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- no venir al casonot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- no venir al cuentonot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
Swedish främmande, ovidkommande
- främmandenot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- ovidkommandenot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
- yttrenot belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
Ukrainian сторо́нній
- сторо́нній (storónnij)not belonging to, or dependent upon, a thing
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with extraneous
Cite this entry
extraneous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extraneous
“extraneous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extraneous. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “extraneous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extraneous.
Source: extraneous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.