gratuitous
English · Thesaurus
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gratuitous
- /ɡɹəˈtjuː.ɪt.əs/ UK
- /ɡɹəˈtu.ɪt.əs/ US
Where it comes from
From Latin grātuītus (“free”), from Latin grātia (“favor”), grātus (“showing favor”).
adjective more gratuitous · most gratuitous
- Given freely; unearned. 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
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Unjustified or unnecessary; not called for by the circumstances.
gratuitous violence
Similar: uncalled-for
- Extraneous, interpolated. [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 wor
Similar: free, gratis, unjustified, groundless, baseless, unfounded, unnecessary · Opposite: onerous
Thesaurus
adjective
Similar: free, gratis, unjustified, groundless, baseless, unfounded, unnecessary · Opposite: onerous
Translations
Every language
adj given freely, unearned
| Español | gratuito |
|---|---|
| Português | gratuito |
| Français | gratuit |
| Deutsch | gratis, kostenlos, geschenkt, frei, unentgeltlich, unverdient |
| Română | gratuit, gratis |
| Русский | беспла́тный besplátnyj, безвозмездный bezvozmezdnyj, незаслуженный nezaslužennyj |
| עברית | חִנָּם ẖinnám |
adj not called for by the circumstances
| Español | gratuito |
|---|---|
| Français | gratuit |
| Deutsch | unnötig, überflüssig, nutzlos, willkürlich, grundlos, beliebig |
| Română | nejustificat, arbitrar, gratis |
| Русский | беспричинный bespričinnyj, необосно́ванный neobosnóvannyj |
| עברית | חִנָּם ẖinnám |
Talk about this word "gratuitous." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gratuitous. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. gratuitous. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gratuitous "gratuitous." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gratuitous.Cite this
@misc{gratuitous_2026,
title = {gratuitous},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gratuitous},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
