Extraneous

medium

ik-STRAY-nee-uhs

adjective

Definition

irrelevant or unrelated to the matter at hand

Examples

The editor cut every extraneous detail until only the core argument remained.
Please keep extraneous noise out of the recording so the narration stays clear.

Synonyms

irrelevantimmaterialsuperfluousextrinsic

Antonyms

relevantpertinentessentialintrinsic

Categories

GRE Tip

Extraneous is a medium-difficulty GRE word. On the GRE, you might see it paired with synonyms like "irrelevant" or "immaterial" in Sentence Equivalence questions. Look for contrast clues (however, despite, although) that signal the opposite meaning. Words like "relevant".

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