Adjacent Words

Gratuitous definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GRATU'ITOUS, a. [L. gratuitus, from gratus.]
1. Free; voluntary; not required by justice; granted without claim or merit.
We mistake the gratuitous blessings of heaven for the fruits of our own industry.
2. Asserted or taken without proof; as a gratuitous argument or affirmation.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: without cause; "a gratuitous insult"
2: costing nothing; "complimentary tickets"; "free admission" [syn: complimentary, costless, free, gratis, gratuitous]
3: unnecessary and unwarranted; "a strikers' tent camp...was burned with needless loss of life" [syn: gratuitous, needless, uncalled-for]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin gratuitus, from gratus Date: 1656 1. a. given unearned or without recompense b. not involving a return benefit, compensation, or consideration c. costing nothing ; free 2. not called for by the circumstances ; unwarranted <gratuitous insolence> <a gratuitous assumption> • gratuitously adverb • gratuitousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 given or done free of charge. 2 uncalled for; unwarranted; lacking good reason (a gratuitous insult). Derivatives: gratuitously adv. gratuitousness n. Etymology: L gratuitus spontaneous: cf. fortuitous

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gratuitous Gra*tu"i*tousa. [L. gratuitus, from gratus pleasing. See Grate, a., Gratis.] 1. Given without an equivalent or recompense; conferred without valuable consideration; granted without pay, or without claim or merit; not required by justice. We mistake the gratuitous blessings of Heaven for the fruits of our own industry. --L'Estrange. 2. Not called for by the circumstances; without reason, cause, or proof; adopted or asserted without any good ground; as, a gratuitous assumption. Acts of gratuitous self-humiliation. --De Quincye. -- Gra*tu"i*tous*ly, adv. -- Gra*tu"i*tous*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe something as gratuitous, you mean that it is unnecessary, and often harmful or upsetting. There's too much crime and gratuitous violence on TV. ...his insistence on offering gratuitous advice. ADJ • gratuitously They wanted me to change the title to something less gratuitously offensive. ADV: ADV adj, ADV with v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Voluntary, free, spontaneous, of one's own accord. 2. Free, without recompense, without compensation, unrecompensed, without any equivalent. 3. Unwarranted, unfounded, groundless, without proof, baseless, uncalled for, not necessitated.

Moby Thesaurus

God-given, accorded, aimless, allowed, amorphous, arbitrary, autonomous, baseless, bestowed, biggety, bluff, bottomless, brash, capricious, casual, charitable, cheeky, chutzpadik, cocky, complimentary, contemptuous, costless, crusty, de trop, derisive, desultory, disarticulated, discontinuous, discretional, discretionary, disjunct, disordered, dispensable, dispersed, disproportionate, disrespectful, elective, eleemosynary, erratic, excess, expendable, expenseless, expletive, facy, fitful, flip, flippant, for free, for love, for nothing, formless, free, free as air, free for nothing, free gratis, free of charge, free of cost, free will, freebie, fresh, frivolous, gally, giftlike, given, granted, gratis, groundless, haphazard, hit-or-miss, immethodical, impertinent, impudent, in excess, inchoate, incoherent, indefensible, independent, indiscriminate, irrational, irregular, malapert, meaningless, misshapen, needless, nervy, nonessential, nonmandatory, nonsymmetrical, nonsystematic, nonuniform, offered, on the house, optional, orderless, pert, planless, pleonastic, proffered, prolix, promiscuous, providential, random, reasonless, redundant, rude, sassy, saucy, self-acting, self-active, self-determined, self-determining, senseless, shapeless, smart, smart-alecky, smart-ass, spare, spasmodic, spontaneous, sporadic, straggling, straggly, supererogatory, superfluous, systemless, tautologic, tautologous, to spare, unarranged, unasked, unbesought, unbidden, unbought, uncalled-for, unclassified, uncoerced, uncompelled, undirected, unessential, unforced, unfounded, ungraded, ungrounded, uninfluenced, uninvited, unjoined, unjustifiable, unjustified, unlooked-for, unmethodical, unnecessary, unneeded, unordered, unorganized, unpaid-for, unpressured, unprompted, unrequested, unrequired, unsolicited, unsorted, unsought, unsupportable, unsymmetrical, unsystematic, untaxed, ununiform, unwarranted, unwelcome, vague, verbose, voluntary, volunteer, vouchsafed, wandering, wanton, willful, willing, wise-ass, without charge