Word of the Day!

Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019

Gratuitous (adjective)
gra·tu·i·tous [gruh-too-i-tuhs, -tyoo-]

adjective
1. given, done, bestowed, or obtained without charge or payment; free; voluntary.
2. being without apparent reason, cause, or justification: a gratuitous insult.
3. Law. given without receiving any return value.

RELATED FORMS
gra·tu·i·tous·ly, adverb
gra·tu·i·tous·ness, noun
non·gra·tu·i·tous, adjective
non·gra·tu·i·tous·ly, adverb
non·gra·tu·i·tous·ness, noun
un·gra·tu·i·tous, adjective
un·gra·tu·i·tous·ly, adverb
un·gra·tu·i·tous·ness, noun

Can be confused: gracious, gratis

RELATED WORDS
spontaneous, unwarranted, baseless, wanton, needless, unjustified, groundless, superfluous, unfounded, unprovoked, complimentary, gratis, unpaid, voluntary, willing, chargeless, costless, assumed, bottomless, indefensible

Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
2. unnecessary, superfluous, redundant; causeless, unreasonable, groundless, unprovoked, unjustified.

Origin: 1650–60; < Latin gratuitus free, freely given, spontaneous, derivative of gratus thankful, received with thanks (for formation cf. fortuitous); see -ous

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