gratuitous
UK/ɡɹəˈtjuː.ɪt.əs//ɡɹəˈtu.ɪt.əs/
gratuitous adjective: given freely; unearned.
Adjective
gratuitous (comparative more gratuitous, superlative 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...2023 January 11, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: castles and cathedrals”, in RAIL, number 974, page 56
- Unjustified or unnecessary; not called for by the circumstances.
- gratuitous violence
- Good to see you Mr. Bond. Things've been awfully dull 'round here. […] Now you're on this. I hope we're going to have some gratuitous sex and violence!1983, Lorenzo Semple Jr., Never Say Never Again, spoken by Q (Alec McCowen)
- Synonyms:
- uncalled-for
- extraneous, interpolated.
gratuitous meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
gratuitous in Tamil
- பெருந்தன்மை, விலையின்றிக் கொடுக்கப்பட்ட
gratuitous in Urdu
- بلاوجہ, رضاکارانہ
gratuitous in Bengali
- অযাচিতভাবে, বিনা কারণে, বিনা মূল্যে প্রাপ্ত
gratuitous in Malayalam
- സൗജന്യമായ, സ്വേച്ഛയാനല്കുന്ന, ആവശ്യപ്പെടാതെയുള്ള
More languagesFewer languages
- gratuitous in Kannada
- ಅನಪೇಕ್ಷಿತ, ಬೇಡದ, ಅಕಾರಣವಾದ, ನಿಷ್ಕಾರಣವಾದ
- gratuitous in Persian
- بیجا bi-jâ, الکی alaki, بیخودی bi-xodi
Examples of gratuitous in a sentence
- Even the most bloodlusted fans were unsettled by the gratuitous bloodbath that was the final episode.
- My colleague's gratuitous criticism still rankles with me.
- We also get some gratuitous beefcake shots, which is surprisingly equanimitable.
Synonyms of gratuitous
Antonyms
Forms of gratuitous
| comparative | more gratuitous |
|---|---|
| superlative | most gratuitous |
Origin of gratuitous
From Latin grātuītus (“free”), from Latin grātia (“favor”), grātus (“showing favor”).
Words formed from gratuitous
- gratuitously
- gratuitousness
- gratuitous praise
- gratuitous violence
- nongratuitous
- semigratuitous
- ungratuitous
Questions about gratuitous
- What does gratuitous mean?
- Gratuitous means given freely; unearned.
- What is gratuitous in Tamil?
- Gratuitous in Tamil is பெருந்தன்மை, விலையின்றிக் கொடுக்கப்பட்ட. See Gratuitous meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is gratuitous?
- Gratuitous is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce gratuitous?
- Gratuitous is pronounced /ɡɹəˈtjuː.ɪt.əs/ (UK).
Words near gratuitous in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gratuitous (page history and authors); gratuitous (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); gratuitous (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); gratuitous (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); gratuitous (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); gratuitous (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-gratuitous.ogg.
Cite this entry: “gratuitous.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gratuitous. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.