gratuitous

adjective gra·tu·i·tous \ grə-ˈtü-ə-təs , -ˈtyü- \

|Updated on: 21 Jul 2018

Examples: gratuitous in a Sentence

Editor's Note: These gratuitous Facts Are Free

Definition of gratuitous

1 a : given unearned or without recompense

b : not involving a return benefit, compensation, or consideration

has gratuitous permission to pass over private land

c : costing nothing : free

The restaurant provided a gratuitous appetizer.

2 : not called for by the circumstances : unwarranted

gratuitous insolence

a gratuitous assumption

—

gratuitously

adverb

—

gratuitousness

noun

See gratuitous defined for English-language learners

See gratuitous defined for kids

gratuitous was our Word of the Day on 01/18/2015. Hear the podcast!

Examples of gratuitous in a Sentence

The film was criticized for its gratuitous violence.
they will throw in a gratuitous box of chocolates when you spend or more in their shop

Recent Examples of gratuitous from the Web

Nonsensical twists, bad speeches, and so, so much death, multiple bodies in every movie, the pile-up somehow both tedious and gratuitous.

— jason kehe, WIRED, "Sci-Fi Invades Netflix—as They Both Invade Your Home," 9 July 2018
The majority of the band’s nearly three-hour performance on Saturday was dedicated to such vintage hits, counterbalanced with comedy bits, guest spots, gratuitous solos, and what can be best described as an extended karaoke segment.

— drew lazor, Philly.com, "Foo Fighters go old school at the BB&T Pavilion on their Concrete and Gold tour," 8 July 2018
Angry customers use gratuitous profanity, vow never to do business with the company again, promise to sue — or all three. CEOs forward those e-mails to their legal departments, often black holes for complaints.

— christopher elliott, BostonGlobe.com, "Got a complaint about the travel industry? Take it to the top," 26 June 2018
Instead, Instagram — still hugely popular as a place to post glossy, aspirational images of your vacation, your coffee, or gratuitous selfies — has grown into a home away from home to consume screenshots of the best content from those services.

— megan farokhmanesh, The Verge, "Young people still love Twitter — as screenshots on Instagram," 21 June 2018
Mental health experts say exposure to media coverage of a high-profile suicide, especially coverage which fixates on the gratuitous details of a person's death, can lead to more suicides.

— alia e. dastagir, USA TODAY, "The unintentional consequences of suicide coverage," 6 June 2018
StartUp isn't all that effective as a binge-watch — its thrills are predictable, its dialogue bogged down in tech exposition, and its gratuitous violence increasingly hard to stomach — but the cast is an all-around asset.

— Cosmopolitan, "Your Bae Adam Brody Is Back on TV, Only Now He's R-Rated," 6 Sep. 2016
Yet advisers say Trump considers Kim a rational actor, and the president has flattered the dictator recently with gratuitous praise.

— philip rucker, The Seattle Times, "The ‘dotard’ meets ‘Little Rocket Man’: Trump and Kim are adversaries with many similarities," 10 June 2018
Perhaps even a few years ago, Dietland might have seemed gratuitous; a show about extremism.

— rachel syme, The New Republic, "On AMC, ‘Dietland’ serves up a revenge fantasy for the era of MeToo.," 12 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gratuitous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

These gratuitous Facts Are Free

Like gratitude, grace, and congratulate, gratuitous is a descendant of the Latin word gratus, which means "pleasing" or "grateful." When gratuitous was first used in the middle of the 17th century, it meant "free" or "given without return benefit or compensation." The extended meaning "done without good reason" or "unwarranted" came about just a few decades later, perhaps from the belief held by some people that one should not give something without getting something in return. Today, that extended meaning is the more common sense, often used in such phrases as "a gratuitous insult" or to describe elements of a story that are not relevant to the plot.