gratuitous

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

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

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gratuitously

adverb

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gratuitousness

noun

See gratuitous defined for English-language learners

See gratuitous defined for kids

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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 $30 or more in their shop

Recent Examples of gratuitous from the Web

Okay that last line was just a gratuitous joke, not real journalism.

— doug maccash, NOLA.com, "Lil Wayne smokes up Champions Square, literally and figuratively," 27 Aug. 2017
The day after General John Kelly was appointed While House chief of staff, nearly everybody and their sister were offering gratuitous advice on how Kelly should handle his unimaginably difficult job.

— james o'toole, Fortune, "The One Person Who Can Tame Donald Trump. Maybe.," 1 Aug. 2017
Women of the leisure class wore constricting corsets that did not permit a great deal of movement, let alone strenuous labor; their male counterparts often carried gratuitous canes that suggested a physical inability to work.

— j.c. pan, New Republic, "The New Yuppies," 1 Aug. 2017
The second 20 in the name is, well, gratuitous, as were other tweaks, including spectator Jacuzzis and in-game music blaring over the grounds.

— jacob feldman, SI.com, "Wicket Cool: What the reimagining of cricket can teach us about updating American sports," 18 July 2017
Spread the gravy as one would mustard on a pastrami sandwich and the thing might get a tad gratuitous.

— andy staples, SI.com, "Where to eat, drink in Orlando," 30 June 2017
His boss, Donald Trump, has called out Paul LePage, Maine’s governor who recently got bariatric surgery, in a gratuitous weight-based aside.

— kenzie bryant, Vanities, "Michelle Obama Inadvertently Provides the Best Response to Trump Administration Fat-Shaming," 20 June 2017
Analysts don't have to be humorless, but if a joke is forced or an opinion is gratuitous or the commentary is off-topic blather (read: singing), then don't. *

— marc bona, cleveland.com, "NBA Finals Game 4 broadcast: Kardashian rant to controversial technical-foul call," 10 June 2017
For ISIS, attacks like the one in Manchester aren’t just about gratuitous violence dressed up as Islam.

— amarnath amarasingam, The Atlantic, "ISIS's Perverse, Bloody Interpretation of Ramadan," 26 May 2017

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.