as in extrinsic
not being a vital part of or belonging to something
the point of view that art should be for art's sake and that moral considerations are adventitious to the study of art
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of adventitious
Although individual plants have a lifespan of 30-90 years, adventitious shoots grow up from roots.
—
Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 5 July 2025
The patchy and adventitious quality of Jameson’s reconstruction must make clear his difference as a thinker.
—Mark Greif, Harper's Magazine, 26 July 2024
The cut appears to have been high enough that the stump should still have enough adventitious buds to regrow.
—Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 3 Oct. 2023
Plant Deep — Really Deep Tomatoes have the ability to produce roots off their stems, known as adventitious roots.
—Margaret Roach, New York Times, 12 May 2020
This can also occur when trees are planted too deep, as adventitious (growing sideways from the stem) roots grow against the stem and squeeze the sapwood.
—Rebecca Jepsen, The Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2019
Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 5 July 2025
The patchy and adventitious quality of Jameson’s reconstruction must make clear his difference as a thinker.
—Mark Greif, Harper's Magazine, 26 July 2024
The cut appears to have been high enough that the stump should still have enough adventitious buds to regrow.
—Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 3 Oct. 2023
Plant Deep — Really Deep Tomatoes have the ability to produce roots off their stems, known as adventitious roots.
—Margaret Roach, New York Times, 12 May 2020
This can also occur when trees are planted too deep, as adventitious (growing sideways from the stem) roots grow against the stem and squeeze the sapwood.
—Rebecca Jepsen, The Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adventitious
Adjective
-
Those new to options trading should understand basic terms (e.g., premiums, extrinsic and intrinsic value, moneyness) and know the Greeks (measurements of an option’s sensitivity to various factors).—
Michael Martin,
Forbes.com,
28 Aug. 2025
-
Is your motivation for doing well extrinsic or intrinsic?—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
11 June 2025
Adjective
-
But that’s irrelevant now — because these Phillies drew the defending champs.—
Jayson Stark,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Factionalism, doctrine, ground rules, justifications are, in Anderson’s film, irrelevant, meaning that French 75’s actions take place in an intellectual void.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
7 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Cryptocurrency is stored in a digital wallet, which can be online, on a computer or on an external hard drive, according to the Federal Trade Commission.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
4 Oct. 2025
-
Formal equality was only achieved in 1971, when the Ministry of Justice authorized women to serve in external police duties, and the National Police Board ended the experimental program.—
Isadora Wandermurem,
Time,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Our commerce writer Julia Harrison writes that her Moccamaster One Cup is a delight, principally because of its simplicity as a drip coffee maker—free of extraneous frothers or digital interfaces or timers.—
Blake Bakkila,
Architectural Digest,
8 Oct. 2025
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If someone is furloughed, the thinking goes, they could more easily be seen as extraneous, giving the Administration an easier path to arguing they aren’t needed at all.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
On sale for $14, this hanging toiletry bag is big enough to hold all of your skincare, haircare, and makeup essentials while protecting your clothes from accidental spills.—
Amelia McBride,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Oct. 2025
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The three victims' deaths were ruled accidental, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.—
David Chiu,
PEOPLE,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Radio Silence alum Justin Martinez certainly delivers on that front, staging an alien invasion from the perspective of skydivers plummeting from an exploding plane — a set piece accomplished through a mix of real aerial footage and digital effects.—
A.A. Dowd,
Vulture,
3 Oct. 2025
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The mascot, Scorch, is an alien-dinosaur hybrid in Converse high-tops.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The 1970s had seen a mass exodus of Argentina’s star players abroad, particularly to Spain, where a ban on foreign players had recently been lifted.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
5 Oct. 2025
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One is that basing a new party on a single foreign-policy issue is a mistake—whether the Iraq War in 2004 or Palestine now.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
4 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Adventitious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adventitious. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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