as in unnecessary
not needed by the circumstances or to accomplish an end
he writes very spare prose, with nary an inessential word to be found
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Recent Examples of inessential
Though somewhat inessential, Far From Home is a fun diversion with a killer mid-credits sequence that beautifully sets up the third film.
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Darren Franich, EW.com, 7 Jan. 2025
That kind of wheel-spinning can be infuriating in a genre show; think of how the second season of Yellowjackets eventually became too unwieldy or how certain episodes of Lost (one of From’s clear inspirations) felt inessential.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2024
The season ended, the credits rolled, and I was tossed into the abyss of inessential programming.
—Evan Waite, The New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2024
When photography went digital, photo lab technicians and manual retouchers were suddenly as inessential as medieval scribes.
—Steven Kurutz, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inessential
Darren Franich, EW.com, 7 Jan. 2025
That kind of wheel-spinning can be infuriating in a genre show; think of how the second season of Yellowjackets eventually became too unwieldy or how certain episodes of Lost (one of From’s clear inspirations) felt inessential.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2024
The season ended, the credits rolled, and I was tossed into the abyss of inessential programming.
—Evan Waite, The New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2024
When photography went digital, photo lab technicians and manual retouchers were suddenly as inessential as medieval scribes.
—Steven Kurutz, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inessential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inessential
unnecessary
Adjective
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In plain terms, Virginia will now use AI to help cut unnecessary regulations while ensuring state rules stay clear and up to date.—
Shirleen Guerra,
The Washington Examiner,
13 July 2025
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But rushing such a substantive change on the ballot creates unnecessary division.—
L. Joy Williams,
New York Daily News,
12 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inessential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inessential. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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