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.
—
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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These scans can detect benign anomalies that trigger unnecessary follow-ups and patient anxiety.—
Sindhya Valloppillil,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
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Court papers say the defendant, Farrukh Ali, conspired with at least 41 substance abuse clinics to bill the state for hundreds of millions of dollars for substance abuse services that were never provided, not provided as billed or were medically unnecessary.—
Ryan Lucas,
NPR,
30 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inessential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inessential. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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