Definition

The condition of being unnecessary or not relevant to a particular situation or subject.

Example

The extraneousness of the details made it hard to focus on the main point of the discussion.

Conversation

I feel like there’s a lot of extraneousness in this project.

Yeah, I noticed that too; some details seem unnecessary.

We should definitely focus on the main points to keep it clear.

Agreed! Cutting out the fluff will make our work stronger.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Extraneousness → It is formed from "extra-" (meaning outside) and "aneus" (from Latin *aneus*, meaning pertaining to or related to) combined with the suffix "-ness" (meaning the state or quality of). The word describes the state of being outside or not essential to the matter at hand.

Memory Tip

Think of 'extra' meaning something 'outside' or 'beyond' and 'ness' indicating a state — so extraneousness refers to the quality of being outside or irrelevant to the main topic.

Visually Confused Words