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🚫 Unnecessary quality 🎁 Given for free
gratuitousness

gratuitousness

8.9
A quality of being unnecessary and without good reason
  • noun
  • /ɡrəˈtjuːɪtəsnəs/
translation icon : gratuitidad
  • Some critics argue that the gratuitousness of violence in the film detracts from its overall message.

It is too closely related to mathematics not to have borrowed their gratuitousness.

Examples

  • The report highlighted the gratuitousness of certain expenses that could have been avoided.

  • By this approach, de Lubac had created a problem for himself regarding the gratuitousness of the supernatural.

    Academic text (2008)

  • For a long time, Catholic theology generally defined the supernatural by its gratuitousness in relation to the natural order.

    Academic text (2008)

  • As Michael Czerny notes, "The heart of the encyclical is gift, gratitude, graciousness, and gratuitousness."

    Academic text (2010)

  • It amply references the virtues of solidarity, gratuitousness, and gift.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Economic, social, and political development, if it is to be authentically human, needs to make room for the principle of gratuitousness as an expression of fraternity (no. 34).

    Academic text (2010)

  • Speaking of "the twofold marvel of gratuitousness," he began to acknowledge a double gratuity in things: that of creation and that of our orientation to God's vision.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Life is constituted and structured in all its vital expressions by the dimension of superabundance, received and passed on with a gratuitousness that exceeds the logic of recompense (see nos. 34, 52).

    Academic text (2010)

  • The gratuitousness of the advertisement annoyed many viewers, who felt it was unnecessary and distracting.

Synonyms

superfluousness
vsgratuitousness
8.4

Being more than what is needed

is about things unnecessary because they lack good reason
needlessness
vsgratuitousness
6.2

A situation where something is not needed

focuses on lack of good reason rather than mere absence of need
unnecessity
vsgratuitousness
8.4

A thing or situation that is not needed

stresses lack of justification or being uncalled for
extraneousness
vsgratuitousness
9.9

The fact of not being related or important to the main point

means unnecessary and uncalled for rather than merely off topic

Antonyms

necessity
274 2.0

A thing you need to live, like food or water

justification
156 4.0

A reason or explanation that shows an action is acceptable

How Necessary

necessity
274 2.0
justification
156 4.0
gratuitousness
8.9

Surface Forms

gratuitousness singular
gratuitousnesses plural

Morphology

gratuitousness = gratuitous (semi-transparent) = gratuitous + ness

Formally transparent as 'gratuitous' + '-ness', but 'gratuitous' commonly carries a semantic shift ('unnecessary') that may not be obvious from related forms like 'gratis', so learners can be misled.

Etymology

Gratuitousness comes from the Latin word gratuitus, which meant 'free' or 'given for no reason', and is related to English gratuity ('a small free gift' or tip). So when something is called 'gratuitous', it feels like a gift 'for no reason' — extra and not needed.