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gratuitous adjective

Click to hear the UK pronunciation of this wordClick to hear the US pronunciation of this word/grəˈtjuː.ɪ.təs//-ˈtuː.ə.t ̬əs/ adj disapproving

Definition

(of something such as bad behaviour) not necessary; with no cause
A lot of viewers complained that there was too much gratuitous sex and violence in the film.

gratuitously adverb

Click to hear the UK pronunciation of this wordClick to hear the US pronunciation of this word/grəˈtjuː.ɪ.tə.sli//-ˈtuː.ə-/ adv
gratuitously violent

gratuitousness noun

Click to hear the UK pronunciation of this wordClick to hear the US pronunciation of this word/grəˈtjuː.ɪ.tə.snəs//-ˈtuː.ə-/ n [U]

(Definition of gratuitous adjective from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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