Is extraneous formal or informal?

What's the difference between extraneous and irrelevant?

How do I use extraneous in a sentence?

Is extraneous common in academic writing?

← Dictionary

extraneous

/ɪkˈstrɛniəs/

IELTSAcademic

adjective

Not relevant to the main topic or purpose; irrelevant or distracting detail.

Ignore the background noise during the test.
Students removed extraneous data from the report.
The document had too many extraneous notes.

Adinary Nuance

Near-neighbors: unlike irrelevant (general mismatch) or inessential (milder), extraneous often implies an intrusive, distracting element in a focused setting such as research or exams.

In other languages

Spanish: Irrelevante, no aplica
Japanese: 余分な、関連のない
Korean: 관련이 없는
Vietnamese: Không liên quan
Chinese: 无关的

Common phrases

extraneous variablesextraneous informationextraneous detail

Synonyms

irrelevant inessential unrelated distracting superfluous

Frequently asked questions

Is extraneous formal or informal?: Is extraneous formal or informal?
What's the difference between extraneous and irrelevant?: What's the difference between extraneous and irrelevant?
How do I use extraneous in a sentence?: How do I use extraneous in a sentence?
Is extraneous common in academic writing?: Is extraneous common in academic writing?