How to Use gratuitous in a Sentence

gratuitous

adjective
Definition of gratuitousnext
Synonyms for gratuitousnext
  • The film was criticized for its gratuitous violence.
  • A local veterinary technician provides gratuitous services to the animal shelter twice a month.
  • Boussy was in the right place as a gratuitous bounce put the ball right in front of her.
    — Eric Bem, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 22 Sep. 2021
  • That crime is the novel’s link to the conceit of the gratuitous.
    — Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2019
  • The gratuitous looks at the pectoral region is just a bonus.
    — Nick Romano, EW.com, 17 Sep. 2019
  • Imagine the impact of this gratuitous slur in the nation of Pushkin, Tchaikovsky, and Mendeleev.
    — Leon Aron, National Review, 11 Nov. 2023
  • Far from being gratuitous, such scenes are, in the author’s telling, the whole point of the novel.
    — Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2022
  • There's no room for gratuitous kindness at the Olympics, Bruno.
    — Justin Kirkland, Esquire, 13 Feb. 2018
  • But even among the very rich there are taboos around gratuitous spending.
    — Ashley Mears, The Economist, 26 June 2020
  • The show is bloody and has lots of fights (with weapons, fists and special powers) but avoids gratuitous gore.
    — Common Sense Media, Washington Post, 29 Sep. 2023
  • The staff at Dai Due know this feeling, which is why their burger rests on a gratuitous serving of the stuff.
    — Oset Babur, GQ, 22 Oct. 2017
  • Clearly, there is a lot wrong with this gratuitous claim.
    — Danielle Sinay, Glamour, 15 Nov. 2022
  • To call them meetings seemed gratuitous, but Nella wasn't in the mood to go down that slippery slope.
    — Rachel Epstein, Marie Claire, 1 June 2021
  • The kills are brutal and the nudity is gratuitous — which is Friday the 13th in a nutshell.
    — Chris Snellgrove, EW.com, 13 Oct. 2023
  • Spread the gravy as one would mustard on a pastrami sandwich and the thing might get a tad gratuitous.
    — Andy Staples, SI.com, 30 June 2017
  • Honestly, the new faceted design is a bit gratuitous, as a USB-C slot at the side or rear of the notebook is just fine.
    — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, 23 Oct. 2018
  • Lawrence is doing his best to take it all in stride, but some hurdles can seem gratuitous.
    — Lily Hay Newman, Wired, 15 Sep. 2020
  • Taking away someone’s right to vote on top of that just seems gratuitous.
    — Danielle Allen, Harper's Magazine, 27 Oct. 2020
  • She's not put in in a gratuitous way or throwaway moment.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2019
  • The culprit, more often than not: a gratuitous amount of pitching changes.
    — Dennis Lin, sandiegouniontribune.com, 13 Sep. 2017
  • This is, frankly, a tad gratuitous and very messy, since there’s no way to eat this without coating your hands in beefy juices.
    — Nick Kindelsperger, Chicago Tribune, 3 Nov. 2022
  • To me, that kind of gratuitous violence sends a very strange message.
    — Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Oct. 2019
  • In the first six episodes, three gratuitous birth scenes included two that ended in the death of both mother and baby.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 26 Sep. 2022
  • The mother of four says that their musical doesn’t warrant more than a PG-13 rating and that the cussing isn’t gratuitous.
    — Anne Kniggendorf, Kansas City Star, 31 Jan. 2024
  • For the survivors, the thought that the killings are entirely gratuitous is unbearable.
    — Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022
  • There basically isn’t a scene in any of your movies that isn’t gratuitous.
    — Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2023
  • Hamas and the Nazis are both antisemitic groups who murdered Jews in awful and gratuitous ways.
    — TIME, 26 Jan. 2024
  • Cue: one very swanky ball, two very upset best friends, and lots and lots of gratuitous, gluteus butt wiggles.
    — Emlyn Travis, EW.com, 24 Mar. 2023
  • Of course, the loosening of self-censorship also led to a whole lot of gratuitous junk.
    — The Mercury News, 24 May 2017
  • The show does a great deal of wheel-spinning around Henry’s quest to cover himself, and does what verges on a gratuitous amount of ogling of James’ nude form as well.
    — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 11 May 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gratuitous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: