1
[ adjective ] without cause

Examples

"a gratuitous insult"

Used in print

(Harold Rosenberg, "The Trial and Eichmann"...)

The gruesome humor of the Nazis was not forgotten - the gas_chamber with a sign on it with the name of a Jewish foundation and bearing a copper Star_of_David - nor the gratuitous sadism of SS officers .

Related terms

unmerited

2
[ adjective ] costing nothing

Examples

"complimentary tickets"

Related terms

unpaid

3
[ adjective ] unnecessary and unwarranted

Examples

"a strikers' tent camp...was burned with needless loss of life"

Related terms

unnecessary

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