gratuitously

«gratuitously» in Mova's school dictionary: unnecessary and often unkind or shocking: gratuitously rude — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adverb (gratuitously)

meaning for a pupil

1) Without a good reason, in a way that is unnecessary and often unkind or shocking: gratuitously rude. tree →

2) (formal, old) Free of charge, without payment. tree →

sense in the lessons

In reviews of films and books, «gratuitously violent» means there is more violence than the story needs. In ethics lessons it describes harm done for no reason, which makes it worse. Phrases: gratuitously cruel, gratuitously violent, gratuitously rude.

examples

• The villain was gratuitously cruel to the animals. tree →
• The review said the film was gratuitously violent. tree →
• He was gratuitously rude to the waiter for no reason. tree →
• Don't use gratuitously long words in your essay. tree →
• Some games are criticised for being gratuitously gory. tree →

note

Adverb of «gratuitous». Stress: gruh-TYOO-it-us-lee. Not linked to «gratitude». The «free of charge» sense is rare now; «gratuity» (a tip) keeps that idea.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «gratuitously» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.