Make Your Point > Archived Issues > GRATUITOUS
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pronounce
GRATUITOUS:
Say it "gruh TOO ih tuss."
To hear it, click here.
By the way, when you say "tuna," do you say "TYOO nuh"? Do you pronounce "tube" as "TYOOB"? If so, you'll probably prefer to pronounce "gratuitous" as "gruh TYOO ih tuss."
You can also soften that last "t" sound into a "d" sound, if you like: "gruh TOO ih duss."
connect this word to others:
Our word gratuitous first meant "free of cost," and you can trace it back to the Latin gratia, meaning "grace, or a favor."
That's why it looks like the words grace, gracious, disgrace, gratis ("free"), gratuity (which now means "a tip" but originally meant "a gift or a favor"), and that one abbreviation you see all the time, "e.g.," which stands for exempli gratia: "by way of example; for the sake of example" or maybe more literally, "by grace of example." That's kind of beautiful, right?
Speaking of gratia, see if you can recall these other related terms:
1. When people __grat____ themselves, they do or say things to get into people's favor, to get into their good graces.
2. and 3. A per____ grat_ is a person who's favored, or rather, welcomed by everybody else in a certain place or situation. And the opposite is a per____ non grat_: someone who's unwelcome, out of favor, out of everybody else's good graces.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
The word "gratuitous" comes from a Latin one meaning "free: given or received without payment."
And that's what it meant here in English, too, at first: "costing nothing, provided free of charge."
Now, meaning-wise, it's a quick jump from "Nobody paid for this" to "Nobody deserved this" and "Nobody asked for this." So, another meaning of "gratuitous" arose, and since at least as far back as 1691, we've used "gratuitous" to mean "done for no good reason."
In other words, gratuitous things are not needed, not necessary, and uncalled-for.
Can you still use "gratuitous" to mean "free, costing $0" today? Sure. But hardly anyone does.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech: adjective: "gratuitous fees," "gratuitous violence."
Other forms: gratuitously, gratuitousness.
how to use it:
This formal word usually has a sharp, negative tone.
When you call something gratuitous, you're saying it shouldn't be there, nobody wants it, it's unnecessary, and often, on top of all that, it's too much of whatever it is.
So, talk about the gratuitous fees that your college or your airline charges you; or the gratuitous sex, violence, or foul language in a movie you're watching; or the gratuitous questions your coworker keeps asking you about your private life.
Even praise and compliments can be called gratuitous: "She deletes any negative or neutral comments below the video, leaving only a heap of gratuitous compliments about how talented she is."
examples:
"What fashion flourish is shared by Justin Bieber, Fidel Castro, Princess Diana and Drake? If you guessed 'double-wristing,' the totally gratuitous but weirdly enduring practice of wearing two wristwatches at once, you're possibly guilty of the extraneous practice yourself."
— Alex Williams, New York Times, 6 November 2019
"We should ban nude scenes for anyone under the age of 50... By the age of 50, most actors have been around long enough to really know their worth. They are no longer naive waifs straight out of drama school, desperate for a credit... If a producer tried to pressure, say, Emma Thompson into a gratuitous topless scene, there is a very good chance that they'd end the conversation holding their broken teeth in their hands."
— Stuart Heritage, The Guardian, 20 November 2019
has this page helped you understand "gratuitous"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "gratuitous" without saying "baseless" or "unwarranted."
try it out:
Think of a time you thought to yourself, "Wow. I hate this. This is so unnecessary. And there's just SO MUCH of it."
Fill in the blanks: "I'd love to get rid of the gratuitous _____ (at, on, or in) _____."
Example: "I'd love to get rid of the gratuitous advertisements on these recipe web sites."
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
This month, our game is "Caption These!"
In each issue this month, caption the images below (A, B, and C) by matching them to the vocabulary words they illustrate (1, 2, and 3). Need a closer look? Give the images a click. And, if you can, explain the exact meaning of each word. I'll share the answers in the following issue. Good luck!
From the previous issue:
Answers:
A: nebulous, B: malevolent, C: tangential.
(To review a word, give it a click.)
Try these today:
1: chimera
2: chintz
3: harrow
review this word:
A. PRICEY.
B. ENTITLED.
C. JUSTIFIED.
2. Professor Umbridge makes gratuitous use of _____.
A. polished, old-fashioned manners: they rub off on her students
B. kittens and the color pink: they plaster every inch of office wall space
C. detentions and extra homework: she turns to them only as a last resort
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Our word gratuitous first meant "free of cost," and you can trace it back to the Latin gratia, meaning "grace, or a favor."
The word "gratuitous" comes from a Latin one meaning "free: given or received without payment."
Part of speech: adjective: "gratuitous fees," "gratuitous violence."
This formal word usually has a sharp, negative tone.
"What fashion flourish is shared by Justin Bieber, Fidel Castro, Princess Diana and Drake? If you guessed 'double-wristing,' the totally gratuitous but weirdly enduring practice of wearing two wristwatches at once, you're possibly guilty of the extraneous practice yourself."
Explain the meaning of "gratuitous" without saying "baseless" or "unwarranted."
Think of a time you thought to yourself, "Wow. I hate this. This is so unnecessary. And there's just SO MUCH of it."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
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