as in extrinsic
not being a vital part of or belonging to something the point of view that art should be for art's sake and that moral considerations are adventitious to the study of art

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of adventitious Lauren Heller Since Sagittarians are willing to try anything once, the Fire sign resembles Lauren's adventitious persona. Lisa Stardust, People.com, 31 Mar. 2025 The patchy and adventitious quality of Jameson’s reconstruction must make clear his difference as a thinker. Mark Greif, Harper's Magazine, 26 July 2024 The cut appears to have been high enough that the stump should still have enough adventitious buds to regrow. Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 3 Oct. 2023 Plant Deep — Really Deep Tomatoes have the ability to produce roots off their stems, known as adventitious roots. Margaret Roach, New York Times, 12 May 2020 This can also occur when trees are planted too deep, as adventitious (growing sideways from the stem) roots grow against the stem and squeeze the sapwood. Rebecca Jepsen, The Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adventitious
Adjective
  • It has been observed that extrinsic rewards can override intrinsic motivations over time.
    John Werner, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025
  • Our motivations—both intrinsic and extrinsic—propel us to acquire new skills, build meaningful relationships and progressively assert our autonomy by taking control of our actions.
    Davide Sartini, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
Adjective
  • This is the myth of convergence, fueling concerns that AI will flatten the field, that strategy becomes irrelevant when everyone has access to the same intelligence.
    Shekar Natarajan, Forbes.com, 12 June 2025
  • But freshness can be irrelevant at the box office for these ventures.
    Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2025
Adjective
  • The central idea for blended-wing aircraft is that fashioning a plane out of a single, wide, wing-like structure would reduce the area that touches external airflow, thereby reducing drag that holds a plane back.
    Calif. Senior Correspondent, Time, 12 June 2025
  • What the Fudan team achieved was an implant that worked without the external camera and without a power source.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 12 June 2025
Adjective
  • And, to be clear, there are some people who use protests like the ones against Trump’s immigration raids as a cover and excuse to pursue an extraneous agenda of violence and anarchy.
    Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025
  • Savvy business owners are generally cognizant of macroeconomic, geopolitical, and other extraneous elements that impact their performance.
    Jeffrey Johnston, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
Adjective
  • The trauma Miami Dolphins fans experience isn’t accidental.
    Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 6 June 2025
  • The difference in these teams after this opening act — 80 minutes of often great, mostly white-knuckled hockey — was an accidental flip of the puck out of play for a two-minute penalty near the end of overtime.
    Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 5 June 2025
Adjective
  • Through several attempts, the player must investigate alien ruins, study a bit of history, and discover the cause of the time loop before trying to fix things.
    Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 7 June 2025
  • Our heavily armored alien menace starts taking out drug cartel goons and making a mess, and a couple of cops (Danny Glover and Bill Paxton) plus an unhinged DEA agent (Gary Busey) are on the case to investigate.
    Brian Truitt, USA Today, 7 June 2025
Adjective
  • Hidden Christians were forced to hide all visible signs of their religion after the 1614 ban on Christianity and the expulsion of foreign missionaries.
    Foster Klug, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2025
  • Recently, Bukele passed a law cracking down on human rights, pro-democracy and anti-corruption groups that receive foreign funding.
    Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald, 4 June 2025

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“Adventitious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adventitious. Accessed 16 Jun. 2025.

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