given, done, bestowed, or obtained without charge or payment; free; voluntary.
2.
being without apparent reason, cause, or justification:
a gratuitous insult.
3.
Law. given without receiving any return value.
Origin
1650-60; < Latingrātuītus free, freely given, spontaneous, derivative of grātus thankful, received with thanks (for formation cf. fortuitous); see -ous
But they cannot understand breaking the law as anything but gratuitous rebellion.
That said, there is of course no ethical justification for causing gratuitous suffering among our animal kin.
They may just not be as open culturally to gratuitous violence.
Indeed, much of the novel's unpleasantness is gratuitous, or at least a violation of the genre's conventions.
The extinction of species has been involved in the most gratuitous mystery.
And throw in some gratuitous accent marks.
So while it was an eye-popping effect, it wasn't gratuitous.
His psychologically and dramatically unwarranted attack on them is surely the most gratuitous farewell speech ever written.
Only man behaves with such gratuitous folly.
We don't need any gratuitous advice from your side.
British Dictionary definitions for gratuitous
gratuitous
/ɡrəˈtjuːɪtəs/
adjective
1.
given or received without payment or obligation
2.
without cause; unjustified
3.
(law) given or made without receiving any value in return: a gratuitous agreement
Derived Forms
gratuitously, adverb gratuitousness, noun
Word Origin
C17: from Latin grātuītus, from grātia favour
Word Origin and History for gratuitous
adj.
1650s, "freely bestowed," from Latin gratuitus "done without pay, spontaneous, voluntary," from gratus "pleasing, agreeable," from gratia "favor" (see grace). Sense of "uncalled for, done without good reason" is first recorded 1690s.