as in unnecessary
not needed by the circumstances or to accomplish an end
he writes very spare prose, with nary an inessential word to be found
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Recent Examples of inessential
Though somewhat inessential, Far From Home is a fun diversion with a killer mid-credits sequence that beautifully sets up the third film.
—
Darren Franich, EW.com, 7 Jan. 2025
That kind of wheel-spinning can be infuriating in a genre show; think of how the second season of Yellowjackets eventually became too unwieldy or how certain episodes of Lost (one of From’s clear inspirations) felt inessential.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2024
The season ended, the credits rolled, and I was tossed into the abyss of inessential programming.
—Evan Waite, The New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2024
When photography went digital, photo lab technicians and manual retouchers were suddenly as inessential as medieval scribes.
—Steven Kurutz, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inessential
Darren Franich, EW.com, 7 Jan. 2025
That kind of wheel-spinning can be infuriating in a genre show; think of how the second season of Yellowjackets eventually became too unwieldy or how certain episodes of Lost (one of From’s clear inspirations) felt inessential.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2024
The season ended, the credits rolled, and I was tossed into the abyss of inessential programming.
—Evan Waite, The New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2024
When photography went digital, photo lab technicians and manual retouchers were suddenly as inessential as medieval scribes.
—Steven Kurutz, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inessential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inessential
unnecessary
Adjective
-
Without a clear roadmap, friendship breakups often feel ambiguous, or sometimes lead to unnecessary hurt.—
Charles Trepany,
USA Today,
7 June 2025
-
These unnecessary burdens slow them down, drain their energy, and keep them from reaching their next level.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inessential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inessential. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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