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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Recent Examples of adventitious
Although individual plants have a lifespan of 30-90 years, adventitious shoots grow up from roots.
—
Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 5 July 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
Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 5 July 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
-
Happiness means pursuing intrinsic rather than extrinsic goals One of the biggest lies that Old Happy tells us, Harrison explains, is that the pursuit of extrinsic goals and external approval — popularity, conformity, financial success, aesthetic beauty — is the key to happiness.—
Nina Zipkin,
CNBC,
2 Mar. 2026
-
Psychologists distinguish between intrinsic motivation (behaviors driven by internal satisfaction and personal values) and extrinsic motivation (behaviors driven by external rewards, recognition or pressure).—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
12 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
On that timescale, human intervention is irrelevant.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Mar. 2026
-
The filing argued that Broadnax’s lyrics were irrelevant to his case since they weren’t used during the guilt-or-innocence phase of arguments.—
Kory Grow,
Rolling Stone,
9 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
In 1992, after decades of external pressure and internal resistance, the country voted to end the system.—
Boyce Upholt,
New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2026
-
The increase in Oscar nominations for Latino talent stems not from organic industry change but from external pressure, particularly the #OscarsSoWhite movement that prompted the Academy to expand its voting body starting in 2016 by recruiting women and members of underrepresented communities.—
Carlos De Loera,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Over the past week, Dru Smith has been essential in a mix of three point guards and extraneous when only two at point were featured.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Each has been given extraneous dramatic business, perhaps to balance the scales with Oliver and Ciara, and to underscore that this is a show about two sets of couples, their trust issues and their need for one another.—
Television Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Baker said Wednesday the bill’s life sentence provision would not include cases where a reckless or drunken driver caused the accidental death of an officer.—
Marta Zherukha,
Miami Herald,
11 Mar. 2026
-
However, prosecutors say Lee’s questions did not accurately describe the bloody scene or his girlfriend’s body, which showed multiple injuries and blunt force trauma that could not be explained by an accidental fall and instead indicated a violent struggle.—
Theresa Braine,
New York Daily News,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Some drink and join, but to others the fishbowl of religion will always be small and alien.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Best actress Oscar nominee Emma Stone plays Michelle Fuller, a Big Pharma corporate executive who is kidnapped by a pair of conspiracy theorists, Teddy and Don (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis), who believe Michelle is key to an alien plot to take over the world.—
David Morgan,
CBS News,
15 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Such a distinction had only ever applied to infrastructure firms, like Huawei or Kaspersky Labs, with ties to adversarial foreign governments, and there was no domestic precedent.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2026
-
Sticking with BCIs, companies like NMT are being pushed by China to help compete with potential foreign rivals like Neuralink or Synchron.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Adventitious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adventitious. Accessed 19 Mar. 2026.
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