The Only Use
gratuitous
in
The Scarlet Letter
(Auto-generated)
- Scorn, bitterness, unprovoked malignity, gratuitous desire of ill, ridicule of whatever was good and holy, all awoke to tempt, even while they frightened him.†
p. 207.6
Definitions:
-
(1)
(gratuitous) unnecessary and unwarranted
or less commonly (except where it is common in the legal field): costing nothing - (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)