Extrinsic

//ɛksˈtɹɪn.zɪk// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An external factor.
Adjective
  1. 1
    External; separable from the thing itself; inessential.
  2. 2
    Not belonging to something; outside.

    "1 Experimental set up for strength testing of the flexor hallucis muscle of the right foot To ensure accurate positioning of the hallux onto the load cell, and to minimise the influence of the extrinsic muscles of the foot (ankle plantarflexors and flexor hallucis longus) and the 2nd to 4th toes, a purpose-built wooden platform was constructed and positioned under the NWBB."

Adjective
  1. 1
    not forming an essential part of a thing or arising or originating from the outside wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
extraneousforeignaccidentalacquiredadriftadscititious

Example

More examples

"The liberty of man consists solely in this: that he obeys natural laws because he has himself recognized them as such, and not because they have been externally imposed upon him by any extrinsic will whatsoever, divine or human, collective or individual."

Etymology

From French extrinsèque, from Latin extrinsecus (“from without, without, on the outside”), from *extrim, an assumed adverbial form of exter (“outer, outward”) + secus (“by, on the side”).

Related phrases

extrinsic motivationextrinsic proteinextrinsic rewardextrinsic value

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.