Gratuitous

There are those who object to the use of this word in the sense of unfounded, unwarranted, unreasonable, untrue. Its use in this sense, however, has the sanction of abundant authority. "Weak and gratuitous conjectures."—Porson. "A gratuitous a umption."—Godwin. "The gratuitous theory."—Southey. "A gratuitous invention."—De Quincey. "But it is needle to dwell on the improbability of a hypothesis which has been shown to be altogether gratuitous ."—Dr. Newman.