WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
par•en•thet•ic
(par′ən thet′ik),USA pronunciation adj.
par′en•thet′i•cal′i•ty par′en•thet′i•cal•ness, n.
par′en•thet′i•cal•ly, adv.
- of, pertaining to, noting, or of the nature of a parenthesis:several unnecessary parenthetic remarks.
- characterized by the use of parentheses.
- Greek parénthet(os) interpolated (verbid of parentithénai, equivalent. to par- par- + en- en-2 + the-, variant stem of tithénai to put + -tos verb, verbal adjective, adjectival suffix) + -ic + -al1
- back formation from parenthetical 1770–80
par′en•thet′i•cal•ly, adv.
'parenthetically' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):