Learn English – I’m looking for a specific word that means to add something which isn’t necessary

single-word-requests

I have run across this site many times and it's helped quite a bit. So enough preambling

I'm looking for a singular word that essentially means

To add something which isn't necessary but is still there and which is not part of a redundancy. I keep on thinking superfluous but that doesnt seem to work.

Superfluous basically means obsolete (that it worked at one stage but no longer.I'm just looking for something that's just not strictly necessary to functioning but included nonetheless.

The only way I can describe the word that I'm looking for is akin to junk DNA. It's there but it's not necessary to functioning. And no I don't think it would be redundant because that infers a backup in case of failure

Strange question I know

Best Answer

How about embellishment?

M-W:

embellish: to make beautiful with ornamentation; to heighten the attractiveness of by adding decorative or fanciful details

embellishment: something serving to embellish; ornament

Embellishments are often considered unnecessary or inessential to functioning, like the hood ornament on a Rolls Royce.

Edit: Another possibility is extraneous.

From M-W:

extraneous: not forming an essential or vital part; having no relevance

Presumably, junk DNA is extraneous (although no one added it; it just worked out that way over time).

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