accidentally

[ ak-si-den-tl-ee ]

adverb

1. by chance or mistake; in a way that is not planned or intended:

   If you break your key, whether accidentally or on purpose, there is a $40 charge to replace it.

2. in a nonessential or subsidiary way; incidentally:

   Philosophy is essentially a vocation, and only accidentally a profession.

Other Words From

• non·ac·ci·den·tal·ly adverb
• pre·ac·ci·den·tal·ly adverb
• pseu·do·ac·ci·den·tal·ly adverb
• qua·si-ac·ci·den·tal·ly adverb
• un·ac·ci·den·tal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of accidentally¹

accidental ( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

When Luc’s work for a nonprofit is endangered by accidental public embarrassment, the pretend relationship works to his advantage and to Oliver’s, who needs a plus-one for a family event.

From Washington Post

Those who are allergic shouldn’t expect to scarf down PB&Js anytime soon, but not having to fear that an accidental brush with nuts could take their lives is an even more delicious treat.

From Ozy

He scored an accidental touchdown Sunday against the Lions, remember, when the Falcons planned to run down the clock before kicking a potential winning field goal.

From Washington Post

We have an accidental President, who is there only because of the archaic electoral college.

From Fortune

With the WebSite Auditor’s new Content Editor module, you can also avoid a potential penalty and create pages without the risk of accidental keyword stuffing.

From Search Engine Land

But, Adnan suggest that Jay butt-dialed Nisha by mistake on his phone and accidentally left a two-minute voicemail.

From The Daily Beast

Along the way, he accidentally embeds a nail in his foot, which is not symbolic at all.

From The Daily Beast

Hathaway says she discovered that everyone hated her accidentally.

From The Daily Beast

“It was as though she had veered, accidentally, into her own life,” writes Shields elsewhere.

From The Daily Beast

On her first episode live from New York, she accidentally said the f-word.

From The Daily Beast

It wasn't far, so we kept on, and presently it developed that we had accidentally come upon old Piegan Smith.

From Project Gutenberg

Again, mebbe it would–if the hull thing that happened next was accidentally a-purpose.

From Project Gutenberg

They had, perhaps, when they were thus accidentally lifted to power, no very definite intentions of any sort.

From Project Gutenberg

On the 22d August, one of the plants having been accidentally injured, the experiment was terminated.

From Project Gutenberg

One day he accidentally let slip some words about Melbourne, which he could not well have done unless he had seen the place.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• unintentionally
• unwittingly

How Do You Spell Accidentally?

Spelling tips for accidentally

The word accidentally is hard to spell because it can be hard to remember which letters are doubled and which are not. To add to the confusion, there are two possible spellings of accidentally. While less common, accidently is also an acceptable spelling of the word.

How to spell accidentally: It’s no accident that many animals have two eyes to see (C) And two ears to Listen (L). This reminds you that the letters c and l are doubled in accidentally, with an a in between.