accidental
Americanadjective
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happening by chance or accident; not planned; unexpected.
an accidental meeting.
- Synonyms:
- unintentional
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nonessential; incidental; subsidiary.
accidental benefits.
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Music. relating to or indicating sharps, flats, or naturals.
noun
-
a nonessential or subsidiary circumstance, characteristic, or feature.
-
Music. a sign placed before a note indicating a chromatic alteration of its pitch.
adjective
-
occurring by chance, unexpectedly, or unintentionally
-
nonessential; incidental
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music denoting sharps, flats, or naturals that are not in the key signature of a piece
-
logic (of a property) not essential; contingent
noun
-
an incidental, nonessential, or supplementary circumstance, factor, or attribute
-
music a symbol denoting a sharp, flat, or natural that is not a part of the key signature
Usage
What does accidental mean? Accidental describes something that happens by chance or without planning, as in The hero has an accidental meeting with the villain early in the movie that sets the hero on his course.Accidental can also sometimes refer to something that comes about by chance.Example: We had to sign a contract saying we are aware of the possibility of accidental injury.
Related Words
Accidental, casual, fortuitous all describe something outside the usual course of events. Accidental implies occurring unexpectedly or by chance: an accidental blow. Casual describes a passing event of slight importance: a casual reference. Fortuitous is applied to events occurring without known cause, often of a fortunate or favorable nature: a fortuitous shower of meteors. It often also implies good luck or good fortune: a fortuitous choice leading to rapid advancement.
Other Word Forms
- accidentality noun
- accidentally adverb
- accidentalness noun
- accidently adverb
- nonaccidental adjective
- nonaccidentalness noun
- preaccidental adjective
- pseudoaccidental adjective
- quasi-accidental adjective
- unaccidental adjective
Etymology
Origin of accidental
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Medieval Latin word accidentālis. See accident, -al 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Was it possible that this—all of this that seemed so wasteful and so needless—this war, Scheveningen prison, this very cell, none of it was unforeseen or accidental?
From Literature
This is why that February 2021 episode enjoyed a ratings spike, leading one to wonder if the whole lax vetting of “Bachelors” and “Bachelorette” contenders isn’t entirely accidental.
From Salon
The widowed farmer had, after all, witnessed the accidental death of his wife and child.
She said the new rules may reduce casual or accidental exposure to harmful material but adult users will also be worried about their data privacy.
From BBC
The economic consequences are not an accidental byproduct of this conflict, they are an intrinsic aspect of the war.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
