coincidental
Americanadjective
-
happening by or resulting from coincidence; by chance.
a coincidental meeting.
-
existing or occurring at the same time.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- coincidentally adverb
- coincidently adverb
- noncoincidental adjective
- noncoincidentally adverb
- uncoincidental adjective
- uncoincidentally adverb
Etymology
Origin of coincidental
First recorded in 1790–1800; coincident + -al 1
Explanation
Things that are coincidental take place at the same time, but there isn't any connection. It's just chance — a coincidence. Sometimes things seem connected because they happen at the same time, but they really aren't: they're just coincidental. A sports fan might have a lucky shirt he wears to bring his team luck. But, if his team wins, that's just coincidental. Shirts, unfortunately, don't influence game outcomes. Coincidental is the opposite of causal, which means one thing directly causing another to happen. When coincidental things happen — like a friend calls just when you were thinking of her — it's just luck or chance.
Vocabulary lists containing coincidental
Catching Fire
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Through My Eyes
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Every Soul a Star
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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.
The timing is both coincidental and unfortunate but he is due back after the international break.
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026
Owens is maximalist in her approach, tossing out anything that to her seems funky or confusing or too coincidental, even when they lead to theories that contradict one another.
From Slate • Feb. 27, 2026
What’s happening in the world isn’t a series of coincidental, unrelated events.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 14, 2026
That synchronicity was too frequent to be coincidental.
From Science Daily • Oct. 22, 2025
Any connection between American art and American nature is purely coincidental, but this is only because the nation as a whole has no contact with reality.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
