coincidental
Americanadjective
-
happening by or resulting from coincidence; by chance.
a coincidental meeting.
-
existing or occurring at the same time.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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 average S&P 500 return on a new chair’s first day is negative 0.29%, though the two worst performances in the modern era were largely coincidental.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
I don’t think the timing and virality of these moments, in this season, is coincidental.
From Slate • May 20, 2026
The military is not coincidental to this project — it is central to it.
From Salon • May 3, 2026
Patel, an avid hockey fan, has defended the trip, arguing that the timing was coincidental with meetings he had been planning to attend with the FBI’s European counterparts.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026
Though music’s flirtation with surrealism was short-lived - how can such an unreal art form ever really have had any relationship with surrealism? - one controversial aspect of Parade’s score had some coincidental forward momentum.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
