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.
Its reputation for coziness isn’t accidental; it’s the result of centuries of people cooking with what they had, where they lived.
From Salon
The jury were told at this point one of the children caught their hand in the car door and, although it was accidental, it caused an argument between Morgan and the children's mother Georgia Griffiths.
From BBC
"Put simply, it was like hitching a cart to a goat -- an accidental mistake in our cadre appointment process," the North Korean leader explained.
From Barron's
Yet the accidental president made other decisions, less known but no less consequential, during his tenure.
Gary Coleman died in May 2010 at age 42 after suffering a brain hemorrhage in an accidental fall at his home in Utah.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
