fortuitous

[ fawr-too-i-tuhs, -tyoo- ]

See synonyms for: fortuitous fortuitously fortuitousness on Thesaurus.com

adjective

happening or produced by chance; accidental: a fortuitous encounter.
lucky; fortunate: a series of fortuitous events that advanced her career.

Origin of fortuitous

First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin fortuitus, fortuītus, equivalent to fortu- (u-stem base, otherwise unattested, akin to fors, genitive fortis “chance, luck”) + -itus, -ītus adjective suffix (for formation cf. gratuitous); see -ous

synonym study For fortuitous

1. See accidental.

confusables note For fortuitous

Fortuitous has developed in sense from “happening by chance” to “happening by lucky chance” to simply “lucky, fortunate.” This development was probably influenced by the similarity of fortuitous to fortunate and perhaps to felicitous : A fortuitous late-night snowfall made for a day of great skiing.
Many object to the use of fortuitous to mean simply “fortunate” and insist that it should be limited to its original sense of “accidental.” In modern standard use, however, fortuitous almost always carries the senses both of accident or chance and luck or fortune. It is infrequently used in its sense of “accidental” without the suggestion of good luck, and even less frequently in the sense “lucky” without at least a suggestion of accident or chance: A fortuitous encounter with a former schoolmate led to a new and successful career for the artist.

Other words for fortuitous

1	incidental

See synonyms for fortuitous on Thesaurus.com

Other words from fortuitous

for·tu·i·tous·ly, adverb
for·tu·i·tous·ness, noun
non·for·tu·i·tous, adjective
non·for·tu·i·tous·ly, adverb
non·for·tu·i·tous·ness, noun
un·for·tu·i·tous, adjective
un·for·tu·i·tous·ly, adverb
un·for·tu·i·tous·ness, noun

Words that may be confused with fortuitous

felicitous, fortuitous , fortunate (see confusables note at the current entry)

Words Nearby fortuitous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fortuitous in a sentence

That is just the first of several fortuitous twists of fate.
Roger Federer may be out with an injury, but he’s present — and forthcoming — in a new book | Michael Cavna | August 25, 2021 | Washington Post
Over time, a sphere of rock formed around the fossil before eventually breaking open in a fortuitous way.
How fossilization preserved a 310-million-year-old horseshoe crab’s brain | Rebecca Dzombak | August 20, 2021 | Science News
It was a far less fortuitous time to be an autistic person in the real world.
Atypical Fell Short as Both Autistic Representation and Entertainment. At Least It Was Eclipsed During Its Own Time | Sarah Kurchak | July 16, 2021 | Time
It was a fortuitous find, as most of the brewery’s archives had been destroyed in a series of fires.
Senate, a classic D.C. beer, is on tap at Nationals Park this season | Scott Allen | April 15, 2021 | Washington Post
It was a fortuitous time to have one, for the pressing question of the day regarding her race was how to deal with its continued subjugation, often enforced by lynching.
A child’s murder, a lynch mob and the early days of the NAACP | Jerald Walker | March 19, 2021 | Washington Post

“It was a fortuitous discovery,” Bruenn told The Daily Beast last week.
Ebola's Roots Are 50 Times Older Than Mankind. And That Could Be the Key to Stopping It. | Michael Daly | October 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
But all kinds of fortuitous circumstances—important people “seeing that”—led him to getting cast in Inside Llewyn Davis.
‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ Star Oscar Isaac Is About to Be a Very Big Deal | Kevin Fallon | December 5, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
All of which is why the juxtaposition of these two cases is fortuitous.
Mumbai Massacre Perpetrator's Sentence Affirmed | Dilip D’Souza | September 3, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
And 1968 was a fortuitous year to become European Champions: it was the year that defined an age.
A Manchester United Fan Defends His Faith | Peter Pomerantsev | May 26, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
What is useful in sport might be less fortuitous in other circumstances.
Pakistan's Army Is Impotent | M.J. Akbar | May 7, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
But the inordinate and fortuitous gains from land are really only one example from a general class.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen Leacock
In short, birth was fortuitous, a product of circumstance plus proximity, its get a biological accident.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942 | Various
Many finds have been simply fortuitous, but tombs have been the most valuable repositories.
The Towns of Roman Britain | James Oliver Bevan
This one has ended in a great good; really, it's the most fortuitous happening in my brief career as a minister of the Gospel.
David Lannarck, Midget | George S. Harney
No one supposes the agreement with the phenomena of light with the theory of undulations to be merely fortuitous.
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive | John Stuart Mill

British Dictionary definitions for fortuitous

fortuitous

/ (fɔːˈtjuːɪtəs) /

adjective

happening by chance, esp by a lucky chance; unplanned; accidental

Origin of fortuitous

C17: from Latin fortuitus happening by chance, from forte by chance, from fors chance, luck

Derived forms of fortuitous

fortuitously, adverb
fortuitousness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Browse