serendipitous
Americanadjective
-
come upon or found by accident; fortuitous.
serendipitous scientific discoveries.
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serendipitous weather for our vacation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of serendipitous
First recorded in 1940–45; serendipit(y) + -ous
Explanation
Serendipitous is an adjective that describes accidentally being in the right place at the right time, like bumping into a good friend in some unusual location, or finding a hundred dollar bill on the ground. The root of serendipitous comes from the fairy tale "The Three Princes of Serendip," in which three princes make one lucky and surprising discovery after another. A serendipitous moment happens by accident, usually when you’re doing something completely unrelated, like digging a hole in your yard to bury your hamster and finding a treasure chest of jewels. That’s a sad but serendipitous funeral.
Vocabulary lists containing serendipitous
This Week in Words: July 14 - 20, 2018
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Hidden Figures
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Right on Time
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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.
Kelley Kitley, 43, a licensed clinical social worker who owns Serendipitous Psychotherapy in Chicago, is firmly anti-scale.
From Washington Post • Feb. 1, 2022
Serendipitous tools, and creative ideas, that allow us to cope with those meteor-strike events are all around us.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 13, 2020
Serendipitous rather than planned, the simultaneous shows — one group, two solos — of course do not offer a thorough accounting.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 22, 2014
Serendipitous discovery remains as much a possibility within this titanic ark of documents, devices, and things as it does within the programmable library.
From Slate • Jul. 30, 2014
In a page of downward-flowing Chinese characters mounted as a hanging scroll on imported Ming silk here, he copies one of his own poems, “A Serendipitous Composition While Drifting Through Life.”
From New York Times • Mar. 25, 2010
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.
