incidental
Americanadjective
-
happening or likely to happen in an unplanned or subordinate conjunction with something else.
- Synonyms:
- contingent, fortuitous, chance, casual
- Antonyms:
- fundamental
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incurred casually and in addition to the regular or main amount.
incidental expenses.
-
likely to happen or naturally appertaining (usually followed byto ).
noun
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something incidental, as a circumstance.
-
incidentals, minor expenses.
adjective
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happening in connection with or resulting from something more important; casual or fortuitous
-
found in connection (with); related (to)
-
caused (by)
-
occasional or minor
incidental expenses
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of incidental
Explanation
Incidental means secondary in time or importance. If you lose weight because you moved and must walk further to school, the weight loss was incidental to the move. When something is incidental, it is never the main thing. It's okay to include incidental details as they can add depth to your storytelling, but they are never crucial to the story. A company might pay your main expenses when you travel for business but will probably not reimburse you for the incidental ones. The music you hear between acts of a play is called incidental. It's not crucial to the action, but it makes the waiting easier.
Vocabulary lists containing incidental
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"Bonne Annee," Vocabulary from the personal essay
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Siddhartha
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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 biography synthesizes an impressive collection of sources, including personal correspondence, photographs, portraits and the incidental writings of figures such as Franz Liszt and Victor Hugo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Adams offered two incidental new piano pieces and one for string quartet containing his characteristic rhythmic excitement and melodic eloquence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
The idea was that "this family's life and their happiness is fully built on Max Cady's suffering. He's not an incidental, forgotten figure in their past," Antosca said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
The timing of all this is not incidental.
From Salon ● May 11, 2026
On a map of the United States it is an incidental smudge of green, but on foot the scale of it is colossal.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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.
