accidentally

adverb

ac·​ci·​dent·​al·​ly ˌak-sə-ˈdent-lē  -ˈden-tᵊl-ē 

: in an accidental or unintended manner : by accident

I accidentally deleted the file.

The lock prevents the gate from opening accidentally.

Six lionfish were accidentally released from a home aquarium in Biscayne Bay, Fla., during Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

—Alcestis Cooky Oberg

The Olympic test was thrown out after the test lab accidentally destroyed the backup sample … that's required to confirm a positive result.

—Christie Aschwanden

He bumped into her accidentally on purpose. [=he bumped into her intentionally but he tried to make it appear to be an accident]

Examples of accidentally in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The dagger fourth goal was an own-goal by Zorhan Bassong, who accidentally headed the ball into his own net. — Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 20 Sep. 2026

Customers accidentally wandered in, thinking the restaurant was already open. — Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2026

This should be a last resort reserved for dangerous medications, like fentanyl patches, that need to be disposed of quickly to prevent them from accidentally coming into contact with other humans or pets. — Sunny Linnebur, The Conversation, 18 Sep. 2026

What is supposed to be a chance to heal takes a turn when McConaughey’s mother Ma Mac (portrayed by Holland Taylor in the series) accidentally reveals a decades-old secret that suggests the two friends could actually be half-siblings. — Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for accidentally

• detrimentally
• fundamentally
• governmentally
• incidentally
• incrementally
• instrumentally
• sentimentally
• temperamentally
• coincidentally
• environmentally
• experimentally
• mentally