fortuitous

adjective for·tu·itous \ fȯr-ˈtü-ə-təs , -ˈtyü- , fər- \

Definition of fortuitous

1 :occurring by chance

2 a :fortunate, lucky

from a cost standpoint, the company's timing is fortuitous
—Business Week

b :coming or happening by a lucky chance

belted down the stairs, and there was a fortuitous train
—Doris Lessing

—

fortuitously

adverb

—

fortuitousness

noun

See fortuitous defined for English-language learners

See fortuitous defined for kids

Usage of fortuitous

Sense 2a has been influenced in meaning by fortunate. It has been in standard if not elevated use for some 70 years, but is still disdained by some critics. Sense 2b, a blend of senses 1 and 2a, is virtually unnoticed by the critics. Sense 1 is the only sense commonly used in negative constructions.

Examples of fortuitous in a Sentence

… the intensification of competition on the job market has only exacerbated our class anxiety, as hiring seems all the more uncertain if not fortuitous. —Jeffrey J. Williams, College English, November 2003
… he is a brilliant candidate not despite his anti-intellectualism but because of it. He has stumbled upon a fortuitous moment in which the political culture, tired of wonks and pointy-heads and ideologues, yearns instead for a candidate unburdened by, or even hostile to, ideas. —Jonathan Chait, New Republic, 20 Dec. 1999
Her $170, 000 bid on what is now Matanzas Creek's vineyard was accepted. The south-facing slope was a fortuitous find … its worth more than 10 times as much today. —Jeff Morgan, Wine Spectator, 15 May 1996
His presence there was entirely fortuitous.
You could not have arrived at a more fortuitous time.

Recent Examples of fortuitous from the Web

Although Leckie's second goal was slightly fortuitous, VfB Stuttgart defender Ailton was taken apart down the Swabians left side in the build up to his opening strike.

— SI.com, "Borussia Dortmund vs Hertha Berlin Preview: Classic Encounter, Key Battle, Team News & More," 25 Aug. 2017
With my Instagram hacker in my life, my fortuitous situation stared me in the face.

— krista stevens, Longreads, "Befriending My Iranian Instagram Hacker," 23 Aug. 2017
Dawson's playing career began in a similarly fortuitous way.

— USA TODAY, "Chiefs' Len Dawson to retire after final season in booth," 8 Aug. 2017
Those moments led to some of the most fortuitous discoveries of my life.

— jenna lyons, Glamour, "Here's What Happens When Jenna Lyons Dresses Her Girl Gang," 2 Aug. 2017
A bus full of lucky San Diego Comic-Con attendees discovered this fact in a very fortuitous way when three members of the cast — Arjun Gupta, Hale Appleman, and Summer Bishil — crashed Syfy's Cosplay Karaoke bus on Friday night.

— jean bentley, The Hollywood Reporter, "'The Magicians' Cast Makes Surprise Appearance on the Comic-Con Karaoke Bus," 22 July 2017
There was nothing lucky or fortuitous or nepotistic about it.

— raisa bruner, Time, "How Breakout R&B Star SZA Went From Sharing a Futon to Finding Her Voice," 20 July 2017
A fast bid process How Tryon got the World Equestrian Games in the first place seems fortuitous in retrospect.

— katherine peralta, charlotteobserver, "How a small town in western NC is prepping for the ‘Olympics for horses’," 13 July 2017
But there was another reason Apple wouldn’t so readily part with this cash: The majority of it was in Ireland because of the company’s fortuitous creation of Apple Operations International in Ireland in 1980.

— mihir a. desai, The Atlantic, "Capitalism the Apple Way vs. Capitalism the Google Way," 10 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fortuitous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

For some 250 years, until the early part of the 20th century, "fortuitous" meant one thing only: "happening by chance." This was no accident; its Latin forebear, fortuitus, derives from the same ancient root as the Latin word for "chance," which is "fors." But the fact that "fortuitous" sounds like a blend of "fortunate" and "felicitous" (meaning "happily suited to an occasion") may have been what ultimately led to a second meaning: "fortunate." That use has been disparaged by critics, but it is now well established. Perhaps the seeds of the newer sense were planted by earlier writers applying overtones of good fortune to something that is a chance occurrence. In fact, today we quite often apply "fortuitous" to something that is a chance occurrence but has a favorable result.