incidentally
adverb
in·ci·den·tal·ly
ˌin(t)-sə-ˈden-tᵊl-ē 
especially for sense 2 -ˈdent-lē
1
a
: in an incidental manner : not intentionally
… the arrant nonsense of some of his statements is incidentally hilarious.—
John Lahr
John Lahr
b
: as something that is less important
mentions the issue only incidentally
2
: by way of interjection or digression : by the way
… fortunate in having a good teacher … —still living, incidentally …—John Fischer
John FischerSynonyms of incidentally
Examples of incidentally in a Sentence
Not incidentally, the market slump was followed by widespread layoffs.
incidentally, have you seen the new building they're putting up?
Recent Examples on the Web
When Apollo 13 claimed SAG’s outstanding ensemble in a motion picture award — incidentally, in its first year of existence — the pieces seemed to lock into place.
—Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 19 Dec. 2025
The film is an homage to Cinema Paradiso, which incidentally was one of the late Umberto Muratori’s favorite films.
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2025
To many, the motion closely resembled that of a human taking off a VR headset — which is, incidentally, how Tesla has controlled its dancing, bartending robots at previous events, at times without disclosing the tele-operation detail to the human attendees.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 17 Dec. 2025
The Wall of Death, incidentally, involves splitting the crowd down the middle, creating a channel of space, and then having the two sides charge across it like clashing medieval armies.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 16 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incidentally
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Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 19 Dec. 2025
The film is an homage to Cinema Paradiso, which incidentally was one of the late Umberto Muratori’s favorite films.
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2025
To many, the motion closely resembled that of a human taking off a VR headset — which is, incidentally, how Tesla has controlled its dancing, bartending robots at previous events, at times without disclosing the tele-operation detail to the human attendees.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 17 Dec. 2025
The Wall of Death, incidentally, involves splitting the crowd down the middle, creating a channel of space, and then having the two sides charge across it like clashing medieval armies.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 16 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incidentally
Cite this Entry
“Incidentally.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incidentally. Accessed 25 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
incidentally
adverb
in·ci·den·tal·ly
ˌin(t)-sə-ˈdent-ᵊl-ē
especially for sense 2 -ˈdent-lē
1
: in an incidental manner
discusses the problem only incidentally
2
: apart from that : by the way
a one-room school—still standing, incidentally—which was painted red
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