incidentally

adverb

in·​ci·​den·​tal·​ly ˌin(t)-sə-ˈden-tᵊl-ē 

 especially for sense 2  -ˈdent-lē

1

: in an incidental manner : not intentionally

the arrant nonsense of some of his statements is incidentally hilarious

—John Lahr

2

: by way of interjection or digression : by the way

fortunate in having a good teacher … —still living, incidentally

—John Fischer

Synonyms

• in passing
• by the way
• by the bye
• by the by

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

Both examples, incidentally, highlight the fact that a war’s name may differ from place to place. —Esther Brito Ruiz, The Conversation, 5 Sep. 2025

The bug’s feces can also end up inside or near a home and then be incidentally ingested or rubbed into the skin or mucous membrane. —Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2025

Thomson, incidentally, was right. —Howard Megdal, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025

The biographer who revived the reputation of our first Secretary of the Treasury—and incidentally launched a trillion amateur rap battles—set his sights on a beloved American satirist this year. —Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1665, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for incidentally

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

Kids 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