serendipitous

adjective ser·en·dip·i·tous \ ˌser-ən-ˈdi-pə-təs \

Definition of serendipitous

:obtained or characterized by serendipity

serendipitous discoveries

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serendipitously

adverb

Recent Examples of serendipitous from the Web

One observant and serendipitous walker through the world is the artist Maira Kalman, whose fanciful drawings have graced children’s books, covers for The New Yorker and the pages of many other publications, including The New York Times.

— jack anderson, New York Times, "Maira Kalman and ‘The Principles of Uncertainty’ Head to Jacob’s Pillow," 18 Aug. 2017
But few have a story as serendipitous as Dylan Christensen, the 18-year-old Long Islander currently starring in Calvin Klein’s Fall 2017 campaign.

— janelle okwodu, Vogue, "Meet the Male Model Who Went From Cashier to Calvin Klein Catwalker," 3 Aug. 2017
USC has enjoyed a serendipitous run with explosive receivers.

— zach helfand, latimes.com, "Deontay Burnett can't talk like Keyshawn Johnson, but USC need him to play like that," 29 July 2017
Using those serendipitous data, the scientists determined that millions of pounds of vinyl cyanide hover in Titan’s atmosphere.

— National Geographic, "Building Block for 'Vinyl Life' Found on Saturn's Moon Titan," 28 July 2017
For Lily Collins, landing the role of a woman suffering from anorexia in Netflix’s To the Bone was serendipitous.

— julie mazziotta, PEOPLE.com, "Lily Collins Says To the Bone Doesn't Glamorize Anorexia: 'We Hope to Start a Conversation'," 12 July 2017
This became one of many serendipitous experiences on land where hopeful gold miners and pioneers roamed when Oregon was still a territory.

— janet eastman, OregonLive.com, "The ultimate fixer upper: A charred, vandalized cabin becomes a writer's home (before and after photos)," 22 June 2017
Indian tribes across the nation have been mostly wary of that decision, but at Santa Ysabel the timing of the Justice Department memo, 10 months after the casino failed, seemed also serendipitous.

— j. harry jones, Ramona Sentinel, "Gaming gone bust, tribe turns to marijuana farming," 5 June 2017
That's another thing that proved serendipitous about Fredriksson's recommendation —

— jon meoli, baltimoresun.com, "Trey Mancini overcomes scouting stereotypes to show promise as Orioles regular," 3 June 2017

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