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
John Lahr2
: by way of interjection or digression : by the way
fortunate in having a good teacher … —still living, incidentally—John Fischer
John Fischer
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
Berrios, incidentally, is excited about the NFL’s new kickoff rules that should spark more exciting plays on special teams.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 23 Apr. 2024
In 2024, 164 of the world’s 237 states met those criteria, a cohort, incidentally, that excludes most East, South, and Southeast Asian states.
—Shivshankar Menon, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2024
On this sunny weekday afternoon, the area isn’t quite swarmed, but it is consistently occupied with a new group of fans and an increasing stream of local journalists arriving every few minutes, incidentally obstructing traffic and drawing forlorn looks from the neighbors.
—Rachel Handler, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2024
Similarly, the communications of Americans are incidentally monitored in foreign surveillance, and are stored in a database.
—The Editors, National Review, 12 Apr. 2024
The focus of privacy advocates has turned almost entirely to an amendment that aims to force the FBI and other agencies to apply for a warrant before accessing the communications of Americans incidentally captured by the US under the 702 program.
—Condé Nast, WIRED, 10 Apr. 2024
Vergennes and Chaumont are, incidentally, much more complicated figures in this particular exchange than Franklin seems to be, but most viewers won’t be able to tell them apart from a half-dozen other sour-faced Frenchies.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024
Taylor Swift is dropping her new album, The Tortured Poets Department on April 19, which is 13 days from now, and also incidentally a number, which carries a lot of significance for her.
—Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 6 Apr. 2024
Mikolas, incidentally, will make $16 million this year on a team that will rank in the top 10 in payroll, so the Dodgers aren’t the only bunch with a checkbook.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 23 Apr. 2024
In 2024, 164 of the world’s 237 states met those criteria, a cohort, incidentally, that excludes most East, South, and Southeast Asian states.
—Shivshankar Menon, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2024
On this sunny weekday afternoon, the area isn’t quite swarmed, but it is consistently occupied with a new group of fans and an increasing stream of local journalists arriving every few minutes, incidentally obstructing traffic and drawing forlorn looks from the neighbors.
—Rachel Handler, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2024
Similarly, the communications of Americans are incidentally monitored in foreign surveillance, and are stored in a database.
—The Editors, National Review, 12 Apr. 2024
The focus of privacy advocates has turned almost entirely to an amendment that aims to force the FBI and other agencies to apply for a warrant before accessing the communications of Americans incidentally captured by the US under the 702 program.
—Condé Nast, WIRED, 10 Apr. 2024
Vergennes and Chaumont are, incidentally, much more complicated figures in this particular exchange than Franklin seems to be, but most viewers won’t be able to tell them apart from a half-dozen other sour-faced Frenchies.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024
Taylor Swift is dropping her new album, The Tortured Poets Department on April 19, which is 13 days from now, and also incidentally a number, which carries a lot of significance for her.
—Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 6 Apr. 2024
Mikolas, incidentally, will make $16 million this year on a team that will rank in the top 10 in payroll, so the Dodgers aren’t the only bunch with a checkbook.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'incidentally.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near incidentally
Cite this Entry
“Incidentally.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incidentally. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
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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