1
as in chance
happening by chance
finding the gold was all the more remarkable because its discovery was entirely accidental
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in irrelevant
not being a vital part of or belonging to something
we're considering the painting's merit as a work of art, its commercial value being entirely accidental as far as we're concerned
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of accidental
This requires not just calls for restraint but the establishment of an investigative commission into the Pahalgam incident and a direct hotline between the two militaries to avoid accidental war.
—
Faisal Kutty, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 May 2025
Officials said Thursday morning the fire was accidental and most likely was spurred from work done earlier on the roof where flames erupted during the night.
—Deanese Williams-Harris, Chicago Tribune, 8 May 2025
Although it’s not known if the crash was accidental or intentional, police said the homeowner was home when the car smashed into the gate.
—Jade Walker, CNN Money, 6 May 2025
Their partnership was born from an accidental introduction at a content conference in Miami.
—Matthew Kayse, USA Today, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for accidental
Faisal Kutty, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 May 2025
Officials said Thursday morning the fire was accidental and most likely was spurred from work done earlier on the roof where flames erupted during the night.
—Deanese Williams-Harris, Chicago Tribune, 8 May 2025
Although it’s not known if the crash was accidental or intentional, police said the homeowner was home when the car smashed into the gate.
—Jade Walker, CNN Money, 6 May 2025
Their partnership was born from an accidental introduction at a content conference in Miami.
—Matthew Kayse, USA Today, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for accidental
Recent Examples of Synonyms for accidental
Adjective
-
This is pretty much your standard-issue focus-group scene, with dopey viewers idiotically nitpicking irrelevant details.—
Jessica M. Goldstein,
Vulture,
2 May 2025
-
And Colorado was about as irrelevant as any power-conference program in the country by the end of the 2022 season.—
Stewart Mandel,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
What to look for: The brick and stone walls are nearly three feet thick in places and are designed to withstand any inadvertent ammunition explosions.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
2 May 2025
-
The scenario has played out in American communities for years -- sometimes resulting from bad intelligence, others from inadvertent officer errors -- often leaving property damaged and families traumatized.—
Devin Dwyer,
ABC News,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The idea came from observing hydrocarbon reservoirs in northern Italy’s Po Valley over two decades — essentially storage wells where gas coming from external pipelines is pumped and stored in summer to create reserves for Italy in winter.—
Julia Buckley,
CNN Money,
4 May 2025
-
Breslow said the team will be open to exploring external options on the trade and free-agent market going forward, but there is nothing imminent on that front.—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
3 May 2025
Adjective
-
What’s perhaps unexpected, and has also contributed to Knies’ rise as a bona fide playoff performer?—
Joshua Kloke,
New York Times,
3 May 2025
-
Instead of leaning into the fit’s natural cowboy aesthetic, designers interpreted the fits in a variety of unexpected ways.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
2 May 2025
Adjective
-
Lauren Heller Since Sagittarians are willing to try anything once, the Fire sign resembles Lauren's adventitious persona.—
Lisa Stardust,
People.com,
31 Mar. 2025
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The patchy and adventitious quality of Jameson’s reconstruction must make clear his difference as a thinker.—
Mark Greif,
Harper's Magazine,
26 July 2024
Adjective
-
More often than not, however, the trickery is unintentional.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
8 May 2025
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Her vast range of brushstrokes and marks, whether meticulous or unintentional, seems infinite and intrinsically intertwined.—
Natasha Gural,
Forbes.com,
26 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Our motivations—both intrinsic and extrinsic—propel us to acquire new skills, build meaningful relationships and progressively assert our autonomy by taking control of our actions.—
Davide Sartini,
Forbes.com,
1 May 2025
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The appeal supports the notion that an extrinsic test wouldn’t be the only way to assess the similarity between the songs.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
1 May 2025
Adjective
-
Potentially 40% of autopsies can reveal additional information beyond testing conducted in life, though not all of these will be incidental.—
Lauren B. Solberg,
Sun Sentinel,
6 May 2025
-
Within the emerging framework, a government at war could claim that starving enemy combatants remained legal and that as a result, incidental civilian deaths were tragic but nearly unavoidable outcomes of a legitimate method of modern warfare against totalitarian enemies.—
Boyd van Dijk,
Foreign Affairs,
30 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Accidental.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/accidental. Accessed 18 May. 2025.
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