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
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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
-
This failure for Trump may represent an inadvertent success for America.—
Wesley Alexander Hill,
Forbes.com,
7 May 2025
-
Eklund is now recovering from the inadvertent cut during a tune-up game between Sweden and the Czech Republic on Saturday in advance of the IIHF World Championships, which begin later this week with Eklund’s hometown of Stockholm being a co-host.—
Curtis Pashelka,
Mercury News,
5 May 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
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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
-
In a speech Thursday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested rates could be higher in the long term because of unexpected events that constrain supplies and push up prices.—
Paul Davidson,
USA Today,
16 May 2025
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Related article Pope Leo XIV’s unexpected New Orleans Creole background excites city’s large Catholic community The boy whose deep sense of community and compassion was molded by his experiences in the village of Dolton was made a cardinal later that year.—
Ray Sanchez,
CNN Money,
15 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
-
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 22 May. 2025.
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