Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

Thesaurus

fortuitous

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of fortuitous

1 coming or happening by good luck especially unexpectedly
  • your arrival just before the thunderstorm was fortuitous
Synonyms of fortuitous

fluky (also flukey), fortunate, happy, heaven-sent, lucky, providential
Words Related to fortuitous

convenient, opportune, seasonable, timely

unexpected, unforeseen, unlooked-for

accidental, chance, coincidental, serendipitous

auspicious, bright, encouraging, fair, heartening, hopeful, promising, propitious

benign, favorable, golden, good, halcyon

advantageous, beneficial, profitable
Near Antonyms of fortuitous

inconvenient, inopportune, unseasonable, untimely

anticipated, expected, foreseen

deliberate, intentional, planned

inauspicious, unpromising

calamitous, catastrophic, disastrous
Antonyms of fortuitous

hapless, ill-fated, ill-starred, luckless, star-crossed, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky
2 happening by chance
  • firmly believes that the creation of the universe was something other than just the fortuitous coming together of particles of matter
Synonyms of fortuitous

accidental, casual, chance, fluky (also flukey), inadvertent, incidental, unintended, unintentional, unplanned, unpremeditated, unwitting
Words Related to fortuitous

coincidental

freak, odd

aimless, arbitrary, desultory, haphazard, random

uncertain, unexpected, unforeseeable, unforeseen

coerced, forced, involuntary

unconscious, unprompted
Near Antonyms of fortuitous

certain, destined, expected, fixed, foreordained, foreseeable, foreseen, inevitable, predestined, predetermined, predictable, preordained, prescribed, sure

conscious, freewill, knowing, unforced, voluntary, volunteer, willful (or wilful)
Antonyms of fortuitous

calculated, deliberate, intended, intentional, planned, premeditated, premeditative, prepense, set

Synonym Discussion of fortuitous

accidental, fortuitous, casual, contingent mean not amenable to planning or prediction. accidental stresses chance.
    • any resemblance to actual persons is entirely accidental
fortuitous so strongly suggests chance that it often connotes entire absence of cause.
    • a series of fortuitous events
casual stresses lack of real or apparent premeditation or intent.
    • a casual encounter with a stranger
contingent suggests possibility of happening but stresses uncertainty and dependence on other future events for existence or occurrence.
    • the contingent effects of the proposed law

Learn More about fortuitous

  1. See words that rhyme with fortuitous Dictionary: Definition of fortuitous Spanish Central: Translation of fortuitous Nglish: Translation of fortuitous for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of fortuitous for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up fortuitous? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show comments hide comments

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

substantive

important, real, or meaningful

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. cache BuzzFeed reports on Trump-Cohen documents.

  2. intransigence, intransigent Trump cancels Davos trip.

  3. white supremacist Steve King discusses views.

SEE ALL

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games