Synonyms of inadvertent

inadvertent

adjective

ˌi-nəd-ˈvər-tᵊnt 

as in accidental

happening by chance

an inadvertent encounter with a rattlesnake in the brush

Synonyms & Similar Words

• accidental
• chance
• unexpected
• unintentional
• unintended
• incidental
• unwitting
• fortuitous
• unplanned
• casual
• unpremeditated
• odd
• arbitrary
• random
• fluky
• coincidental
• unforeseen
• haphazard
• unforeseeable
• aimless
• uncertain
• involuntary
• desultory
• freak
• unconscious
• forced
• coerced
• unprompted

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• intentional
• deliberate
• intended
• premeditated
• planned
• calculated
• inevitable
• certain
• predictable
• foreseeable
• sure
• fixed
• destined
• foreseen
• set
• expected
• prescribed
• predetermined
• premeditative
• conscious
• prepense
• voluntary
• willful
• knowing
• unforced
• volunteer
• preordained
• predestined
• foreordained
• freewill

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of inadvertent

That keeps You Got Older on the shelf, and draws your eye to the ways the play has become an inadvertent period piece. —Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 25 Feb. 2026

Meanwhile, victims have slammed the department for inconsistent or nonexistent redactions that allowed for the inadvertent release of nude photos and other private information about victims. —Eric Tucker, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2026

There was nothing at all inadvertent about its disappearance. —Eugene Robinson, The Atlantic, 3 Feb. 2026

Kevin Durant swatted it against the backboard, and then there was an inadvertent whistle during a scramble for the loose ball. —Zach Harper, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2026