UNINTENTIONALLY Synonyms: 48 Similar and Opposite Words

unintentionally

adverb

as in inadvertently

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of unintentionally Leaders who are more concerned with receiving credit than creating results can unintentionally silence the very people who could move the business forward. — Ramin Seyed, Forbes.com, 24 Sep. 2026 Misgendering means using incorrect pronouns or other gendered language for someone, intentionally or unintentionally. — Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2026 After internet access was made available unintentionally, the model hacked into multiple real firms. — Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 19 Sep. 2026 The big players, caught unawares, unintentionally ghosting smaller fish hoping to pitch them. — Marlow Stern, Variety, 16 Sep. 2026 Bell stars as heretic priest John Ball, while Garfield portrays a character called Ploughman, a grieving farmer who unintentionally finds himself in a leadership position. — Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026 Nearly two decades later, Stone was unintentionally back in the middle of a PETA fashion story. — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 14 Sep. 2026 Jimothy’s popularity has — perhaps unintentionally — raised public awareness of the importance of accepting people with illness or disability. — Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026 Otto, the executive director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center and a University of Pennsylvania professor, said that although search and rescue dogs are not trained as therapy dogs, that unintentionally became part of their role at ground zero. — ABC News, 10 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unintentionally

Adverb

Digger follows greedy, careless Digger as his company inadvertently catalyzes a disaster with global repercussions—then, whoopsie, sets off another for good measure.

— Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 29 Sep. 2026
An organization can take its savings and inadvertently fill the space with more work.

— Prithvi Singh Shergill, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of inadvertently

Adverb

The problem is that many organizations have built that map accidentally.

— Jessica Wong, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Cincinnati Reds longtime broadcaster Thom Brennaman was suspended indefinitely in 2020 after his microphone accidentally picked up him using a three-letter anti-gay slur.

— Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of accidentally

Adverb

Third place was Japanese director Sabu’s Arrested Memory, a crime caper about a detective with dementia who unwittingly wanders off with a multimillion-dollar ransom, sending cops and criminals on his trail.

— Glenn Garner, Deadline, 21 Sep. 2026
Everyone had a tiny role to play, but unwittingly and based on incomplete information.

— Jessica Kiang, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of unwittingly

Adverb

There’s also evidence that some mimicry happens unconsciously.

— Alesandra Dubin, Glamour, 17 Sep. 2026
Perhaps the actions of England’s peasantry made such a formative impression on young Greengrass that he was unconsciously drawn to other stories with a similar thematic undercurrent.

— Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of unconsciously

Adverb

And, fortuitously for would-be sponsors, something happened in tennis that made these arrangements even more appealing.

— Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
The earnings announcement was fortuitously timed, coming just as reports were surfacing of high-level OpenAI employees joining the company.

— Jordan Novet, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of fortuitously

Adverb

Jasson Domínguez, still a liability on defense, carelessly let a leadoff single bounce past him and roll to the wall in right for a two-base error, but Cole managed to strand the runner at third and logged a scoreless frame.

— Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 6 Sep. 2026
Omar Alderete, O’Nien’s second-half replacement, carelessly did the same thing for the late winner.

— Stuart James, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of carelessly

Adverb

In 2018, the same Judge Kelly ruled in favor of CNN’s Jim Acosta after his press credential was arbitrarily stripped by the White House over his coverage.

— New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 23 Sep. 2026
Louisiana, however, has argued that government regulators acted arbitrarily without proper consideration of health risks.

— Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of arbitrarily

Adverb

While there, McConaughey’s mother, Ma Mac (Holland Taylor) casually mentions there’s a chance the friends could actually be half-brothers.

— Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
That same day, she was photographed ambling down a picturesque street in a striking purple short set, casually holding an Aperol spritz.

— Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of casually

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unintentional

unintentionally

uninterested

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“Unintentionally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unintentionally. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of unintentionally

adverb

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