unintentionally

adverb

as in inadvertently

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Example Sentences

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 Organizations can unintentionally create systems employees serve rather than systems supporting employees. — Kate Wieczorek, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026 Left unmanaged, these competing priorities can result in the groups unintentionally sabotaging each other’s efforts. — Ganna Pogrebna, Harvard Business Review, 31 July 2026 The worry is that a similar failure by an AI agent pursuing a narrow goal could unintentionally damage emails, banking and other programs people depend on. — Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026 David Cifaldi of Billings fell while hiking at high elevation and unintentionally impaled himself on one of his own trekking poles. — Kris Millgate, Outdoor Life, 29 July 2026 That hearing unintentionally exposed a painful contradiction. — Marianne Pizzitola, New York Daily News, 25 July 2026 Godreque Newsom was accused of unintentionally killing 27-year-old Abari Meade in a car wreck and fleeing the scene. — Taylor Croft, AJC.com, 22 July 2026 Tips for Spraying Remember to avoid using sprays during the heat of the day, and don’t spray flowers—organic products can unintentionally harm pollinators, too. — Lauren Landers, The Spruce, 20 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unintentionally
  1. inadvertently
  2. accidentally
  3. unwittingly
  4. unconsciously
  5. fortuitously
  6. carelessly
  7. arbitrarily
  8. casually
Adverb
  • Export controls have inadvertently fueled China's ambition to reduce foreign dependencies, including rapidly building advanced chipmaking capabilities.
    — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • Trump may have inadvertently lent credence to that case this week.
    — Kate Nishimura, Footwear News, 28 July 2026
Definition of inadvertently
Adverb
  • The team’s social media department was preparing the stream in advance and accidentally published the link.
    — Devon Henderson, New York Times, 22 July 2026
  • Moss recalled a bass fishing trip last fall when his son accidentally hooked Brooke in the shoulder while fish were busting on the surface in front of them.
    — Amber Harding OutKick, FOXNews.com, 20 July 2026
Definition of accidentally
Adverb
  • Robert is unwittingly entrapped, and has absconded with something mob bigwig Lombardi wants revenge for.
    — Leigh Haber, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2026
  • Recent reporting suggests Thiel has extended the argument to Pope Leo XIV directly, framing the current pope’s openness to AI regulation as making him—unwittingly—a vehicle for the same dynamic.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 18 July 2026
Definition of unwittingly
Adverb
  • There is also bias at play, which affects decision-making, even unconsciously.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 July 2026
  • What the team still can’t definitively say is whether sperm whales blow bubbles in their sleep consciously or unconsciously.
    — Margherita Bassi, Popular Science, 23 July 2026
Definition of unconsciously
Adverb
  • And fortuitously, Napalm Death, who played a 19-minute set, espouse the same lefty politics as NPR, in fact maybe even a little more leftist, all things considered, since Barney Greenway wore a Crass T-shirt to the gig.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 15 July 2026
  • Dean Fleischer Camp directed the film, which was originally meant to stream on Disney+, but fortuitously, things changed and, in 2024, the film was given a theatrical release.
    — Angelique Jackson, Variety, 12 June 2026
Definition of fortuitously
Adverb
  • The Dirties includes a scene where Johnson’s out-of-touch high-school character is in blackface, while the Nirvanna web series has bits that carelessly chase juvenile provocation, including stray uses of racial accents and slurs.
    — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 29 July 2026
  • Flying an unmanned aircraft system carelessly or recklessly, interfering with a first responder operation, is also a misdemeanor under state law and San Diego municipal code.
    — Sydney Brammer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 July 2026
Definition of carelessly
Adverb
  • Critics have argued that it is arbitrarily used to keep embarrassing information from being made public.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 July 2026
  • Those who wanted to lead consistently underperformed compared to those who were selected arbitrarily.
    — Zulekha Nathoo, USA Today, 21 July 2026
Definition of arbitrarily
Adverb
  • The murder casually committed by that elemental giant Moose Malloy is only an episode to start the story going.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 July 2026
  • Copy Hathaway’s monochromatic look by pairing them with a matching white top, or wear them casually with a T-shirt and sneakers.
    — Jacqueline Tempera, PEOPLE, 22 July 2026
Definition of casually

Browse Nearby Words

unintentional
unintentionally
uninterested
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Cite this Entry

“Unintentionally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unintentionally. Accessed 1 Aug. 2026.

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