accidental
happening by chance or accident; not planned; unexpected: an accidental meeting.
nonessential; incidental; subsidiary: accidental benefits.
Music. relating to or indicating sharps, flats, or naturals.
a nonessential or subsidiary circumstance, characteristic, or feature.
Music. a sign placed before a note indicating a chromatic alteration of its pitch.
Origin of accidental
1synonym study For accidental
Other words for accidental
Opposites for accidental
Other words from accidental
- ac·ci·den·tal·ly, ac·ci·dent·ly, adverb
- ac·ci·den·tal·ness, ac·ci·den·tal·i·ty, noun
- non·ac·ci·den·tal, adjective, noun
- non·ac·ci·den·tal·ness, noun
- pre·ac·ci·den·tal, adjective
- pseu·do·ac·ci·den·tal, adjective
- qua·si-ac·ci·den·tal, adjective
- un·ac·ci·den·tal, adjective
Words Nearby accidental
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use accidental in a sentence
You have no idea which elements were due to your innate talent and which were accidental.
How I learned to tell stories on purpose in the new Frog Fractions | Ars Staff | September 11, 2020 | Ars TechnicaThat was followed by a report that roughly 30 percent of college athletes who've contracted the virus end up with inflammation of the heart muscle, called myocarditis—a number that ESPN is now saying is an accidental exaggeration.
Evidence slowly building for long-term heart problems post-COVID-19 | John Timmer | September 3, 2020 | Ars TechnicaIf you manage sites with licensable images, this tag can help communicate the licensing details to potential customers, reduce accidental image theft and increase revenues for your images.
Google officially launches ‘licensable’ image label and filter in Image search | Barry Schwartz | August 31, 2020 | Search Engine LandSo when he died in December 2019, at age 21, after a seizure from an accidental overdose of oxycodone and codeine, it crushed people everywhere.
We Hear Dead People: Our Favorite Posthumous Hip-Hop Albums. Ever | Joshua Eferighe | August 31, 2020 | OzyResearchers cannot ethically alter human prenatal hormone levels, so they rely on “accidental experiments” in which prenatal hormone levels or responses to them were unusual, such as with intersex people.
This is kind of an accidental career for me—which is why I approach it with irreverence and playfulness.
DJ Spooky Wants You To Question Everything You Know About Music, Technology, and Philosophy | Oliver Jones | December 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhatever irregularities occurred were accidental and insignificant.
Honoring The Late John Doar, A Nearly Forgotten Hero Of The Civil Rights Era | Gary May | November 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn 1978, Scott Newman, his 28-year-old son, died of an accidental drug and alcohol overdose.
The Stacks: The Eyes of Winter: Paul Newman at 70 | Peter Richmond | October 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAn accidental mix-up of measles vaccine and a common muscle relaxer killed at least 15 Syrian children, and possibly many more.
Measles Vaccine Mix-Up Kills Dozens of Syrian Children | Kent Sepkowitz | September 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAround two thirds of these accidental deaths happened in the home or vehicle of the family, with mostly unsecured guns.
9-Year Old With an Uzi? America Is Tougher on Toys Than Guns | Cliff Schecter | August 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNo accidental relations of parts of names is resorted to, as was done in the case of the American Presidents.
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)Christianity owed its magnificent opportunities (which it has wasted) to several accidental circumstances.
God and my Neighbour | Robert BlatchfordIn the meantime, Colonel Fry had died suddenly from an accidental fall, and Washington had succeeded to the command.
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia | Dorothy M. TorpeyA statesman's life is the life for me; behold Mr. Devenish, the new M.P.—no, look here, that was quite accidental.
First Plays | A. A. MilneAccording to him, literature ought to be intentional, and the accidental restrained as much as possible.
Charles Baudelaire, His Life | Thophile Gautier
British Dictionary definitions for accidental
/ (ˌæksɪˈdɛntəl) /
occurring by chance, unexpectedly, or unintentionally
nonessential; incidental
music denoting sharps, flats, or naturals that are not in the key signature of a piece
logic (of a property) not essential; contingent
an incidental, nonessential, or supplementary circumstance, factor, or attribute
music a symbol denoting a sharp, flat, or natural that is not a part of the key signature
Derived forms of accidental
- accidentally, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse