Synonyms for accidental
modified
Happening by chance
chance, fortuitous, coincidental, unintentional, inadvertent, unplanned, unpremeditated, undesigned, unwitting, uncalculated, unintended, unanticipated, unforeseen, unexpected, casual, adventitious, random, haphazard, involuntary, lucky, unlucky, serendipitous, fluky*; see also unexpected.
Incidental
incidental, secondary, nonessential, adventitious; see subordinate,
under 3.
accidental describes that which occurs by chance an accidental encounter or outside the normal course of events an accidental attribute; fortuitous, which frequently suggests a complete absence of cause, now usually refers to chance events of a fortunate nature; casual describes the unpremeditated, random, or irregular quality of something a casual remark, a casual visit or its informality casual clothes; incidental emphasizes the nonessential or secondary nature of something incidental expenses; adventitious refers to that which is added extrinsically and connotes a lack of essential connection
See accidental in American Heritage Dictionary 4 Synonyms
accidental fortuitous contingent incidental adventitious
These adjectives apply to what happens unintentionally. Accidental primarily refers to what occurs by chance: an accidental meeting.
It can also mean subordinate or nonessential: “Poetry is something to which words are the accidental, not by any means the essential form” (Frederick W. Robertson).
Fortuitous stresses chance even more strongly: “the happy combination of fortuitous circumstances” (Sir Walter Scott).
Contingent describes what is possible but uncertain because of unforeseen or uncontrollable factors: “The results of confession were not contingent, they were certain” (George Eliot).
Incidental refers to a minor or unanticipated result or accompaniment: “There is scarcely any practice which is so corrupt as not to produce some incidental good” (Enoch Mellor).
Adventitious applies to something acquired or added externally, sometimes by accident or chance: “The court tries to understand ‘whether the young man's misconduct was adventitious or the result of some serious flaw in his character’” (Harry F. Rosenthal).
See accidental in Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus II
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