accidentally

adverb

ac·ci·dent·al·ly ˌak-sə-ˈdent-lē

-ˈden-tᵊl-ē

Synonyms of accidentally next

: in an accidental or unintended manner : by accident

I accidentally deleted the file.

The lock prevents the gate from opening accidentally.

Six lionfish were accidentally released from a home aquarium in Biscayne Bay, Fla., during Hurricane Andrew in 1992.—

Alcestis Cooky Oberg

The Olympic test was thrown out after the test lab accidentally destroyed the backup sample … that's required to confirm a positive result.—

Christie Aschwanden

He bumped into her accidentally on purpose. [=he bumped into her intentionally but he tried to make it appear to be an accident]

Examples of accidentally in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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.

My own experience in 2017—accidentally overheating a Teflon pan and getting sick from the fumes—was the catalyst for launching Caraway. —

Dave Knox, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025 Shots were accidentally fired by a Chicago police officer during the foot pursuit but no one was struck, authorities said. —

Deanese Williams-Harris, Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb. 2025 Rhesus Monkeys Not surprisingly, Florida has several species of monkeys that arrived both intentionally and accidentally. —

Alan Clemons, Outdoor Life, 20 Feb. 2025 But an unwelcome guest had entered in the meantime Comments A man accidentally allowed a surprising houseguest to destroy his roommate's space — but who's really to blame is up for debate. —

Moná Thomas, People.com, 19 Feb. 2025 See all Example Sentences for accidentally