accidentally
adverb
ac·ci·dent·al·ly
ˌak-sə-ˈdent-lē 
-ˈden-tᵊl-ē
-ˈden-tᵊl-ē
: 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
Alcestis Cooky ObergThe Olympic test was thrown out after the test lab accidentally destroyed the backup sample … that's required to confirm a positive result.—Christie Aschwanden
Christie AschwandenHe 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
Shin has maintained that Smith accidentally died and has participated in several interviews over the years.
—Caroline Blair, People.com, 27 July 2025
Kennedy was in prison by the age of 23 on back-to-back charges – first a manslaughter charge after a gun went off, accidentally killing his best friend.
—Andrea May Sahouri, Freep.com, 25 July 2025
It was started in 2001 after 6-year-old Michael Colombini was killed when an oxygen tank was accidentally brought into the room where he was being scanned.
—Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 25 July 2025
Around the time that Berlin was drifting into full membership in Los Lobos, Cervenka and Doe of X accidentally landed in their own side project, playing rockabilly, country and folk music with the Blasters’ Dave Alvin as the Knitters.
—Peter Larsen, Oc Register, 25 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for accidentally
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.
Caroline Blair, People.com, 27 July 2025
Kennedy was in prison by the age of 23 on back-to-back charges – first a manslaughter charge after a gun went off, accidentally killing his best friend.
—Andrea May Sahouri, Freep.com, 25 July 2025
It was started in 2001 after 6-year-old Michael Colombini was killed when an oxygen tank was accidentally brought into the room where he was being scanned.
—Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 25 July 2025
Around the time that Berlin was drifting into full membership in Los Lobos, Cervenka and Doe of X accidentally landed in their own side project, playing rockabilly, country and folk music with the Blasters’ Dave Alvin as the Knitters.
—Peter Larsen, Oc Register, 25 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for accidentally
Cite this Entry
“Accidentally.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accidentally. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share