accidental

/,æksi'dentl/

Thân thiện

An accidental discovery led to a new scientific breakthrough.

Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Happening by chance or unexpectedly; not planned or intended: Refers to an event or outcome that occurs without deliberate action or foresight.
   • Incidental; secondary; not essential: Describes something that is minor, supplementary, or not part of the main purpose or nature of something.

2. Noun:

   • (Music) A sign placed before a note to raise or lower its pitch: A symbol (sharp ♯, flat ♭, or natural ♮) that temporarily alters the pitch of a note from what is indicated by the key signature.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:

  • The fire was purely accidental; no one meant for it to happen.
  • He made an accidental discovery while cleaning the old laboratory.
  • The beauty of the pattern was accidental, not designed.

• Noun:

  • The pianist added an accidental to the score, changing the F to an F-sharp.
  • In this measure, you need to play the note with the accidental, not the key signature.

Advanced Usage

• "accidental to something": incidental or secondary to the main thing.

  • The financial gain was accidental to his main goal of helping the community.

• In philosophy/logic: Pertaining to a non-essential attribute.

  • In Aristotelian terms, color is an accidental property of an object, not part of its essence.

Variants and Related Words

• Accidentally (adverb): In an accidental manner; by chance.

  • She accidentally deleted the important file.

• Accidentalness (noun, rare): The quality of being accidental.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Unintentional, fortuitous, chance, inadvertent, incidental, serendipitous.
• Noun (Music): Alteration sign, chromatic sign.

Antonyms

• Adjective: Intentional, deliberate, planned, essential, inherent.

Related Phrases/Idioms

• A happy accident: An accidental event that has a beneficial or positive outcome.

  • The invention of penicillin was a happy accident.

• By accident: By chance; unintentionally.

  • I found the old letters by accident while moving.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. happening by chance or unexpectedly or unintentionally
   • with an inadvertent gesture she swept the vase off the table
   • accidental poisoning
   • an accidental shooting

Noun

1. a musical notation that makes a note sharp or flat or natural although that is not part of the key signature

Từ đồng nghĩa

• inadvertent