coincidentally
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adverb: 1. In a coincidental manner; by coincidence: Used to indicate that two or more events happen at the same time or in a connected way purely by chance, without planning or causal connection.
Usage
The adverb "coincidentally" is used to introduce a statement about an event that is a surprising or notable coincidence. It often appears at the beginning of a sentence or clause. - It modifies a verb, an adjective, or a whole clause to express the manner of occurrence. - It signals that the connection between events is accidental, not intentional.
Examples
- Sentence-initial:
- Mid-sentence:
- Clarifying chance:
Advanced Usage
- "Quite coincidentally": Used to emphasize the purely chance nature of an event.
- Quite coincidentally, I found the exact book I needed at a small used bookstore.
- "Not coincidentally": Used to suggest that an event is accidental, implying a likely hidden connection or cause. (This is a common rhetorical device.)
- Not coincidentally, the company's profits soared after the new management took over.
Variants and Related Words
- Coincidence (noun): A remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.
- Running into you here is such a coincidence.
- Coincidental (adjective): Resulting from a coincidence; happening by chance.
- Our meeting was purely coincidental.
Synonyms
- By chance
- Accidentally (when meaning "by chance," not "by mistake")
- Fortuitously (formal)
- Serendipitously (implies a happy or beneficial chance occurrence)
Antonyms
- Deliberately
- Intentionally
- Predictably
Related Phrases/Idioms
- As luck would have it: Used to describe something that happened by chance.
- As luck would have it, I had an extra ticket.
- By a happy coincidence: Specifies a fortunate chance event.
- By a happy coincidence, we arrived at the station just as the train pulled in.