accidentally

adverb

ac·​ci·​dent·​al·​ly ˌak-sə-ˈdent-lē  -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

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

The special speculated that Burke hit JonBenét with a flashlight, accidentally killing her, and that his parents helped cover it up. —Monica Mercuri, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024

Zendaya and her mother accidentally popped up on the news in Boston this weekend. —Tommy McArdle, People.com, 2 Dec. 2024

The lone score comes when Tar Heels forward Cindy Parlow accidentally heads a ball into her own net. 2002 — Oakland’s Tim Brown and Jerry Rice take turns rewriting the NFL record book in a 26-20 win over the New York Jets. —Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 2 Dec. 2024

Related article Orthorexia: An eating disorder that few people understand and many accidentally applaud If parents want to lay the foundation for a lifelong enjoyment of movement, turning exercise into something associated with dread or shame isn’t the answer. —Oona Hanson, CNN, 1 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above