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

How to hide Christmas presents Here are some ways to prevent accidentally spoiling your holiday surprise: Holiday deals: Shop this season’s top products and sales curated by our editors. —Cody Godwin, USA TODAY, 16 Dec. 2024

The sketch starts with surgeons accidentally removing the wrong organ due to an annoying co-worker. —Rosa Escandon, Forbes, 15 Dec. 2024

After Santa Claus is accidentally knocked out of commission on Christmas Eve, Nick's nephew, Danny (Josh Zuckerman), tries to save Christmas — while a trio of con artists try to steal from the Wrigleys. —Sydni Ellis, People.com, 15 Dec. 2024

Thuney accidentally gets under the facemask of Garrett and pokes him in the eye. —Raja Krishnamoorthi, Newsweek, 15 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above