incidentally

adverb

in·​ci·​den·​tal·​ly ˌin(t)-sə-ˈden-tᵊl-ē 

 especially for sense 2  -ˈdent-lē

1

: in an incidental manner : not intentionally

the arrant nonsense of some of his statements is incidentally hilarious

—John Lahr

2

: by way of interjection or digression : by the way

fortunate in having a good teacher … —still living, incidentally

—John Fischer

Synonyms

• apropos
• en passant

Examples of incidentally in a Sentence

Not incidentally, the market slump was followed by widespread layoffs.

incidentally, have you seen the new building they're putting up?

Recent Examples on the Web

Sartorially, the ascot-wearing dandy owes a debt to the late Bob Evans, whose Beverly Hills mansion, incidentally, is now owned by Warners chief Zas. —Benjamin Svetkey, HollywoodReporter, 18 Apr. 2025

Alex Ingle / Schmidt Ocean Institute Those hooks on its arms also help differentiate colossal squid from from glacial glass squid (G. glacialis), which the team incidentally also spotted during a separate encounter. —New Atlas, 16 Apr. 2025

Most small kidney masses that are found incidentally don’t require treatment. —Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2025

Most small kidney masses that are found incidentally don’t require treatment. —Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1665, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for incidentally

• accidentally
• detrimentally
• fundamentally
• governmentally
• incrementally
• instrumentally
• sentimentally
• temperamentally
• coincidentally
• environmentally
• experimentally
• mentally

Kids Definition

incidentally

adverb

in·​ci·​den·​tal·​ly ˌin(t)-sə-ˈdent-ᵊl-ē 

 especially for sense 2  -ˈdent-lē

1

: in an incidental manner

discusses the problem only incidentally

2

: apart from that : by the way

a one-room school—still standing, incidentally—which was painted red