Synonyms of fortuitous

fortuitous

adjective

fȯr-ˈtü-ə-təs 

1

as in fortunate

coming or happening by good luck especially unexpectedly

your arrival just before the thunderstorm was fortuitous

Synonyms & Similar Words

• fortunate
• happy
• lucky
• coincidental
• convenient
• providential
• favorable
• unexpected
• flukey
• fluky
• heaven-sent
• promising
• timely
• opportune
• unforeseen
• accidental
• chance
• serendipitous
• beneficial
• seasonable
• hopeful
• propitious
• auspicious
• benign
• bright
• unlooked-for
• encouraging
• good
• advantageous
• profitable
• heartening
• golden
• fair
• halcyon

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unfortunate
• unlucky
• unhappy
• untimely
• hapless
• luckless
• inconvenient
• inopportune
• anticipated
• intentional
• foreseen
• unseasonable
• deliberate
• expected
• planned
• ill-fated
• ill-starred
• disastrous
• star-crossed
• inauspicious
• catastrophic
• unpromising
• calamitous

2

as in accidental

happening by chance

firmly believes that the creation of the universe was something other than just the fortuitous coming together of particles of matter

Synonyms & Similar Words

• accidental
• unexpected
• chance
• inadvertent
• incidental
• unintentional
• unplanned
• unintended
• unpremeditated
• odd
• flukey
• casual
• unwitting
• coincidental
• fluky
• random
• arbitrary
• haphazard
• unforeseen
• unforeseeable
• uncertain
• aimless
• freak
• desultory
• unconscious
• involuntary
• forced
• unprompted
• coerced

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• intentional
• deliberate
• intended
• planned
• inevitable
• premeditated
• calculated
• certain
• predictable
• sure
• foreseeable
• foreseen
• destined
• fixed
• set
• expected
• predetermined
• premeditative
• prescribed
• conscious
• prepense
• predestined
• knowing
• voluntary
• wilful
• preordained
• willful
• foreordained
• volunteer
• unforced
• freewill

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective fortuitous differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of fortuitous are accidental, casual, and contingent. While all these words mean "not amenable to planning or prediction," fortuitous so strongly suggests chance that it often connotes entire absence of cause.

a series of fortuitous events

When is it sensible to use accidental instead of fortuitous?

The meanings of accidental and fortuitous largely overlap; however, accidental stresses chance.

any resemblance to actual persons is entirely accidental

When might casual be a better fit than fortuitous?

While in some cases nearly identical to fortuitous, casual stresses lack of real or apparent premeditation or intent.

a casual encounter with a stranger

When could contingent be used to replace fortuitous?

Although the words contingent and fortuitous have much in common, contingent suggests possibility of happening but stresses uncertainty and dependence on other future events for existence or occurrence.

the contingent effects of the proposed law

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of fortuitous

But in this case, fortuitous circumstances preserved the dinosaur tracks for millions of years for the fossil record, Richard Butler, a palaeobiologist at the University of Birmingham who helped lead the excavation, told USA TODAY. —Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2025

Harbaugh’s first Bolts team will play in the postseason next week in part because of the fortuitous circumstances that led them to drafting rookie stars Joe Alt and Ladd McConkey. —Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Jan. 2025

Fossil Location The tyrannosaur teeth in the Ashdown Brickworks turned out to be fortuitous find, as researchers say the dinosaur group hadn’t previously been identified in sediments of this age and region. —Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 1 Jan. 2025

The Rams won the division and a playoff berth during a fortuitous holiday weekend. —Jack Magruder, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024

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