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

Nervous about performing for such a legend, Miller accidentally played in one key while singing in another. —Darryn King, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2025

In addition, the MTA says about 3,000 tickets were accidentally issued during what should have been a 60-day warning period for the bus lane enforcement zones. —Joel Rose, NPR, 31 Dec. 2024

The Italian star argued that his physiotherapist accidentally contaminated him during treatment with clostebol. —Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 30 Dec. 2024

Each Season Ingredients Don't accidentally cook with or eat expired ingredients. —Rabekah Henderson, Southern Living, 29 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above