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

Rich, incidentally, recently came to a performance of McNeal. —Christopher Barnard, Vogue, 17 Oct. 2024

The series, incidentally, coincides with the brothers’ third time seeking a habeas hearing, a first step in having their sentence reduced to time served. —Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Sep. 2024

The tour dates, incidentally, are sandwiched in between runs in Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., and continental Europe. —Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2024

Leave a comment View Comments The beans are retrieved, washed and sanitized, then made into coffee and not, incidentally, sold at a great premium. —Richard Quest, CNN, 6 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1665, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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