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- pronunciation:
- aek
sih
den
t
 l
- features:
- Word Builder, Word Explorer, Word Parts
| part of speech: |
adjective |
| definition: |
When something is accidental, it happens just by chance. It is not planned or intended.
Curtis threw the ball hard and it hit Paul in the shoulder. Hitting Paul was accidental, but Curtis said he was sorry anyway.- synonyms:
- casual
- antonyms:
- deliberate, planned
- similar words:
- random, stray
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| related words: |
careless |
| derivation: |
accidentally (adv.) |
Word Builder: accidental +
- accidentally:
by accident.
The word accidental
contains the following parts:
ac-
Latin
prefix
that means to, toward
  More about this word part:
The prefix ac-
occurs in Latin loanwords. It is an assimilated form of ad- used before Latin roots beginning with hard or soft "c" or "q." See ad-.
Example words:
accelerate, accent, accept, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accident, accidental, acclaim, accommodate, accompany, accomplice, accomplish, accord, account, accumulate, accuracy, accurate, accuse, accustom, acquaint, acquire, acquit
cad, cas, cid2
Latin
root
that means to fall
Example words:
-al2, -ial, -ual
Latin
adjective-forming suffix
that means pertaining to
More about this word part:
The suffix -al2, -ial
attaches primarily to nouns ( national
, environmental
) but sometimes to Latin or Greek roots ( final
, capital
, comical
) to form adjectives. See also -ar1.
Example words:
abnormal, accidental, additional, aerial, annual, artificial, biblical, brutal, capital, central, chemical, classical, coastal, colonial, comical, commercial, confidential, constitutional, continual, controversial, conventional, criminal, critical, crucial, cultural, cylindrical, dental, detrimental, developmental, economical, editorial, educational, electrical, emotional, environmental, essential, equal, exceptional, experimental, facial, factual, federal, final, financial, floral, formal, functional, fundamental, general, global, grammatical, habitual, historical, hysterical, illogical, immoral, impersonal, impractical, individual, industrial, influential, internal, legal, local, logical, lyrical, magical, mathematical, memorial, mental, moral, mortal, musical, mythical, national, natural, nautical, neutral, normal, official, parental, personal, plural, political, potential, racial, rational, regional, irrational, intellectual, rhythmical, seasonal, spinal, spiritual, technological, thermal, tidal, traditional, tribal, typical, universal, unnatural, verbal, virtual, vocal, visual
-ant, -ent
Latin
adjective- and noun-forming suffix
that means (in adjectives) doing the action denoted by the verb root; (in nouns) one who or that which does the action denoted by the verb root.
More about this word part:
The suffix -ant
, -ent
forms adjectives and, to a much lesser extent, nouns from Latin verb stems such as fid in confident
and stud in student
. This suffix is the equivalent in Latin of the "-ing" inflection in English. Many adjectives ending in -ant
, -ent
have a corresponding noun ending in -ance, -ence, -ancy, -ency.
Example words:
accident, accidental, adjacent, affluent, agent, antecedent, applicant, arrogant, complacent, confident, consultant, continent, current, dependent, different, disinfectant, dominant, efficient, eloquent, extravagant, fluent, hydrant, ignorant, important, incessant, indignant, parent, participant, patient, precedent, president, prudent, pungent, reluctant, resident, resonant, servant, significant, student, vacant
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