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Synonyms for fortuitously
adj by chance

unwittingly

unintentionally

haphazardly

by mistake

Synonyms
adv by chance

casually
accidentally
by the way
unexpectedly

remotely
as a by-product
as side effect
by the bye

in passing
in related manner
not by design
obiter

parenthetically
subordinately

Antonyms

purposely

Synonyms
adv happily

fortunately
by chance

favorably
opportunely

propitiously
providentially

Antonyms

unhappily

unluckily

Synonyms
adv by accident

accidentally
unexpectedly
unintentionally

unwittingly
as luck would have it
by a fluke

by coincidence
by mistake
for some reason

out of the clear blue sky

Synonyms
adv favorably

strongly
well
profitably
fortunately

swimmingly
auspiciously
flourishingly
opportunely

propitiously
prosperously
thrivingly
triumphantly

victoriously

Synonyms
adv by chance

accidentally

circumstantially

by coincidence

Antonyms

normally
obviously
advisedly

deliberately
intentionally
regularly

predictably

Usage Notes

Fortuitous has developed in sense from “happening by chance” to “happening by lucky chance” to simply “lucky, fortunate.” This development was probably influenced by the similarity of fortuitous to fortunate and perhaps to felicitous: A fortuitous late-night snowfall made for a day of great skiing. Many object to the use of fortuitous to mean simply “fortunate” and insist that it should be limited to its original sense of “accidental.” In modern standard use, however, fortuitous almost always carries the senses both of accident or chance and luck or fortune. It is infrequently used in its sense of “accidental” without the suggestion of good luck, and even less frequently in the sense “lucky” without at least a suggestion of accident or chance: A fortuitous encounter with a former schoolmate led to a new and successful career for the artist.