incidentally
24
4.2
- adverb
- /ˌɪn.sɪˈdɛn.t̬əl.i/
:
incidentalmente
- I had assumed I knew their class location, so I asked about it only incidentally.
- learn incidentally
- discover incidentally
- only incidentally
It was just it happened incidentally, But the the dramas is what you know, like the the full screen one.
- It was just it happened incidentally, But the the dramas is what you know, like the the full screen one.
Examples
-
Incidentally, the man that Laurie was dating between siestas was, perhaps not incidentally, also a professor.
Fiction book (1994) -
They were too young to be told what was going on, and they saw things only incidentally to the childish games they were playing.
-
But politics does not ever appear in that work, except incidentally.
Academic text (1997) -
Yes, and incidentally threw a hundred other people out of work.
-
As students begin to share ideas, they incidentally learn the musical vocabulary.
Academic text (2005) -
Your story about your friend and his cell phone is, incidentally, very unconvincing.
Blog text (22) -
Participants in the aforementioned study acquired their language skills incidentally.
Academic text (2015) -
The same result, incidentally, occurs when the natural logarithm of PCGNP is used.
Academic text (1990) -
Rosy rockfish are not targeted by the fishery but are a smaller species caught incidentally to other species.
Academic text (1998) -
As she read the report, she found, incidentally, that the data supported her theory.
Synonyms
27
3.8
While mentioning something briefly without giving it much attention
6
7.7
In a way that is not directly about the main topic
5
5.2
In a less important way or as a result of something else
4
6.8
At the outer edge or in a small unimportant way
In an extra supporting way rather than as the main thing
As a side effect that is not the main result
In a way that does not matter much
Antonyms
How Important
13
4.4
507
1.0
101
3.5
24
4.2
35
4.1
1
4.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
incidentally = incidental (semi-transparent) = incident + al + ly
Formed by adding the adverbial suffix '-ly' to 'incidental'; the relation to 'incident' is clear but the adjectival/adverbial meaning 'minor or not main' is a slight semantic shift from 'incident'.
Etymology
The word incidentally comes from Latin parts in- 'into' and the same root as accident, which means 'to fall'. So an incidental thing is one that 'falls into' the main thing and is not the main part.