incidentally

adverb

in·​ci·​den·​tal·​ly ˌin(t)-sə-ˈden-tᵊl-ē How to pronounce incidentally (audio)
 especially for sense 2  -ˈdent-lē
1
: in an incidental manner : not intentionally
the arrant nonsense of some of his statements is incidentally hilariousJohn Lahr
2
: by way of interjection or digression : by the way
fortunate in having a good teacher … —still living, incidentallyJohn Fischer

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 Which, incidentally, was his first Oscar-winning project. Chris Willman, Variety, 6 Mar. 2024 Acevedo registered thousands of new Latino voters, while Alarcon sold himself to white residents as a Valley native first and a Latino incidentally, winning by fewer than 300 votes. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2024 Up until then, the French authorities had been extremely reluctant to dwell on what Vichy — a puppet state, but one, incidentally, recognized by the U.S., the Soviets, and others — really was. Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 21 Dec. 2023 Page, incidentally, had years earlier pitched the story of his rescuer to Hollywood; in 1963, Casablanca co-writer Howard Koch penned a script based on Page’s story for MGM, and Sean Connery was approached about starring, but that version never panned out. Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2024 Much later, he became known as the (spiritual and, incidentally, actual) father of Bibi, the current Israeli Prime Minister, and as, in Bibi’s retelling, the patriarch of American-Israeli relations. Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024 The holiday celebrates the patron saint of Ireland who, incidentally, wasn’t even Irish. Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2024 Another issue is that many cancers are detected incidentally, when the patient is receiving treatment for something else — as was the case for Charles. Victoria Bisset, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024 Not at all incidentally, a gun was on the floor behind the console of Cobb’s car. Joe Soucheray, Twin Cities, 27 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'incidentally.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1665, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of incidentally was in 1665

Dictionary Entries Near incidentally

Cite this Entry

“Incidentally.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incidentally. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

incidentally

adverb
in·​ci·​den·​tal·​ly ˌin(t)-sə-ˈdent-ᵊl-ē How to pronounce incidentally (audio)
 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

More from Merriam-Webster on incidentally

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