Inadvertent

//ˌɪnədˈvɜːtn̩t// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Not intentional; not on purpose; not conscious. not-comparable

    "We check everything because an inadvertent error could be disastrous."

  2. 2
    Inattentive. not-comparable, obsolete

    "The Sharpers about Town very ingeniously understood themselves to be the undesigning Part of Mankind what Foxes are to Lambs, and therefore used the Word Biting to express any Exploit wherein they had over-reach'd any innocent and inadvertent Man of his Purse."

Adjective
  1. 1
    happening by chance or unexpectedly or unintentionally wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
unintendedabsent-mindedaccidentalaccidentalarbitraryautomatic

Example

More examples

"We check everything because an inadvertent error could be disastrous."

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin inadvertēns.

Related phrases

on purpose

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.