What does "unintended consequence" mean?

An outcome of a purposeful action that is not intended or foreseen.

Unintended consequence

Q: What is a synonym for "unintended consequence"?

Common synonyms include: adverse outcome, backfire, backfires, backfiring, bycatch, ecosystem disservice.

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
An outcome of a purposeful action that is not intended or foreseen. in-plural
"Over the past several years we’ve learned a lot about the unintended consequences of social media. Platforms intended to bring us closer together make us angrier and more isolated."

Synonyms

All synonyms

adverse outcome backfire backfires backfiring bycatch ecosystem disservice

Antonyms

All antonyms

direct result foreseeable result

Example

More examples

"Over the past several years we’ve learned a lot about the unintended consequences of social media. Platforms intended to bring us closer together make us angrier and more isolated."

Etymology

Popularized by sociologist Robert K. Merton.

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