incidentally
adverb
in·ci·den·tal·ly
ˌin(t)-sə-ˈden-tᵊl-ē 
especially for sense 2 -ˈdent-lē
1
a
: in an incidental manner : not intentionally
… the arrant nonsense of some of his statements is incidentally hilarious.—
John Lahr
John Lahr
b
: as something that is less important
mentions the issue only incidentally
2
: by way of interjection or digression : by the way
… fortunate in having a good teacher … —still living, incidentally …—John Fischer
John FischerSynonyms of incidentally
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
Asymptomatic lesions discovered incidentally in populations could also be monitored en masse to generate a robust database that would help researchers learn which types of lesions are more (or less) likely to turn malignant.
—
Paul Hsieh,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2026
But Ghana kept possession, and Antoine Semenyo incidentally ended up blocking a subsequent shot from his own teammate.
—
Monica Alba,
NBC news,
24 June 2026
But neither measure went as far as on the reforms sought by critics, who are pushing to address data collection issues as well as to require warrants for viewing Americans’ information that was incidentally collected under the program.
—
Lisa Hagen,
Hartford Courant,
12 June 2026
The upper-deck lounge became the first and most important room in this building—though somewhat incidentally.
—
Ian Bogost,
The Atlantic,
12 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for incidentally
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Paul Hsieh,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2026
But Ghana kept possession, and Antoine Semenyo incidentally ended up blocking a subsequent shot from his own teammate.
—
Monica Alba,
NBC news,
24 June 2026
But neither measure went as far as on the reforms sought by critics, who are pushing to address data collection issues as well as to require warrants for viewing Americans’ information that was incidentally collected under the program.
—
Lisa Hagen,
Hartford Courant,
12 June 2026
The upper-deck lounge became the first and most important room in this building—though somewhat incidentally.
—
Ian Bogost,
The Atlantic,
12 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for incidentally
Cite this Entry
“Incidentally.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incidentally. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
incidentally
adverb
in·ci·den·tal·ly
ˌin(t)-sə-ˈdent-ᵊl-ē
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
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