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Unexpected vs Accidently - What's the difference?

unexpected | accidently |

As an adjective unexpected

is not expected, anticipated or foreseen.

As an adverb accidently is

by accident, unexpectedly, by chance; fortuitously, unintentionally.

unexpected

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Not expected, anticipated or foreseen.
  • * , title=The Mirror and the Lamp
    • , chapter=2 citation , passage=She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, […]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.}}
  • *
    • The windmill presented unexpected difficulties.

    Synonyms

    * See

    Antonyms

    * expected

    Derived terms

    * unexpectedly * unexpectedness

    Related terms

    * unplanned * incidental * contingent * bolt from the blue * out of the blue

    accidently

    English

    Alternative forms

    * accidentally

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • by accident, unexpectedly, by chance; fortuitously, unintentionally.
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=1980 , year_published= , edition= , editor= , author=Phillip James Edwin Peebles , title=The Large-Scale Structure of the Universe , chapter= citation , genre=Astrophysics , publisher=Princeton University Press , isbn=9780691082400 , page=151 , passage= … which arises from four galaxies at four quite different distances that accidently' appear close together in the sky. The second line represents two galaxies close together in space and the other two '''accidently''' close in projection, the third line close triplets plus a fourth '''accidently''' close in projection, the fourth line two close pairs ' accidently seen close together in projection. }}
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=1995 , year_published= , edition=2, reprint, revised , editor= , author= , title=Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage , chapter= citation , genre= , publisher=Merriam-Webster , isbn=9780877791324 , page=16 , passage=The spelling accidently'' is not an illiteracy, but it is much less frequent than ''accidentally , and even though it has some reputable use, it may be thought a misspelling. }}
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=1998 , year_published=2009 , edition=digitized , editor= , author=Kenneth G. Wilson , title=Columbia Guide to Standard American English , chapter= citation , genre= , publisher=MJF Books , isbn=9781567312676 , page=8 , passage=Indeed, many conservative people consider accidently a misspelling, and some conservative dictionaries do not even record it as a variant, though it has been accepted off and on for many years. }}
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=2011 , year_published= , edition=2, revised , editor= , author=Robert W. Shumaker, Kristina R. Walkup, Benjamin B. Beck, Gordon M. Burghardt , title=Animal Tool Behavior , chapter= citation , genre= , publisher=JHU Press , isbn=9780801898532 , page=92 , passage= … relayed similar cases but suspected that the rocks were accidently' dislodged as the animals fled. ... Hall (1963) considered the same data and concluded that while such behavior might originate ' accidently during flight or display, ... }}
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=2012 , year_published= , edition= , editor= , author=Patrick R. Delaney PhD, CPA; O. Ray Whittington , title=Wiley CPA Exam Review 2012, Regulations , chapter= citation , genre= , publisher= , isbn= , page=334 , passage=Juan accidently spills some coffee on a client during a business meeting. Juan's tort is clearly in the scope of employment. }}