fortuitous

happening by accident or chance: A fortuitous meeting led eventually to marriage.

Not to be confused with:

fortunate – bringing something good and unforeseen; lucky; providential: A fortunate turn of events helped her find a new career.

for·tu·i·tous

(fôr-to͞o′ĭ-təs, -tyo͞o′-)

adj.

1. Happening by accident or chance. See Synonyms at accidental.

2. Resulting in good fortune; lucky.

[Latin fortuītus; see bher- in Indo-European roots.]

for·tu′i·tous·ly adv.

for·tu′i·tous·ness n.

Usage Note: The traditional meaning of fortuitous is "happening by chance, accidental." Perhaps because many chance events are favorable or because of the similarity of fortuitous to fortunate and felicitous, fortuitous has acquired the meaning "characterized by good fortune, lucky." (Note that the word fortunate underwent a similar shift in meaning centuries ago.) In our 2005 survey, a solid majority of the Usage Panel accepted the use of the word to mean "lucky." Some 68 percent accepted the sentence The photographer felt that it was very fortuitous that she was in place to take the winning photo, where the adverb very rules out the possibility that the word might mean "accidental." A similar percentage (67) accepted the sentence The meeting proved fortuitous: I came away with a much better idea of my role, where the verb prove makes the meaning "accidental" an unlikely fit. This two-thirds majority stands in stark contrast to the 85 percent that rejected this same sentence in 1967. Nonetheless, writers should take care to avoid creating contexts in which the meaning of the word is ambiguous.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fortuitous

(fɔːˈtjuːɪtəs)

adj

happening by chance, esp by a lucky chance; unplanned; accidental

[C17: from Latin fortuitus happening by chance, from forte by chance, from fors chance, luck]

forˈtuitously adv

forˈtuitousness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

for•tu•i•tous

(fɔrˈtu ɪ təs, -ˈtyu-)

adj.

1. happening or produced by chance; accidental: a fortuitous encounter.

2. lucky; fortunate.

[1645–55; < Latin fortuitus, akin to fors, genitive fortis chance, luck]

for•tu′i•tous•ly, adv.

for•tu′i•tous•ness, n.

usage: fortuitous has developed in sense from “happening by chance” to “happening by lucky chance” to simply “lucky.” Some object to this last meaning, insisting that fortuitous be kept to its original sense of “accidental.” In modern standard use, however, the word almost always carries the senses both of chance and good luck. fortuitous is infrequently used to mean “accidental” without the suggestion of good luck, and even less frequently to mean “lucky” without a suggestion of accident or chance.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Adj.	1.	fortuitous - having no cause or apparent cause; "a causeless miracle"; "fortuitous encounters--strange accidents of fortune"; "we cannot regard artistic invention as...uncaused and unrelated to the times" uncaused, causeless unintended - not deliberate
	2.	fortuitous - occurring by happy chance; "profits were enhanced by a fortuitous drop in the cost of raw materials" fortunate - having unexpected good fortune; "other, less fortunate, children died"; "a fortunate choice"

fortuitous

adjective

1. chance, lucky, random, casual, contingent, accidental, arbitrary, incidental, unforeseen, unplanned a fortuitous quirk of fate

2. lucky, happy, fortunate, serendipitous, providential, fluky (informal) It was a fortuitous discovery.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

fortuitous

adjective

Occurring unexpectedly:

accidental, casual, chance, contingent, fluky, inadvertent, odd.

Translations

Spanish / Español

Select a language:

azaroso casual fortuito ocasional

fortuitous

[fɔːˈtjuːɪtəs] ADJ → fortuito, casual

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

References in classic literature ?

The plague as we of to-day have the happiness to know it is merely Nature's fortuitous manifestation of her purposeless objectionableness.

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The bold attempt had miscarried by a fortuitous circumstance; and unless by some exceptional event, they could now never reach the moon's disc.

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Just how I was to help Perry I could scarce imagine, but I hoped that some fortuitous circumstance might solve the problem for me.

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In a way, their meeting the next morning was fortuitous enough, yet it had also its significance for both of them.

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It was a pictorial sheet, and Jo examined the work of art nearest her, idly wondering what fortuitous concatenation of circumstances needed the melodramatic illustration of an Indian in full war costume, tumbling over a precipice with a wolf at his throat, while two infuriated young gentlemen, with unnaturally small feet and big eyes, were stabbing each other close by, and a disheveled female was flying away in the background with her mouth wide open.

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The coming of her sister's family was so very near at hand, that first in anticipation, and then in reality, it became henceforth her prime object of interest; and during the ten days of their stay at Hartfield it was not to be expectedshe did not herself expect that any thing beyond occasional, fortuitous assistance could be afforded by her to the lovers.

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However, I deduced from the scene one conclusion which seemed to me reliable --namely, that in the flow of fortuitous chances there is, if not a system, at all events a sort of order.

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The whole thing was fortuitous. This cannot be doubted, as Daylight himself knew, it was by the merest chance, when in Los Angeles, that he heard the tuna were running strong at Santa Catalina, and went over to the island instead of returning directly to San Francisco as he had planned.

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My quest was not aimless and fortuitous; it had a definite method.

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Her only hope lay in waiting until darkness had fallen, unless some fortuitous circumstance should arise before.

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Without even a thought for his own safety, or the possibility for escape which this rapid series of fortuitous circumstances had thrust upon him, Tarzan of the Apes answered the call of the woman in danger.

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To show you how fortuitous was development in those days let me state that had it not been for the gluttony of Lop-Ear I might have brought about the domestication of the dog.

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