Meanings
comparative more incidentally · superlative most incidentally
- In an incidental manner.
- mannerBy happenstance; in a particular case which has little to no bearing on, and little to no causal relation to, any other case.
Near-synonyms: coincidentally, happenstantially, circumstantially, by chance, accidentally, semirandomly, randomly
Synonyms: coincidentally, happenstantially, circumstantially, by chance, accidentally, semirandomly, randomly · Antonyms: inevitably, certainly, systemically, systematically, essentially
- mannerNot of central or critical importance.
Near-synonym: in passing
3 more examples
The book discussed the subject, but only incidentally.
Nor, will the tragic dramatist who would depict mortal indomitableness in its fullest sweep and direct swing, ever forget a hint, incidentally so important in his art, as the one now alluded to.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLCNot everybody welcomes standardisation as a principle, because it reduces variety (and, incidentally, tends to dispose of the quainter and more picturesque anomalies).
1951 April 28, D. S. Barrie, “British Railways: A Survey, 1948-1950”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 225Synonyms: in passing
- conjunctivespeech actmannerParenthetically, by the way.
Incidentally, did you hear anything new from your brother yesterday?
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbBy happenstance; in a particular case which has little to no bearing on, and little to no causal relation to, any other case.
adverbNot of central or critical importance.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbintroducing a different topic
adverbof a minor or subordinate nature
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic عَلَى فِكْرَة, صُدْفَةً
- عَلَى فِكْرَة (ʕalā fikra)by the way — see also by the way
- صُدْفَةً (ṣudfatan)in an incidental manner
Bulgarian между́ дру́гото, случа́йно
- между́ дру́гото (meždú drúgoto)by the way — see also by the way
- случа́йно (slučájno)in an incidental manner
Chinese Mandarin 偶然
- 偶然 (ǒurán)in an incidental manner
Dutch toevalligerwijze
- toevalligerwijzewithout looking for something/somebody
Esperanto parenteze
- parentezeby the way — see also by the way
Finnish muuten, sattua
- muutenby the way — see also by the way
- sattuaby the way — see also by the way
- sivutenin an incidental manner
- ohimennenin an incidental manner
- sattumoisinwithout looking for something/somebody
- sattumaltawithout looking for something/somebody
French incidemment
- incidemmentin an incidental manner
German apropos, übrigens
- aproposby the way — see also by the way
- übrigensby the way — see also by the way
- im Übrigenby the way — see also by the way
- nebenbei gesagtby the way — see also by the way
- nebenbeiin an incidental manner
- zufälligwithout looking for something/somebody
- zufälligerweisewithout looking for something/somebody
Hungarian egyébként, amúgy
- egyébkéntby the way — see also by the way
- amúgyby the way — see also by the way
- melleslegby the way — see also by the way
- érintőlegin an incidental manner
- érintőlegesenin an incidental manner
- futólagin an incidental manner
- mellékesenin an incidental manner
- véletlenülwithout looking for something/somebody
Irish dála an scéil
- dála an scéilby the way — see also by the way
Italian per inciso, incidentalmente
- per incisoby the way — see also by the way
- incidentalmentein an incidental manner
- casualmentewithout looking for something/somebody
Japanese たまたま, 偶然
- たまたま (tamatama)in an incidental manner
- 偶然 (gūzen)in an incidental manner
Korean 우연히
- 우연히 (uyeonhi)in an incidental manner
Polish nawiasem mówiąc, notabene
- nawiasem mówiącby the way — see also by the way
- notabeneby the way — see also by the way
- na marginesieby the way — see also by the way
- przy okazjiin an incidental manner
Portuguese a propósito, aliás
- a propósitoby the way — see also by the way
- aliásby the way — see also by the way
- incidentalmentein an incidental manner
- acidentalmentewithout looking for something/somebody
- por acasowithout looking for something/somebody
Romanian apropo
- apropoin an incidental manner
Russian кста́ти, ме́жду про́чим
- кста́ти (kstáti)by the way — see also by the way
- ме́жду про́чим (méždu próčim)by the way — see also by the way
- случа́йно (slučájno)in an incidental manner
Scottish Gaelic eadar dà sgeul
- eadar dà sgeulin an incidental manner
Spanish por cierto, a propósito
- por ciertoby the way — see also by the way
- a propósitoby the way — see also by the way
- incidentalmentein an incidental manner
- casualmentewithout looking for something/somebody
Swedish apropå, i förbigående
- apropåin an incidental manner
- i förbigåendein an incidental manner
Turkish sırası gelmişken, bu arada
- sırası gelmişkenin an incidental manner
- bu aradain an incidental manner
- bir arain an incidental manner
- lâf arasındain an incidental manner
Ukrainian до ре́чі, між і́ншим
- до ре́чі (do réči)by the way — see also by the way
- між і́ншим (miž ínšym)by the way — see also by the way
- випадко́во (vypadkóvo)in an incidental manner
Vietnamese à này
- à nàyby the way — see also by the way
Yiddish אַגבֿ
- אַגבֿ (agev)by the way — see also by the way
Cite this entry
incidentally. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incidentally
“incidentally.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incidentally. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “incidentally,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incidentally.
Source: incidentally on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.