Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Not deliberate or intentional; inadvertent.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not intentional; not designed; done or happening without design.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective without deliberate intent
  • adjective not done with purpose or intent

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

un- +‎ intentional

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word unintentional.

Examples

  • In an announcement, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said it regretted what it called "unintentional confrontations between the military police and the youth of the revolution."

    latimes.com - News 2011

  • In an announcement, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said it regretted what it called "unintentional confrontations between the military police and the youth of the revolution."

    latimes.com - News 2011

  • It is a terrible tragedy that fear of being racist actually results in unintentional discrimination. on February 10, 2010 at 6: 05 pm Twining

    Why front-line police officers are glad about Dizaei « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2010

  • But the original headline shows how omitting that can result in unintentional absurdity.

    September « 2008 « Sentence first 2008

  • But the original headline shows how omitting that can result in unintentional absurdity.

    ‘Ludicrous’ people can’t have drink 2008

  • Add this to the long list of examples of IOKIYAR and right-wing studies in unintentional irony.

    May 2005 2005

  • Males are almost three times as likely to die from “accidents and adverse effects” another term for unintentional injuries; see Table 4-8 than are females.

    The Population of the United States Douglas L. Anderton 1997

  • The very term unintentional eugenics is an oxymoron, and your assertion that these pumps that help remove harmful chemicals offers no survival advantage is fundamentally wrong.

    Original Signal - Transmitting Digg 2008

  • I would argue that McGann’s and Viscomi’s positions are not mutually exclusive: Blake’s method of production probably resulted in unintentional variations, and Blake might have changed, for example, the order of plates in a copy of a poem on purpose.

    'Points of Contact': Blake and Whitman 2006

  • If they are unintentional, which is most often the case, it is difficult to find a remedy.

    Henry J. Stern: Too Close to Call Henry J. Stern 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.