Fortuitous Meaning
/fɔːˈtjuː.ɪ.təs/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjHappening by chance; coincidental, accidental.
adjHappening by a lucky chance; lucky or fortunate.
Sentence Examples
How fortuitous that you were there on the same night!
A fortuitous encounter with Tom Jackson laid the groundwork for my new hobby.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
It was a ____ meeting that led to their partnership; they met at a random coffee shop.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Their meeting at the airport was entirely ____, as neither of them had known the other was traveling.
Word Origin & History
From Latin fortuītus.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] and during the ten days of their stay at Hartfield it was not to be expected—she did not herself expect—that any thing beyond occasional, fortuitous assistance could be afforded by her to the lovers."
— 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XI, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC:
"‘It is not for one, situated, through his original errors and a fortuitous combination of unpropitious events, as is the foundered Bark (if he may be allowed to assume so maritime a denomination), who now takes up the pen to address you—it is not, I repeat, for one so circumstanced, to adopt the language of compliment, or of congratulation. That he leaves to abler and to purer hands."
— 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:
"Was it love, she wondered, or a mere fortuitous combination of happy thoughts and sensations?"
— 1905, Edith Wharton, chapter VI, in The House of Mirth, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
"And then he met John Dowsett, the great John Dowsett. The whole thing was fortuitous. This cannot be doubted."
— 1910 October, Jack London, chapter I, in Burning Daylight, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, part II, page 128:
"Admiral Kurita has no identification charts for escort carriers, and, so, assumes that the distant targets are fleet carriers. Commensurately, by scale, their escorts must either be battleships or cruisers. The Japanese forces therefore continue to load armor-piercing rounds, what will turn out to be a very fortuitous mistake for their targets for as long as it lasts."
— 2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 12:25 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2022:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
It was a ____ meeting that led to their partnership; they met at a random coffee shop.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Their meeting at the airport was entirely ____, as neither of them had known the other was traveling.