fortuitous

[fawr-too-i-tuhs, -tyoo-]

adjective

1. happening or produced by chance; accidental.

   a fortuitous encounter.

   Synonyms: incidental

2. lucky; fortunate.

   a series of fortuitous events that advanced her career.

fortuitous

/ fɔːˈtjuːɪtəs /

adjective

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

Confusables Note

Fortuitous has developed in sense from “happening by chance” to “happening by lucky chance” to simply “lucky, fortunate.” This development was probably influenced by the similarity of fortuitous to fortunate and perhaps to felicitous : A fortuitous late-night snowfall made for a day of great skiing. Many object to the use of fortuitous to mean simply “fortunate” and insist that it should be limited to its original sense of “accidental.” In modern standard use, however, fortuitous almost always carries the senses both of accident or chance and luck or fortune. It is infrequently used in its sense of “accidental” without the suggestion of good luck, and even less frequently in the sense “lucky” without at least a suggestion of accident or chance: A fortuitous encounter with a former schoolmate led to a new and successful career for the artist.

Other Word Forms

• fortuitousness noun
• fortuitously adverb
• nonfortuitous adjective
• nonfortuitously adverb
• nonfortuitousness noun
• unfortuitous adjective
• unfortuitously adverb
• unfortuitousness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fortuitous¹

First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin fortuitus, fortuītus, equivalent to fortu- (u-stem base, otherwise unattested, akin to fors, genitive fortis “chance, luck”) + -itus, -ītus adjective suffix (for formation gratuitous ); -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of fortuitous¹

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

Synonym Study

See accidental.

Example Sentences

"It was a rainy day. It wasn't very hot out," he said, explaining that the fortuitous weather helped to "keep the stink down".

From BBC

The frenzy is fortuitous timing for Pop Mart, the toy’s maker, as it makes a major push into the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

The arrival of this and the upcoming Lee documentary is dictated by the calendar, but the timing is also fortuitous, given where we are now.

From Los Angeles Times

Finally, Rogers made a fortuitous visit to his own physician, where he had his BMI checked using a small device that sends electrical signals through the body to measure the amount of fat.

From Los Angeles Times

That was quite fortuitous, and we laid some of those building blocks together and shared access and research.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fortunate 
• odd 
• random 
• serendipitous 
• unforeseen