偶然的；意外的　happening by chance; not planned

　～ damage　意外损伤
　～ death　意外死亡
　～ engagement　遭遇战
　～ error　随机误差
　～ harm　误伤
　～ injury　意外伤害
　～ loss　意外损失
　～ meeting　邂逅

　He can face the accidental trouble.　他能够面对意外的困难。
　Our accidental meeting led to our becoming friends.　我们的偶然相遇使我们成为朋友。
　We are talking about a verdict of accidental death.　我们正在谈论一次意外死亡的裁决。
　His death was quite accidental.　他的死亡非常偶然。
　The damage was accidental.　造成损坏是意外的。
　Our meeting in New York was quite accidental.　我们在纽约的会见完全是偶然的。
　I didn't mean to do it—it was accidental.　我不是有意这样做的——是无意的。
　I didn't think our meeting was accidental—he must have known I would be there.　我认为我们相遇不是偶然的——他肯定知道我要去那里。
　It is by no means accidental.　这决非偶然。
　It was suggested that the fire was not accidental.　有迹象表明这场大火并非偶然。
　The shooting was not accidental, but a deliberate attempt to kill him.　枪击并非偶然事件，而是故意谋杀他。
　His hand brushed against hers; it could have been either accidental or deliberate.　他的手擦过她的手，这可能是无意的，也可能是有意的。
　Songs are essential to musical comedy, but accidental to Shakespeare's plays.　歌唱在音乐喜剧中是基本的，但在莎士比亚的戏剧中却是次要的。
　Is this procedure essential or accidental to his theory?　对他的理论而言，这一步骤是必不可少的，还是附带的?

 ♣ accidental, adventitious, casual, contingent, fortuitous, incidental
　这些词均有“偶然的，意外的”之意，其区别是：accidental强调超出一般规律和常情；fortuitous强调原因不明；casual强调无意或无预谋，指人、行动、衣着时，常侧重随随便便或漠不关心；incidental可指无计划的或不规则的。仅仅表示偶然发生的或非主要的、非真实的；adventitious可与incidental换用，但较为正式，侧重两者缺乏至关重要的联系，强调意外的收获或巧遇；而contingent强调事情发生的可能性和结果的不可预测性。

　［派生词］ accidentally adv.偶然地
　［同义词］ casual, unexpected, unintended
　［反义词］ deliberate