fortuitous

Definitions

From Latin fortuitus, built on fors ('chance') — the same source as fortune. The honest meaning is simply 'by chance, accidental': a fortuitous encounter is one that just happened to occur, with no claim about whether it was good or bad. The lucky tint you often hear is a later blurring with 'fortunate.'

Why It Means This

Here's the trap. Fortuitous shares a root with fortune, so people assume it means fortunate (lucky). But strictly it only means 'by chance.' A fortuitous collision of two cars is purely accidental — nothing lucky about it. Because chance events often turn out well, the 'lucky' sense crept in and is now widespread, but careful writers still reserve fortuitous for 'accidental' and use fortunate for 'lucky.' When in doubt, ask: do I mean random, or do I mean good?

Common Collocations

• 1.a fortuitous meeting偶然的相遇
• 2.entirely fortuitous纯属偶然
• 3.a fortuitous turn of events事件的偶然转机
• 4.purely fortuitous纯粹巧合

Example Sentences

• 1.

  Their meeting was entirely fortuitous; neither had planned to be there.

• 2.

  By a fortuitous turn of events, the missing file was on the backup drive.

• 3.

  The discovery was fortuitous rather than the result of careful planning.

Easily Confused

fortuitous vs fortunate — The classic mix-up. fortuitous = by chance, accidental (no luck implied). fortunate = by good luck. A fortuitous event might be neutral or even bad; a fortunate one is always good. Memory hook: fortuit-OUS hides 'fort-' for chance, not 'fortune' for luck.

Synonym Comparison