accident

noun

An unexpected event with negative consequences occurring without the intention of the one suffering the consequences, and (in the strict sense) not directly caused by humans.

(transport) A collision or crash of a vehicle, aircraft, or other form of transportation that causes damage to the transportation involved; and sometimes injury or death to the transportation's occupants or bystanders in close proximity. (but see Usage notes)

(law) casus; such unforeseen, extraordinary, extraneous interference as is out of the range of ordinary calculation.

Any chance event.

(uncountable) Chance; random chance.

Any property, fact, or relation that is the result of chance or is nonessential or nonsubstantive.

(euphemistic) An unintended pregnancy.

(derogatory or humorous) A person born from an unintended pregnancy.

(euphemistic) An instance of incontinence.

Urine or feces excreted due to incontinence.

(geology) A sudden discontinuity of ground such as fault of great thickness, bed or lentil of unstable ground.

(geology) An irregular surface feature with no apparent cause.

(heraldry) A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms.

(grammar) A property attached to a word, but not essential to it, such as gender, number, or case.

A town in Garrett County, Maryland, United States.

adjective

(transport) Designating any form of transportation involved in an accident.

Roots

cadocid- · Latin · fall

Synonyms for accident

fortuityn mishapn collisionn crashn mischancen smashup misadventuren accidentaladj pileupn casualtyn wreckn disastern catastrophen tragedyn misfortunen contretempsn calamityn happenstancen

Synonyms & related words for accident

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of accident — including fortuity, mishap, collision, crash, mischance, smashup. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to accident

Explore words related to accident — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include incident, fatality, injury, accidence, befalling, fatal, fortuitousness, tragic. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for accident

Common synonyms for accident include fortuity, mishap, collision, crash, mischance, smashup, misadventure, accidental — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does accident come from?

The word accident breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root cid-, from Latin cado (“fall”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.