incidental

Study(12)

UK /ɪnsɪˈdɛntəl/ US [ɪnsɪˈdɛ.ɾ̃əl]

adj 4noun 2

Collocations

(adj.)

VERBS

be | become

consider sth, declare sth, deem sth

The teacher deemed the students' minor spelling errors incidental to their overall understanding of the essay.

ADV

completely, entirely, purely

The fact that we met at the conference was entirely incidental to our later friendship.

merely

Learning to cook is merely incidental to the cooking class's main goal of teaching nutrition.

almost | seemingly

PREP

Travel delays are often incidental to visiting popular tourist destinations during peak season.

Definitions

adj

Loosely associated; of limited relevance except indirectly; only accidentally related.

That character, though colorful, is incidental to the overall plot.

incidental evidence

Existing tangentially, being a byproduct, a tangent, or a likely consequence.

Injuries are incidental to contact sports: they're going to happen.

Occurring by chance.

Entering or approaching, prior to reflection (more frequently incident).

noun

Minor items, not further defined. Incidental expense.

She's costing us a lot in incidentals.

Something that is incidental.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

adjective — occurring with or following as a consequence

adjective — not of prime or central importance

adjective — (sometimes followed by `to') minor or casual or subordinate

incident

Antonyms

basic

Idioms & Phrases

Example Bank

That character, though colorful, is incidental to the overall plot.

Wiktionary

incidental evidence

Wiktionary

Injuries are incidental to contact sports: they're going to happen.

Wiktionary

She's costing us a lot in incidentals.

Wiktionary

His criticism only referred to incidental matters.

Tatoeba · #2096761

It is of the highest importance in the art of detection to be able to recognize, out of a number of facts, which are incidental and which vital.

Tatoeba · #10689062

Usage Notes

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