incidental

adjective in·ci·den·tal \ ˌin(t)-sə-ˈden-tᵊl \

Updated on: 1 Dec 2017

Definition of incidental

1 a : being likely to ensue as a chance or minor consequence

social obligations incidental to the job

b : minor 1

2 : occurring merely by chance or without intention or calculation

See incidental defined for English-language learners

See incidental defined for kids

Examples of incidental in a Sentence

You may incur some incidental expenses on the trip.
an incidental part of the job
He writes incidental music for plays.

Recent Examples of incidental from the Web

The Lake County Board of Commissioners is moving forward with a plan to better track incidental expenses across the county's departments.

— craig lyons, Post-Tribune, "Lake commissioners move forward with plan to better track incidental expenses," 20 Oct. 2017
On a play near the goal line, Eagles guard Brandon Brooks collided with Kuechly in the backfield, striking Kuechly in the left shoulder area and then making incidental contact with Kuechly’s head on the ground.

— jonathan jones, SI.com, "Another Luke Kuechly Concussion Hangs Over Panthers' Tight Loss to Eagles," 13 Oct. 2017
The same, for all its incidental pleasures, could be said of the movie.

— peter rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, "Rigorously conventional ‘Last Flag Flying’ has few surprises," 3 Nov. 2017
There was a not so incidental baseball game going on at Minute Maid Park on Oct. 27.

— greg morago, Houston Chronicle, "Scenes from 2017 Luckyrice festival," 30 Oct. 2017
Domino lit a fire under Dupree’s measured melody, his dancing fingers etching both unrelenting backbeat and playful incidental tinkling into the minds of all who heard.

— ryan p. smith, Smithsonian, "Fats Domino’s Infectious Rhythms Set a Nation in Motion," 26 Oct. 2017
The players picked to run the scheme almost seemed incidental to its effectiveness.

— chris johnson, SI.com, "Behind a Strong Recruiting Push, Willie Taggart Has Oregon Back on the Upswing," 6 Oct. 2017
In this story, slavery is marginal, black people are incidental, the Confederacy is tragic, and American history is an unbroken line of progress populated by heroes, saints, and demigods.

— jamelle bouie, Slate Magazine, "White Americans Have to Make a Choice," 17 Aug. 2017
The commissioners solicited lists of frequent vendors and existing house accounts to see if there's consistency in the frequent incidental purchases, Dull said.

— craig lyons, Post-Tribune, "Lake commissioners move forward with plan to better track incidental expenses," 20 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'incidental.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of incidental

1644

incidental Synonyms

incidental

noun

Definition of incidental

1 incidentals plural : minor items (as of expense) that are not particularized

2 : something that is incidental

See incidental defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of incidental from the Web

And that didn't even include incidentals like rushed meals on the road or paying for sitters to sometimes drive her to practice.

— janine boldrin, Good Housekeeping, "The Cost of Youth Sports Is Completely Out of Control," 6 July 2017
Promotion Winners assume sole responsibility for any expenses and incidental costs associated with the prize (cover shoot) including without limitation, gratuities, tips, transportation, parking, concessions, and personal items, and incidentals.

— Sun-Sentinel.com, "Official Rules: South Florida Parenting’s Halloween Costume Contest," 3 Aug. 2017
Brook Park has 12 precincts so the cost savings, not including advertising and other incidentals, is $27,600.

— beth mlady, cleveland.com, "Councilwoman's petitions come up short, no Sept. 12 primary means big cost savings for Brook Park," 23 June 2017
Remaining funds of the collection are earmarked to help fund a photo memory book for the Loosa family and other incidentals, Donnelly said.

— karie angell luc, chicagotribune.com, "Bench installed to honor mail carrier known as 'Rudy'," 20 June 2017
The cost to send so many teams to playoff locales, venue rentals, travel expenses and incidentals for that many players, coaches and training staff can mount.

— randy sachs, star-telegram, "Keller ISD athletics has most successful year, and the cost was worth it," 19 June 2017
Stick with credit To finance a trip, most families choose a form of payment for food and incidentals ahead of time.

— kat hnatyshyn, kansascity, "Safe summer trips are within reach," 14 June 2017
Taxes and fees, air fare, shore excursions and incidentals onboard are the responsibility of the winner.

— bon appétit, Bon Appetit, "Win A Luxury Cruise Through The Caribbean Contest Rules," 27 Mar. 2017
In the meantime, her program provides them with up to $695 a month for utilities, housing and incidentals.

— jim ryan, OregonLive.com, "Over 4,200 without power in Multnomah County," 30 Oct. 2017

First Known Use of incidental

1707

Other Economics Terms

actuary, compound interest, globalization, indemnity, portfolio, rentier, stagflation, usurer

INCIDENTAL Defined for English Language Learners

incidental

adjective

Definition of incidental for English Language Learners

: happening as a minor part or result of something else

incidental

noun

Definition of incidental for English Language Learners

: something that happens as a minor part or result of something else : something that is incidental

INCIDENTAL Defined for Kids

incidental

adjective in·ci·den·tal \ ˌin-sə-ˈden-tᵊl \

Definition of incidental for Students

: happening as an unimportant part of something else

incidental expenses

Law Dictionary

incidental

adjective in·ci·den·tal \ ˌin-sə-ˈdent-ᵊl \

legal Definition of incidental

1 : subordinate or secondary in importance or position

incidental benefits

2 : incident

3 : occurring by chance or in isolation

incidental use of a person's image

—

incidentally

adverb

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incidental

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INCIDENTAL Defined for English Language Learners

incidental

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incidental

Definition of incidental for English Language Learners

INCIDENTAL Defined for Kids

incidental

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incidental

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incidentally

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