- fortuitous, fortunate
- See felicitous.
Dictionary of problem words and expressions. Harry Shaw. 1975.
fortuitous, fortunate
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felicitous, fortuitous, fortunate — Felicitous means well suited, apt, appropriate : The speaker s felicitous joke put the audience in a jovial mood. Fortuitous means accidental, produced by chance, lucky : Our meeting today on the street is fortuitous. A typical success story is… … Dictionary of problem words and expressions
fortuitous — See felicitous, fortuitous, fortunate See fortuitous, fortunate … Dictionary of problem words and expressions
fortunate — See felicitous, fortuitous, fortunate See fortuitous, fortunate … Dictionary of problem words and expressions
fortuitous — fortuitous, fortuitously 1. The OED and all reputable dictionaries show fortuitous to be a word with only one meaning, ‘caused by chance, accidental’. Addison wrote in the Spectator in 1712 that the highest Degree of [wisdom] which Man can… … Modern English usage
fortuitous — 1650s, from L. fortuitus happening by chance, casual, accidental, from forte by chance, ablative of fors chance (related to fortuna; see FORTUNE (Cf. fortune)). It means accidental, undesigned not fortunate. Earlier in this sense was fortuit… … Etymology dictionary
fortuitous — [adj] lucky, accidental arbitrary, casual, chance, contingent, fluke*, fluky*, fortunate, haphazard, happy, incidental, luck in*, luck out*, lucky dog*, odd, providential, random, serendipitous, unforeseen, unplanned; concepts 548,552 Ant.… … New thesaurus
fortuitous — ► ADJECTIVE 1) happening by chance rather than design. 2) happening by a lucky chance; fortunate. DERIVATIVES fortuitously adverb fortuitousness noun fortuity noun (pl. fortuities) . ORIGIN Latin fortuitus, from forte … English terms dictionary
fortuitous — [fôr to͞o′ə təs, fôrtyo͞o′ə təs] adj. [L fortuitus < forte, by chance < fors (gen. fortis), chance, luck < IE * bhr̥tis < base * bher , to bring > BEAR1] 1. happening by chance; accidental 2. bringing, or happening by, good luck;… … English World dictionary
fortunate — [adj] having good luck advantageous, affluent, auspicious, blessed, born with a silver spoon*, bright, charmed, convenient, encouraging, favorable, favored, felicitous, flourishing, fortuitous, gaining, get a break*, golden, happy, healthy,… … New thesaurus
fortuitous — fortuitously, adv. fortuitousness, n. /fawr tooh i teuhs, tyooh /, adj. 1. happening or produced by chance; accidental: a fortuitous encounter. 2. lucky; fortunate: a series of fortuitous events that advanced her career. [1645 55; < L fortuitus,… … Universalium
