Standard Lemma guide

unintentional

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˌʌnɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/
  • Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: [ˌʌnɪnˈthɛnʃənɫ̩]
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ˌɐnɪnˈtenʃənəl/
  • Australian: [ˌɐnɪnˈthɛnʃənɫ̩]
  • CMU ARPABET: AH2 N IH0 N T EH1 N SH AH0 N AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

not done with purpose or intent

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an unintended slight
  • an unintentional pun
  • the offense was unintentional
  • an unwitting mistake may be overlooked

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unplanned, unwitting

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

without deliberate intent- George Macdonald

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • my heart with unwilled love grew warm

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unwilled

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English intentional English unintentional From un- + intentional.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: неумишлен (neumišlen) — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Catalan: involuntari — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Chinese Mandarin: 无意的 — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Chinese Mandarin: 无心的 — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Czech: neúmyslný — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Danish: utiltænkt — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Dutch: onbedoeld — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Dutch: onbedoelde — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Esperanto: senintenca — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Finnish: tahaton — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • French: inintentionnel — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • German: unabsichtlich — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • German: unbeabsichtigt — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (unfaurweis) — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Hungarian: véletlen — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Māori: pokerehū — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ufrivillig — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: ufrivillig — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Spanish: desintencionado — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Spanish: inintencionado — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Spanish: involuntario — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Spanish: sin querer — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Spanish: sin proponérselo — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Spanish: non intencional — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • Tagalog: hindi sinasadya — not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting