Synonyms for inadvertent
- adjective
Most common
absent-minded careless negligent heedless accidental unintended
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Heedless — inattentive
heedless, careless, negligent, absent-minded, thoughtless, distracted, unmindful, inconsiderate, inattentive, unobservant, inobservant, remiss, neglectful, indifferent
2. Accidental
accidental, unintended, unintentional, unwitting, involuntary, unpurposed, designless, unplanned, undesigned
Definitions
- adj. 1
Inattentive.
- adj. 2
Not intentional; not on purpose; not conscious.
We check everything because an inadvertent error could be disastrous.
Related words
- Word family
- inadvertently
Example sentences
- careless It is very careless of you to leave the door open.
- negligent You are too negligent of those around you.
- heedless We're acting like a pack of heedless cretins.
- accidental The inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.
- unintended This had some unintended consequences for Algeria.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| inadvertent | steady | |
| careless | steady | |
| negligent | falling | |
| heedless | rising | |
| accidental | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 6 letters
- remiss2
- 8 letters
- careless2, heedless
- 9 letters
- negligent3, unplanned2, unwitting3, unmindful
- 10 letters
- distracted3, accidental4, unintended4, neglectful3, undesigned, unpurposed, designless
- 11 letters
- indifferent3, involuntary5, thoughtless2, inattentive4, unobservant, inobservant
- 13 letters
- unintentional5, inconsiderate
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (remiss2 = 2 syllables).