unintentional

«unintentional» in Mova's school dictionary: Not done on purpose; accidental — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adjective (unintentional); adverb «unintentionally»

meaning for a pupil

Not done on purpose; accidental. tree →

sense in the lessons

In ethics, safety and playground situations: an unintentional push, an unintentional insult. Saying sorry still matters even if it was unintentional. In law, unintentional harm is treated differently from harm done on purpose. Phrases: «completely unintentional», «unintentional mistake».

examples

• Sorry, it was unintentional – I didn't see you there. tree →
• His rude comment was unintentional, but it still hurt. tree →
• The broken vase was an unintentional accident. tree →
• The joke had an unintentional double meaning. tree →
• Even an unintentional mistake should be fixed. tree →
• The referee decided the handball was unintentional. tree →

note

Opposite: «intentional», «deliberate», «on purpose». Similar: «accidental». The intention matters in judging blame, but the effect matters too: apologise even when harm was unintentional.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «unintentional» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.