accident
noun
Simple meaning
a bad, unplanned event that happens without anyone meaning it to
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
aksuhduhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈæksədənt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An unexpected event with negative consequences occurring without the intention of the one suffering the consequences, and (in the strict sense) not directly caused by humans.
transport
A collision or crash of a vehicle, aircraft, or other form of transportation that causes damage to the transportation involved; and sometimes injury or death to the transportation's occupants or bystanders in close proximity. (but see Usage notes)
Anything that happens suddenly or by chance without an apparent cause
“Winning the lottery was a happy accident.”
Any chance event.
uncountable
Chance; random chance.
Any property, fact, or relation that is the result of chance or is nonessential or nonsubstantive.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (transport) A collision or crash of a vehicle, aircraft, or other form of transportation that causes damage to the transportation involved; and sometimes injury or death to the transportation's occupants or bystanders in close proximity. (but see Usage notes)
This specific meaning of 'accident' is quite formal, primarily used in official reports concerning transportation. In everyday talk, 'accident' is broader and often includes minor mishaps, but here it implies significant damage or injury. The nuance is severity.
- Emotional tone
- Strongly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Where you'll really hear it
News reports
“Investigators are probing the cause of the train accident.”
Insurance claims
“Details of the car accident were filed with the company.”
Traffic reports
“A major accident is causing delays on the highway.”
Where it naturally appears
- Personal/emotional discussion
- Literature/storytelling
Usage note
Accident is emotionally heavy: it suggests deep or lasting feeling, not a passing mood, so it can overstate a small reaction.
Nearby words
- fortuity , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Collision
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A musical notation that makes a note sharp or flat or natural although that is not part of the key signature.
Without advance planning.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The branch of medicine that deals with the surgical repair of injuries and wounds arising from accidents.
A sudden loss of consciousness resulting when the rupture or occlusion of a blood vessel leads to oxygen lack in the brain.
An accident that causes someone to die.
A natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
An accident that results in physical damage or hurt.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.