Fortuitous

medium

for-TOO-ih-tus

adjective

Definition

Happening by chance; lucky or fortunate

Examples

The fortuitous discovery of penicillin by Fleming changed the course of medical history.
Our meeting at the conference proved fortuitous, leading to a profitable business partnership.

Synonyms

serendipitousprovidentialchanceaccidental

Antonyms

deliberateplannedintentionalpremeditated

Categories

GRE Tip

Fortuitous is a medium-difficulty GRE word. On the GRE, you might see it paired with synonyms like "serendipitous" or "providential" in Sentence Equivalence questions. Look for contrast clues (however, despite, although) that signal the opposite meaning. Words like "deliberate".

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