definitions

There are words in our vocabulary that we misuse all of the time—think nauseous vs. nauseated, famous vs. infamous, convince vs. persuade, historic vs. historical, etc. Another easily confused pair is “fortuitous” and “fortunate.” Are you aware that both don’t necessarily imply any degree of luck.

Yes, to be “fortunate,” is to be lucky or auspicious.

For something to be “fortuitous,” however, it means that it happened by chance or by accident. There is no positive or lucky implication inherent in this word.

Of course, the English language is a malleable thing—whether the by-the-book grammarians of the world like it or not. Because of this fortunate/fortuitous confusion, recent dictionaries have started to include a second “informal” definition of “fortuitous” as “something favorable or lucky that happens by chance.” Is this the true meaning? No. But just like literally now can mean to opposite of literally, “fortuitous” can now mean a misunderstood version of its definition. Sigh.

Take it or leave it, but now you can at least be aware you’re annoying the grammar-righteous. And knowing you’re troubling people is the first step, I suppose.