I’d rather be fortunate than fortuitous, unless of course, the fortuitous event is positive.
In this word confusion fortuitous versus fortunate, fortuitous happens by chance. It could be lucky. It could be bad. It’s all in the hands of chance.
You are fortunate if you win the lottery fortuitously, but you can also get flattened by a truck fortuitously.
Fortunate is all about the good luck.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Fortuitous | Fortunate |
|---|---|
 — |
 — |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Adjective | Adjective |
| Happening by accident or chance rather than design
The following definitions are not etymologically correct and are best avoided except in informal contexts:
|
Favored by or involving good luck or fortune
|
| Examples: | |
| The similarity between the paintings may not be simply fortuitous.
From a cash standpoint, the company’s timing is fortuitous. A fortuitous meeting led eventually to marriage. It proved to be a fortuitous encounter. |
She’d been fortunate to escape more serious injury.
It was fortunate that the weather was good. It proved to be a most fortunate match for our daughter. Less fortunate children still converged on the soup kitchens. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adverb: fortuitously Noun: fortuitousness |
Adverb: fortunately Noun: fortune |
| History of the Word: | |
| Mid-17th century, from the Latin fortuitus, from forte meaning by chance, from fors meaning chance, luck. | Late Middle English from the Latin fortunatus, from the Latin Fortuna, the name of a goddess personifying luck or chance. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Fortuitous versus Fortunate
Apple Dictionary.com
The Free Dictionary: fortuitous
Pinterest Photo Credits
Lotto by j4p4n is in the public domain, via OpenClipArt.
Revised as of 12 Apr 2024
By: Kathy Davie