inadvertent
adjective
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The Formation of Inadvertent
It may look innocent, but inadvertent belongs to a class of words that provoke anger in many people who care about language – to wit, the back-formation. Bucking the usual trend in which longer words are formed from shorter ones by the addition of an affix (for example, superficiality from superficial), back-formations are created by clipping off a piece of a longer word; in this case, inadvertent was back-formed from inadvertence or inadvertency. A fair number of these words populate English, including brainwash (from brainwashing), complicit (from complicity), escalate (from escalator), and televise (from television). Certain back-formations, such as liaise (which comes from liaison) rub some people the wrong way. While they are under no obligation to accept liaise, there is nothing inherently wrong with back-formations; they are just another way our language has of creating new words.
Examples of inadvertent in a Sentence
Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 19 May 2025
The challenge was made even greater when Matthews took an inadvertent high-stick from Barkov in the left eye during a second-period faceoff, briefly sending him to the Leafs dressing room for further medical attention because of blurred vision.
—Chris Johnston, New York Times, 17 May 2025
The fear for many experts and policymakers is whether the clashes lead to inadvertent escalation between two nuclear-armed powers.
—Chris Massaro, FOXNews.com, 9 May 2025
This failure for Trump may represent an inadvertent success for America.
—Wesley Alexander Hill, Forbes.com, 7 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for inadvertent
Cite this Entry
“Inadvertent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inadvertent. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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inadvertent
adjective
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