Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 5, 2023 is: fortuitous \for-TOO-uh-tus\ adjective

Fortuitous means “happening by chance.” It can also mean “having or showing good luck.”

// It was rather fortuitous that the two sisters both decided to surprise their parents with a visit on the same weekend.

// Thank goodness you’re here; you could not have arrived at a more fortuitous time.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fortuitous)

Examples:

“Shigesato Itoi’s journey to becoming a video game creator was a labyrinthine and fortuitous one, a strange tale that took him from novelist to voice actor in My Neighbor Totoro, and beyond.” — Aidan Moher, Lifehacker.com, 29 Sept. 2022

Did you know?

For its first 250 years, until the early part of the 20th century, fortuitous meant one thing only: “happening by chance.” This was no accident; its Latin forebear, fortuitus, shares the same ancient root as fors, the Latin word for “chance.” But the fact that fortuitous sounds like a blend of fortunate and felicitous (“happily suited to an occasion”) likely led to a second meaning of “fortunate, lucky,” with the seeds of the newer sense perhaps planted by writers applying overtones of good fortune to something that is a random occurrence. The “lucky” use has been disparaged by critics, but it is now well established. [Irregardless](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/is-irregardless-a-real-word-heh-heh) (cough), employing this sense in sterner company may be considered [chancy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chancy).