Idiom
accident of birth
Meaning
A fact, situation, or personal characteristic, which may be desirable or undesirable, resulting from the circumstances into which a person was born, and which is therefore entirely beyond their control.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“His wealth is just an accident of birth.”
“She realized that her access to quality education was largely an accident of birth rather than a result of her own hard work.”
“The philosopher argued that one's social status is often merely an accident of birth, challenging the idea that success is solely a product of individual merit.”
Examples
simple
“His wealth is just an accident of birth.”
contextual
“She realized that her access to quality education was largely an accident of birth rather than a result of her own hard work.”
complex
“The philosopher argued that one's social status is often merely an accident of birth, challenging the idea that success is solely a product of individual merit.”
Key words
Related idioms
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