Idiom 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.”
Anchors to
Last updated August 10, 2026