happen
Americanverb (used without object)
-
happens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
happened,
past participle, past
-
happening
present participle
-
to take place; come to pass; occur.
Something interesting is always happening in New York.
- Synonyms:
- betide
-
to come to pass by chance; occur without apparent reason or design.
Don't ask me what caused it—it just happened, that's all.
-
to have the fortune or lot (to do or be as specified); chance.
I happened to see him on the street.
-
to befall, as to a person or thing.
Something dreadful has happened to me.
-
to meet or discover by chance (usually followed by on orupon ).
to happen on a clue to a mystery.
-
to be, come, go, etc., casually or by chance.
My friend happened along.
-
Slang. to be very exciting or interesting.
That party was happening!
verb
-
(intr) (of an event in time) to come about or take place; occur
-
(of some unforeseen circumstance or event, esp death), to fall to the lot (of); be a source of good or bad fortune (to)
if anything happens to me, it'll be your fault
-
(tr) to chance (to be or do something)
I happen to know him
-
(tr; takes a clause as object) to be the case, esp if by chance, that
it happens that I know him
adverb
Usage
What is a basic definition of happen? Happen means to occur, to come to pass by chance, or to befall someone or something. Happen has several other senses as a verb. Happen is a very general word that simply means to occur or take place. For example, the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln happened on April 15, 1865. That date is when this event took place.
- Real-life examples: Halloween happens on October 31. Scientists run experiments to see what happens. Nobody knows what will happen in the future. History is a record of what happened in the past.
- Used in a sentence: The police blocked off the street where the car accident happened.
- Used in a sentence: Joe happened to be standing in the exact spot where the water balloon landed.
- Used in a sentence: Sherri was terrified that something horrible had happened to her kitten.
- Used in a sentence: Summer is usually busy with happenings like beach parties. Summertime is happening!
Synonym Usage
Happen, chance, occur refer to the taking place of an event. Happen, which originally denoted the taking place by hap or chance, is now the most general word for coming to pass: Something has happened. Chance suggests the accidental nature of an event: It chanced to rain that day. Occur is often interchangeable with happen, but is more formal, and is usually more specific as to time and event: His death occurred the following year.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
happensimple
-
happenssimple
-
have happenedperfect
-
has happenedperfect
-
am happeningprogressive
-
are happeningprogressive
-
is happeningprogressive
-
have been happeningperfect progressive
-
has been happeningperfect progressive
Past
-
happenedsimple
-
had happenedperfect
-
was happeningprogressive
-
were happeningprogressive
-
had been happeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of happen
First recorded in 1300–50, happen is from the Middle English word hap(pe)nen. See hap 1, -en 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Less than one-third of families report having had satisfactory conversations around aging and end-of-life planning, and more than two-thirds of those conversations don’t happen until there’s a critical emergency or health crisis,” it says.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
"Your talent, heart, and courage have inspired so many people, and this victory is a beautiful reminder of what can happen when someone truly gives everything to their dream."
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Parekh says she’s never seen that happen, partly because companies understand the cost of finding and onboarding a cheaper replacement might negate any salary savings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
One of the charms of baseball is a cliche: Anything can happen — in a single game or in a short series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
And there was only one way to ensure that it would never happen again.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Simon: "Going for a few drinks with the opposition - you would think that that happens in sport all the time, but they lost?"
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
What matters isn’t only how much money reaches a school, but what happens after it arrives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
If that happens, the melt season could begin lengthening again.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
That’s what happens frequently when it’s time for gauging performance over potential.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
But today Jonah loved her for it, loved her for it even as he wondered, What if something happens to me and Katherine both?
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The crash happened at about 11:06 BST on Saturday.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
What I resent is what’s happened around the money.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
“I think it’s actually amazing it took three years, versus that it happened at all,” the 67-year-old said from his home in the Florida Keys.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
"What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
But running down the street to pick up his hat, I encountered Otto surrounded by an indignant little cluster of people who had seen what happened.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Is there anything in music happening currently that reminds you of those early days?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
“Fewer people are paying attention to what is happening in the Black Sea.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Scotty's rib is an unusual exception, preserving delicate structures that provide a glimpse of what was happening inside the dinosaur's body while the injury was healing.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
Lauren, 29, was seven when she got her first migraine and went on to have them regularly - by the time she was 24, they were happening every day.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
"What is happening?" wailed Val from farther up the path.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
