happenstance

[ hap-uhn-stans ]
See synonyms for happenstance on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a chance happening or event.

Origin of happenstance

1
First recorded in 1895–1900; happen + (circum)stance

Words Nearby happenstance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use happenstance in a sentence

  • All of these differences add up to make each planet unique, a product of happenstance and history.

    The Best Map of Mars Yet | Matthew R. Francis | July 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • The success that followed 16 years later was a matter of happenstance, not of strategy.

    Fool's Gold | David Frum | February 13, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Out of the chaos of happenstance they were finding rules of order, certain formulas of behavior, equations of force.

    Empire | Clifford Donald Simak
  • As for deceased, his ontimely evaporation that a-way is but the frootes of happenstance.

    Faro Nell and Her Friends | Alfred Henry Lewis
  • This is contrasted to happenstance decision making based on impulsiveness and wishful thinking.

  • The German was just a happenstance, a castaway in the war for Arzachel.

    First on the Moon | Jeff Sutton
  • But the happenstance habits of nature were steadily being integrated into the control program of man.

    The Thirst Quenchers | Rick Raphael

British Dictionary definitions for happenstance

happenstance

/ (ˈhæpənˌstæns) /


noun
  1. chance

  2. a chance occurrence

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012