befall
Americanverb (used without object)
-
befalls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
befell,
past
-
befallen,
past participle
-
befalling
present participle
-
to happen or occur.
- Synonyms:
- chance, materialize, betide, ensue, bechance
-
Archaic. to come, as by right.
verb (used with object)
-
befalls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
befell,
past
-
befallen,
past participle
-
befalling
present participle
verb
-
(intr) to take place; come to pass
-
(tr) to happen to
-
to be due, as by right
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
befallsimple
-
befallssimple
-
have befallenperfect
-
has befallenperfect
-
am befallingprogressive
-
are befallingprogressive
-
is befallingprogressive
-
have been befallingperfect progressive
-
has been befallingperfect progressive
Past
-
befellsimple
-
had befallenperfect
-
was befallingprogressive
-
were befallingprogressive
-
had been befallingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of befall
before 900; Middle English befallen, Old English befeallan. See be-, fall (v.)
Explanation
Befall is an old-fashioned or literary way of saying something happened by chance. Bad luck befalls a heroine who drops her lucky rabbit foot. When something befalls you, it’s like bad luck falling on you. An earthquake can befall a city. A terrible disease could befall a child. A bolt of lightning could befall a very unlucky person. When something befalls you, you’re in trouble. Tragedies befall families in many of Shakespeare’s plays — that’s what makes them so much fun.
Vocabulary lists containing befall
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 1
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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ACT Vocabulary List
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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:
For generations, the 103-year-old Catholic parish has been a beacon of solace and resistance for residents angry about the latest indignity to befall the historic heart of Latino Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
"We wake up wondering what new disaster is going to befall Auroville," its French-language magazine declared in December.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Sanctions didn’t make life easier, he says, but they didn’t befall Iran.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
Jo's brother Jimmy said he "never imagined such a profound tragedy would ever befall our family".
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025
“Shall you ever have courage to announce to Lady Catherine what is to befall her?”
From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
Carthage’s deeper tragedy lies in the subsequent erasure of its history, language and culture, not in its physical destruction, which befalls all empires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
Money is a form of the “resource curse” that befalls many producers of oil and other vital commodities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
The Jeffrey Epstein case itself is no longer “real,” but a plot device to keep viewers tuning in to see what befalls the protagonist, in the manner of someone being voted off the island.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2025
“All human life is sacred, so it’s not proper to laugh when serious harm befalls someone,” wrote one Bluesky user.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2024
"Take my betrothed back to the castle, and see that no harm befalls her," the prince told him brusquely.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
No other harm befell him or my little brother.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
A similar fate befell What's Wrong With Me – a duet with her musical hero, The Cure's Robert Smith.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Better to know beforehand what I will pay and what I will get and avoid the disaster that befell my friends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026
This vast array of media professionals came no closer to uncovering what awful fate befell this poor 84-year-old woman.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026
So it befell that by false cunning and pretended tears those were conquered whom great Diomedes had never overcome, nor savage Achilles, nor ten years of warfare, nor a thousand ships.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
In baseball, curses are no joking matter, and the Curse of the FTD Burger might now have befallen the team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
“This is a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family. We all recognize that and our hearts go out to the entire Reiner family,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
"This is a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family," he said.
From Barron's ● Dec. 17, 2025
All the plans, in their own very different ways, hope to salvage something out of the calamity that has befallen Gaza over the past two years.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2025
Skardebek didn’t understand the disaster that had befallen them.
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
The comeback ended in a match tie-break defeat by Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk and her American partner Peyton Stearns, with the same fate befalling them in New York.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
She imagined something terrible befalling her, and her parents discovering her mounting credit-card bills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
If we speak about 1929 perhaps we believe we will avoid a similar fate befalling us.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2025
The precedents I have in mind rose and fell on elements of “human nature” that also drive what’s befalling us now.
From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2025
It's possible she actually prevented another tragedy from befalling our family.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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