event
Americannoun
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events
plural
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something that happens or is regarded as happening; an occurrence, especially one of some importance.
- Synonyms:
- circumstance, case, affair, happening
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the outcome, issue, or result of anything.
The venture had no successful event.
- Synonyms:
- consequence
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something that occurs in a certain place during a particular interval of time.
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Physics. in relativity, an occurrence that is sharply localized at a single point in space and instant of time.
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Sports. any of the contests in a program made up of one sport or of a number of sports.
The broad jump event followed the pole vault.
idioms
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in the event of, if there should be.
In the event of rain, the party will be held indoors.
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in any event, regardless of what happens; in any case. Also at all events.
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in the event that, if it should happen that; in case.
In the event that I can't come back by seven, you can eat without me.
noun
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anything that takes place or happens, esp something important; happening; incident
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the actual or final outcome; result (esp in the phrases in the event, after the event )
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any one contest in a programme of sporting or other contests
the high jump is his event
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philosophy
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an occurrence regarded as a bare instant of space-time as contrasted with an object which fills space and has endurance
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an occurrence regarded in isolation from, or contrasted with, human agency Compare act
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regardless of circumstances; in any case
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in case of; if (such a thing) happens
in the event of rain the race will be cancelled
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if it should happen that
verb
Synonym Usage
Event, episode, incident, occurrence are terms for a happening. An event is usually an important happening: historical events. An episode is one of a series of happenings in a person's life or in a narrative: an episode in one's life. An incident is an event of usually minor importance: an amusing incident in a play. An occurrence is something that happens, often by surprise: His arrival was an unexpected occurrence.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of event
First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin ēventus “occurrence, outcome,” equivalent to ēven(īre) “to come out, fall out, occur” + -tus suffix of verbal action
Explanation
An event is something that happens, or might happen. In the event that you get stuck in traffic, the wedding will continue. It is too important an event to wait even for someone as important as you. When something is eventful, many things happen during it. In a detective story, a protagonist can protect himself by mailing an envelope to the police to be opened "in the event of his death." In the novel White Noise, Don DeLillo describes an Airborne Toxic Event, both predicting and mocking the disasters of our time.
Vocabulary lists containing event
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 5
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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:
While that did not materialise on Friday, the fresh challenge posed by Werro in particular will only intensify her determination to reassert herself at the top of the event.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
At an event with students at Yeshiva University in 2017, Kushner acknowledged some of the mistakes he’d made at Vostu, including over-hiring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
The event began at approx 19:00 BST with the Moon passing between the Earth and the Sun, creating a crescent shape in the sky.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Maivia took some teammates with him to Hawaii, where he hosted a mental health event for kids in his home state.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Everyone in town seemed to be excited about the Morpho event!
From "A Monster of a Mystery (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #5)" by Franklin W. Dixon
Consumers likely brought forward their spending to capitalize on online sales events in June, Long said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The heptathlon continues later with the shot put and 200m events completing the first day of competition, before the long jump, javelin and 800m take place on Saturday.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The notion that motion pictures could make a record of real-world events was formalized with the advent of the newsreel, the creation of which is credited to the French studio Pathé in 1910.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
To that end, Netflix has diversified the type of content it offers, adding games, video podcasts and live events like NFL football games to its platform.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
They’d watch a dozen of these events over the next three days and all were tedious.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
