happenstance
Americannoun
noun
-
chance
-
a chance occurrence
Etymology
Origin of happenstance
First recorded in 1895–1900; happen + (circum)stance
Explanation
A happenstance is a coincidental event. If you call your brother on the phone, that's intentional. If you bump into him in a restaurant, it's happenstance. Happenstance is a combination of the words, happen and circumstance. Whereas circumstances are the conditions that surround an event, happenstance is the event itself. If you have no food at home so you go out to eat and sit next to a charming person who you end up marrying, your meeting was happenstance and your being hungry and having no food at home were the circumstances.
Vocabulary lists containing happenstance
Portmanteaus: Vocab Mash-Ups
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The Things They Carried
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This Week In Culture: Current Events Vocab for October 24–30, 2020
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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.
Harnessing happenstance has led to inventions that have changed the world—from extending the lives of cardiac patients to overhauling how humans eat.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
Many of Burns’ works do, purely by happenstance.
From Salon • Nov. 15, 2025
Marles had met Hegseth in August to lobby him on Aukus, but the latter's office issued - and later retracted - a statement saying there were no talks, only "a happenstance encounter".
From BBC • Oct. 20, 2025
For Sebastián Yatra, a miracle doesn’t have to be a grandiose happenstance; it can be a child’s smile, the perfect cup of tea or rain on a sunny day.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2025
One day she came across a rabbit, purely by happenstance.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
