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.
The whale attack is a tragedy of happenstance and filmed as chaotically as if it were happening to the camera.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Canada, by the happenstance of being neighbours with the world's largest economy, is hugely reliant on US trade.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
I would have thought it all the stuff of parlor-game happenstance, but events of this summer tempt me to regard the two men as expressions of a type.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
George Weiner, a nonprofits expert who runs the marketing consultancy Whole Whale, was made aware of Microsoft’s grant retractions from the very beginning, only by happenstance.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
Though he was introduced to the book by happenstance, he was ready for it.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
