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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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:
"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
But woe befall any bad guys who mistake him for a fool.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
European elections keep rolling around whether anyone wants them or not, and the next will befall the U.K. in early May.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Jo's brother Jimmy said he "never imagined such a profound tragedy would ever befall our family".
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025
Papa was always worrying that some disaster would befall our family.
From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis
The cynic in me knows that, as surely as no Gutenberg protégé engraved this stationery, the happy accident of the extras befalls every customer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 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
Playing Beth’s mother, Grace, she volunteers to direct their small town’s famed Christmas pageant after an incident befalls the longtime director.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 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
As we near the end we get to a full account of the game itself, enlivened by quotes the players gave after the fact, and followed by chronicles of what befell the participants after 1933.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Because, for veterans of modern warfare, the question isn’t how to come to grips with something that befell us in the manner of a natural disaster.
From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2026
She will be desperate to avoid the disaster that befell hot men's favourite Ilia Malinin, who suffered a nightmare last week, slumping to an eighth-place finish.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
The issue also befell the German team who won bronze in the biathlon.
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026
That fate befell African pygmies and many other hunter-gatherer populations displaced by farmers.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Rodríguez, who could use the crisis to strengthen her hold on power, has highlighted the successes of the response while acknowledging the grave catastrophe that had befallen her country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
The same fate could’ve easily befallen this movie, too.
From Salon ● May 1, 2026
A spate of fires and disasters has befallen the city's historic architecture over the years, raising questions about whether these are freak accidents or a symptom of wider issues.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
In her essay, Schlossberg acknowledged that her terminal illness adds to a string of tragedies that has befallen the famous political family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2025
The week after Hickey’s hanging, Becky suffered a mild attack of the ague that had befallen so many soldiers.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
White House reporters, meanwhile, are preparing for the day — perhaps a day when they serve as pool reporter — when they get the call about a calamity befalling the president.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 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
That defeat would have paled when set beside the one that looked like befalling Scotland now.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2024
“Do not speak of ill befalling you,” Taran cried.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
