coincidence

noun co·in·ci·dence \ kō-ˈin(t)-sə-dən(t)s , -sə-ˌden(t)s \

|Updated on: 16 Jun 2018

Examples: coincidence in a Sentence

Definition of coincidence

1 : the act or condition of coinciding : correspondence

… a perfect coincidence between truth and goodness …
—Robert South

2 : the occurrence of events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have some connection

… causal connection requires something more than mere coincidence as to time and place …
—Wayne R. LaFave

also : any of these occurrences

See coincidence defined for English-language learners

See coincidence defined for kids

Examples of coincidence in a Sentence

It was mere coincidence that brought them together so far from Chicago.
By coincidence, every man in the room was named Fred.
“I'm going to Boston this weekend.” “What a coincidence! I am too.”
It was no coincidence that he quit his job at the bank a day after the robbery.
a series of strange coincidences
By a fortunate coincidence, we arrived at the theater at the same time.
Scientists have no explanation for the coincidence of these phenomena.

Recent Examples of coincidence from the Web

By sheer coincidence, Chris Lee finished his tour of service with the Marines that weekend and, with no charges pending against him, he was honorably discharged.

— paul larosa, CBS News, "Search for missing Marine wife "like finding a needle in a thousand haystacks”," 12 June 2018
Zsido said the project was near to her heart because by coincidence, her father died the same day as Rose.

— john wisely, Detroit Free Press, "Dog park dedicated to fallen K9 officer Collin Rose," 26 May 2018
By coincidence, the No. 2 Pentagon official at the time, Robert Work, visited F.E. Warren one month before the drug investigation became public.

— NBC News, "Security troops on U.S. nuclear missile base took LSD, records show," 24 May 2018
Get our daily newsletter By coincidence, Lev Dodin, the Maly’s artistic director, was also born in 1944, to a Jewish family which had been evacuated from Leningrad to Siberia.

— The Economist, "A great Russian director brings history to life on stage," 17 May 2018
And yet Jerry’s death did mark a change for me, by coincidence, or not.

— rachel kushner, Vogue, "Rachel Kushner on the San Francisco Dives of Her Youth, and That Time She Tended Bar With Keith Richards," 27 Apr. 2018
During the courtroom tutorial last month in San Francisco, the lecture given by University of California, Santa Cruz, climate scientist Gary Griggs was underscored by a coincidence.

— henry gass, The Christian Science Monitor, "Climate change goes to court," 5 Apr. 2018
By coincidence, one of those alternatives might stem from his father's work.

— mitch leslie, Science | AAAS, "To treat some diseases, researchers are putting immune cells on a diet," 29 Mar. 2018
By coincidence, Japanese officials were also looking for a way to pay tribute to the United States.

— daniel stone, Time, "How the Man Who Brought the Cherry Blossoms to Washington Narrowly Avoided a Diplomatic Crisis," 20 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'coincidence.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of coincidence

borrowed from Medieval Latin coincidentia, derivative of coincident-, coincidens, present participle of coincidere "to agree in nature, coincide"

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First Known Use: 1605

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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coincidence Synonyms

COINCIDENCE Defined for English Language Learners

coincidence

noun

Definition of coincidence for English Language Learners

: a situation in which events happen at the same time in a way that is not planned or expected
: the occurrence of two or more things at the same time
: the state of two or more things being the same