come about

verb

came about; come about; coming about; comes about

intransitive verb

1

: happen

2

: to change direction

the wind has come about into the north

3

: to shift to a new tack

Synonyms of come about

• happen
• be
• come down
• come
• occur

Examples of come about in a Sentence

how did all this come about?

Recent Examples on the Web

Word of the latest closure comes about nine months after Save Mart closed another Lucky supermarket in San Francisco's Bayview District. — Maddie White, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026

Lê Shackelford said the store’s busiest day came about a week after the World Cup had left town — suggesting that the market’s best days would come after the influx of visitors to the city. — Dylan Lysen, Kansas City Star, 4 Aug. 2026

Robbins told Variety that this collaboration came about after Francesca showed her dad one of his sketches. — Jack Dunn, Variety, 4 Aug. 2026

Indeed, flow state research shows that our optimal performance only comes about under challenging conditions. — Ginny Whitelaw, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for come about

• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout
• dugout

Kids Definition

come about

verb

1

: happen sense 2

2

: to change direction

the wind has come about into the north