: a circumstance especially that is due to chance
- They came together by mere happenstance.
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Examples of happenstance in a Sentence
Our meeting was pure happenstance.
We met each other by happenstance.
It was an agreeable happenstance that we met.
Recent Examples of happenstance from the Web
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In Olsen’s telling, her five decades with the Peace Corps began quite by happenstance.
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Some find those second chances in retirement, others in midcareer; some out of frustration, others by happenstance.
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Although in some instances happenstance, the spate of headlines about Russians meddling in the U.S. election process clearly haven't gone unnoticed by TV writers.
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Riley, then 30, was chairman of Robert Kennedy's Indiana campaign — by happenstance.
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The fact that we are involved in awards season the year after #OscarsSoWhite is just kind of happenstance.
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Brancato’s body apparently was discovered by happenstance.
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The Americans by happenstance sent an all-female delegation, which some officials in Washington worried might upset the Taliban.
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That rift is about politics, a product of historical happenstance.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'happenstance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of happenstance
happen + circumstance
HAPPENSTANCE Defined for English Language Learners
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