Definition of serendipity
:the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for;
also
:an instance of this
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From the M-W Editors
serendipity was our Word of the Day on 02/13/2014. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of serendipity in a Sentence
- As they leapfrog from South Africa to Singapore in search of local delicacies, the authors prove again and again that serendipity is the traveler's strongest ally: many of their most memorable meals issue from the hands of generous strangers … —Sarah Karnasiewicz, Saveur, June/July 2008
- If reporters fail to keep these files, they seldom luck into bigger stories. Their investigative work typically happens only by design—analyzing the news, for instance—not by serendipity. —Michael J. Bugeja, Editor & Publisher, 13 Jan. 2003
- A week earlier, the doctor would have had no recourse but to make an incision in the baby's skin to get to a vein—a precarious option now, since time was running short and it would take nearly half an hour to assemble the necessary equipment. But in an extraordinary bit of serendipity, Hanson had attended a seminar on emergency medical care for children just a week before. —David Ruben, Parenting, December/January 1996
They found each other by pure serendipity.
Recent Examples of serendipity from the Web
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The way print allows for serendipity to affect readers' thought patterns and habits, and the way platform algorithms and the cognitive processes of browsing result in echo chambers' magnification, is not complained about enough.
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When Oakland Athletics rookie Boog Powell’s home run landed on the flag court at Oriole Park on Monday night, the ball was dripping with serendipity.
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The serendipity of the moment led Lin to post on Craigslist, describing the guy's plaid shirt and partially dyed blond hair.
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CreativeMornings/Charlotte features a different guest speaker each month, with topics ranging from survival to serendipity.
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In fact, the discovery of Io's volcanoes showed that serendipity played a part in science.
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There is a certain amount of serendipity involved in the cap spike arriving just at the right time.
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And John is deep into his new second career as a painter, another example of serendipity on the loose.
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Finding the sketches was a matter of serendipity, Childs said.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'serendipity.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Where Does 'Serendipity' Come From?
In the mid-1700s, English author Horace Walpole stumbled upon an interesting tidbit of information while researching a coat of arms. In a letter to his friend Horace Mann he wrote: "This discovery indeed is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word, which as I have nothing better to tell you, I shall endeavor to explain to you: you will understand it better by the derivation than by the definition. I once read a silly fairy tale, called 'The Three Princes of Serendip': as their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of…." Walpole's memory of the tale (which, as it turns out, was not quite accurate) gave serendipity the meaning it retains to this day.
Origin and Etymology of serendipity
from its possession by the heroes of the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip
SERENDIPITY Defined for English Language Learners
serendipity
play
noun
Definition of serendipity for English Language Learners
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: luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for
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