as in to encounter
to come upon face-to-face or as if face-to-face
happened upon the hotel manager in the lobby and promptly complained about the room
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for happen (upon)
Verb
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Phillies play reliever roulette Righty David Robertson entered when Cristopher Sánchez encountered trouble in the sixth, putting away pinch hitter Max Muncy, a lefty batter.—
Charlotte Varnes,
New York Times,
5 Oct. 2025 -
There he was flabbergasted to discover video footage of a woman wearing a dark Balenciaga sack dress on the streets of Paris in the ’50s, encountering curiosity and visible scorn.—
Miles Socha,
Footwear News,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But despite all that history, the church voted in June to stop meeting due to low numbers and the inability to keep up with building maintenance costs.—
Andy Humbles,
Nashville Tennessean,
6 Oct. 2025
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The mayor's office said the quick timeline is necessary to meet state notification deadlines for the change to take effect.—
Vanessa Swales,
jsonline.com,
6 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Happen (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/happen%20%28upon%29. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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