happened

Definition of happenednext
past tense of happen

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of happened Thursday's crash happened near the city of Durban in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province. Arkansas Online, 30 Jan. 2026 Nevils explains in her book how this message was jarringly confusing and led her to second-guess what had happened, ultimately leading her back to the belief that the nature of the encounter was nothing alarming. Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 29 Jan. 2026 What happened in the Pennsylvania nursing home explosion? Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 29 Jan. 2026 The challenge isn’t just recording the chaos but also identifying individual particles in a blizzard of debris, then piecing together what happened in the femtoseconds after impact. Tejasri Gururaj, Interesting Engineering, 29 Jan. 2026 The buyers are not focused on what happened last quarter. Josh Brown,sean Russo, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026 An investigation is underway to determine how the release happened, including a review of procedures, Rogers said. Mark Price january 29, Charlotte Observer, 29 Jan. 2026 That's not what happened, however. Richard Edwards, Space.com, 29 Jan. 2026 This is what happened during the fall of the Berlin Wall. Agustina Vergara Cid, Oc Register, 23 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for happened
Verb
  • What appeared to be a gun was visible in the waistband of Pretti, who was carrying a handgun when his fatal encounter with Border Patrol agents occurred.
    Asra Q. Nomani , Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi, FOXNews.com, 30 Jan. 2026
  • Growth in services consumption outpacing goods expenditure largely reflects rising average income levels and would likely have occurred even without policy support, said Duncan Wrigley, chief China economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
    Anniek Bao, CNBC, 30 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • That came just a few days after news broke that Palantir had secured a $10 billion contract from the US Army over the next decade.
    Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2025
  • All five of Bednar’s outs came via strikeout on Wednesday.
    Brendan Kuty, New York Times, 7 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • In between acts, there was a dance intermission featuring background dancers, including a solo female dancer performing a contemporary piece, before the stage opened to a full dance performance.
    Laura Sirikul, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
  • Detectives did not indicate that there was any connection between the two incidents.
    Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday, nor did HUD officials.
    Lizzie Kane, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2025
  • The two men then said Smollett paid them to stage the attack, and Smollett was charged with filing a false police report; the charges were later dropped after Smollett paid a fine and did community service.
    Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Happened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/happened. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

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