1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

happened (on or upon)

verb

past tense of happen (on or upon)
as in found
to come upon unexpectedly or by chance happened on the filming of a movie

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for happened (on or upon)
  1. found
  2. encountered
Verb
  • Contour Circuits, founded by Secor and former graduate student Jeremy Rurup, received a $150,000 Small Business Technology Transfer contract to advance the technology.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026
  • At Micam, curation takes place in sections like the Emerging Designer event area, founded in 2018.
    — Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of found
Verb
  • On September 9, 1947, the Harvard Mark II, one of the earliest computers, encountered a bug.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Officers who responded to a shoplifting call encountered two adults allegedly fleeing from the store with a child and going into a vehicle, according to bureau.
    — Tesfaye Negussie, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of encountered
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.

Browse Nearby Words

happened (by)
happened (on or upon)
happened (upon)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Happened (on or upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/happened%20%28on%20or%20upon%29. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All