happening (on or upon)

verb

Definition of happening (on or upon)next
present participle of happen (on or upon)
as in finding
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 happening (on or upon)
  1. finding
  2. encountering
Verb
  • Drone technology and artificial intelligence are rapidly reshaping modern warfare, but the world's biggest defense contractors are finding that demand for tanks, fighter jets and other traditional military equipment remains strong.
    — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 6 Nov. 2026
  • How Image Processing Reveals the Solar Corona Capturing the corona’s delicate structures means finding a way to show its brightest and faintest features in the same image.
    — IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of finding
Verb
  • Bass also attracted criticism over her handling of city spending — giving a series of raises to the workforce and then encountering a $1-billion shortfall, which led to the elimination of more than 1,500 vacant city jobs.
    — David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2026
  • While readers of his three earlier Grouse County novels will certainly feel the pleasure of encountering old friends, West of Loveland can be read satisfyingly on its own.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of encountering
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

happening (by)
happening (on or upon)
happenings
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Happening (on or upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/happening%20%28on%20or%20upon%29. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of wabi-sabi

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All