happenstance
noun
hap·pen·stance
ˈha-pən-ˌstan(t)s 
ˈha-pᵊm-
: a circumstance especially that is due to chance
They came together by mere happenstance.
happenstance
adjective
Examples of happenstance in a Sentence
Our meeting was pure happenstance.
We met each other by happenstance.
It was an agreeable happenstance that we met.
Recent Examples on the Web
By happenstance, the Bumb family owns the flea market property near the Berryessa BART station in northeast San Jose.
—
George Avalos, Mercury News, 3 July 2025
Their happenstance meeting during an afternoon prison visit gives way to an unlikely dynamic that gets ever thornier the more their two disparate worlds collide.
—Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
And isn’t there something exciting about flipping through TV’s offerings and stumbling upon something by happenstance?
—Claire Franken, TVLine, 20 June 2025
The theatricality of the setup—the disruptive stranger, the impending event that will inevitably go very wrong—isn’t happenstance.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for happenstance
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George Avalos, Mercury News, 3 July 2025
Their happenstance meeting during an afternoon prison visit gives way to an unlikely dynamic that gets ever thornier the more their two disparate worlds collide.
—Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
And isn’t there something exciting about flipping through TV’s offerings and stumbling upon something by happenstance?
—Claire Franken, TVLine, 20 June 2025
The theatricality of the setup—the disruptive stranger, the impending event that will inevitably go very wrong—isn’t happenstance.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for happenstance
Cite this Entry
“Happenstance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/happenstance. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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