Antonyms for befall
bɪˈfɔlbe·fall

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.7 / 3 votes

1. befall

   A thing is said to happen when no design is manifest, or none especially thought of; it is said to chance when it appears to be the result of accident (compare synonyms for ACCIDENT). An incident happens or occurs; something external or actual happens to one; a thought or fancy occurs to him. Befall and betide are transitive; happen is intransitive; something befalls or betides a person or happens to him. Betide is especially used for anticipated evil, thought of as waiting and coming at its appointed time; as, wo betide him! One event supervenes upon another event, one disease upon another, etc. ["Transpire," in the sense of happen, is not authorized by good usage: a thing that has happened is properly said to transpire when it becomes known.]

   Synonyms:
   bechance, betide, chance, come to pass, fall, fall out, happen, occur, supervene, take place

   Preposition:
   An event happens to a person; a person happens on or upon a fact, discovery, etc.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. befall

   Antonyms:
   miss, pass, spare, pretermit

   Synonyms:
   happen, occur, betide, fall, supervene, bechance

Matched Categories

1. • Happen

Princeton's WordNetRate these antonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. befall, bechance, betideverb

   become of; happen to

   "He promised that no harm would befall her"; "What has become of my children?"

   Synonyms:
   betide, bechance, happen

2. happen, befall, bechanceverb

   happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance

   "It happens that today is my birthday"; "These things befell" (Santayana)

   Synonyms:
   encounter, betide, materialise, fall out, bump, go on, occur, pass off, materialize, bechance, hap, happen, chance, take place, find, pass, come about

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. befallverb

   Synonyms:
   happen, supervene, betide, bechance

How to use befall in a sentence?

1. Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson:

   I hold it true, whatever befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.

2. Joseph Addison:

   A good conscience is to the soul what health is to the body; it preserves constant ease and serenity within us; and more than countervails all the calamities and afflictions which can befall us from without.

3. The President:

   The murder of George Floyd at the hands of police was a horrible tragedy -- one of countless tragedies to befall people of color across the United States. The vast majority of protesters today did so peacefully, toward a common goal of promoting justice and equality, i am deeply thankful for their voices and their positive, forceful message. I also want to express my gratitude to all the police officers and other first responders working to protect the people of Boston from the individuals whose violent actions, looting and property destruction was criminal and cowardly -- and distracted from the powerful statement made today by thousands of Massachusetts residents.

4. Justice Louis Brandeis:

   No danger flowing from speech can be deemed clear and present unless the incidence of the evil apprehended is so imminent that it may befall before there is an opportunity for full discussion. Only an emergency can justify repression.

5. Dean Haydon:

   The children were paralyzed by fear of Haque, who they understood to have connections to terrorists and who essentially told them that a violent fate would befall them if they told anyone what he was doing.

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