Synonyms for happen
ˈhæp ənhap·pen

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. happen

   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, befall, betide, chance, come to pass, fall, fall out, occur, supervene, take place

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

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:2.0 / 2 votes

1. happen, hap, go on, pass off, occur, pass, fall out, come about, take placeverb

   come to pass

   "What is happening?"; "The meeting took place off without an incidence"; "Nothing occurred that seemed important"

   Synonyms:
   materialise, run, perish, elapse, go past, make pass, progress, top, put across, go by, draw, evanesce, continue, occur, pass off, slip by, materialize, breathe, excrete, turn over, go, spend, bechance, slide by, croak, emit, fade, hand, legislate, egest, exit, authorise, exceed, fleet, pass away, slip away, drop dead, overstep, transcend, make it, return, pop off, come out, authorize, devolve, cash in one's chips, kick the bucket, give, fall out, hap, march on, glide by, go on, chance, sink, eliminate, move on, lapse, come up, give-up the ghost, blow over, take place, lead, expire, overhaul, find, advance, go through, reach, communicate, come about, keep, choke, pass by, snuff it, overtake, bump, follow, extend, come on, carry on, die, fall, pass, proceed, encounter, clear, decease, conk, travel by, buy the farm, pass along, come, befall, go across, go along, surpass, guide, pass on

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, chance, take place, befall, find, pass, come about

3. happenverb

   chance to be or do something, without intention or causation

   "I happen to have just what you need!"

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

4. happen, materialize, materialiseverb

   come into being; become reality

   "Her dream really materialized"

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

5. find, happen, chance, bump, encounterverb

   come upon, as if by accident; meet with

   "We find this idea in Plato"; "I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not very far from here"; "She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day"

   Synonyms:
   line up, detect, recover, kick downstairs, find oneself, befall, take chances, get, get hold, run across, gamble, demote, fall out, find, pass off, retrieve, hazard, knock, rule, notice, meet, chance, determine, see, find out, come about, come up, play, take a chance, encounter, materialize, go on, receive, feel, occur, risk, pass, incur, take place, come across, bechance, observe, run into, adventure, witness, dislodge, run a risk, ascertain, relegate, bump, take on, hap, break, regain, obtain, materialise, discover

Matched Categories

1. • Chance
   • Happen

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. happenverb

   Synonyms:
   chance, occur, befall, betide, come, take place, turn up, fall out, come to pass

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:4.0 / 1 vote

1. happenverb

   Synonyms:
   occur, befall, betide, supervene, intervene

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "happen":

   occur, arrive, arise, be

How to pronounce happen?

How to say happen in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use happen in a sentence?

1. Erin Burnett:

   I just don't know, you'll have to ask him that question. Look, I hope he's fine because I think it would be a shame. What he's saying is these things happen. It'd be nice if he said none of these things did happen. He's saying these things happen and therefore I have credibility. And what I'm saying is, I'd rather have them if they didn't happen. I don't want somebody who hit somebody in the face with a padlock.

2. Epictetus:

   Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life.

3. Kim Kardashian-West:

   I know this sounds crazy, but I know that was meant to happen to me. I don't want to start crying, but I feel like that was so meant to happen to me, i'm such a different person. I don't want to start crying anymore. It was meant to happen to me. I really feel like things happen in your life to teach you things. It was probably no secret -- and you see it on the show -- I was being flashy and I was definitely materialistic before.

4. James Lovell, speech to Girl Scouts in DuPage County, Illinois, 1997 - quoted in the Chicago Tribune 2-3-03:

   There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen.

5. John M. Richardson, Jr.:

   When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened.