happened

VERB

come to pass; occur

Synonyms

STRONGEST

appear arise arrive crop up develop fall go on hit materialize meet pass result take effect take place transpire

STRONG

befall betide bump chance down ensue eventuate follow issue light proceed recur shake smoke spring stumble supervene

WEAK

be found become a fact become known become of come about come after come into being come into existence come off luck present itself stumble upon turn out turn up what goes

Antonyms

STRONGEST

cease disappear fail halt lose stop

STRONG

precede

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

happened

“He’s a Stanford-qualified student who happened to play baseball really well,” Middleton said, “as opposed to a baseball player who happened to go to Stanford.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

These samples allowed them to observe what happened when people started or stopped certain medications.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

It was a typical Sondheimer scoop long before it happened.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

"I am incredibly realistic about what would have happened had I gone to university or gone into the workplace with a strong west country accent," she says.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

I’d blocked it out before but now I can see it play out, like it happened yesterday.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold