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.

Instead, it seems what has happened is that we’ve all just gotten used to it.

From Slate • May 26, 2026

"The families of the modern-day descendants don't really have much information about what happened to them," he said.

From BBC • May 26, 2026

She replied, “A failure? The greatest thing that ever happened in my life came out of that marriage—you.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

Faison: When the pandemic happened, Zach and I did a rewatch podcast of “Scrubs,” and that’s where all of this started to formulate again.

From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026

They just happened to be the first name you found.”

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse