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

Rinaldi examined thousands of sources across several astronomical surveys, but the Saguaro stood out because researchers happened to have unusually useful observations of it.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

When you start googling about the emoluments clause, the first thing that keeps coming up is “What ever happened to the emoluments clause,” as though it was excised from the Constitution.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

Chalong then left the scene, and phoned a startled journalist he knew who was in the middle of a live broadcast on YouTube, to tell her what had happened.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

I just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right doctor and team.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Whatever had happened while she’d been gone had been good.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith