happenstance
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.
"USCIS's hold on adjudications cannot be attributed to anything that these individuals did wrong; rather, it arises solely by the happenstance of their birth," the judge said.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
One posits the existence of billions of universes, arguing that happenstance alone accounts for the improbability of our inhabiting this one.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
Many of Burns’ works do, purely by happenstance.
From Salon • Nov. 15, 2025
Michelle is fluent in the perky command, the passive voice, the slippery non-apology, the kind of language that frames cruelty as blameless happenstance.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2025
Partly by happenstance, the U.S. geneticist James Neel and the U.S. anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon flew into Yanomami country in the midst of the epidemic.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Vocabulary lists containing happenstance
Portmanteaus: Vocab Mash-Ups
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The Things They Carried
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This Week In Culture: Current Events Vocab for October 24–30, 2020
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