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.

Friends and family said it was tragic happenstance that either ended up in their ill-fated seats.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 15, 2025

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

The initial Metro Bashers came to their hobby independently, meeting through happenstance and their shared love of the rail network.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 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