happenstance
/ˈhæpənstæns/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈhæpənstæns/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈha-pən-ˌstan(t)s ˈha-pᵊm-/ (ame, mw)
happenstance — noun
- happenstancesingular
- happenstancesplural
1. something that happens by luck rather than by plan, often turning out well for t
something that happens by luck rather than by plan, often turning out well for the people involved.
Jiwoo met her future business partner at the airport by pure happenstance.
collocation: by pure happenstance
It was sheer happenstance that Mauricio sat next to a film director on the long flight to Madrid.
pattern: sheer/pure happenstance + that-clause
Through a series of happenstances, Yara ended up running the small bookshop on the corner.
The discovery of the old letters in the attic was nothing more than happenstance.
Eitan insisted that meeting his old teacher in Lisbon was not happenstance but fate.
- chance
everyday and neutral; the most common alternative in speech
- coincidence
stresses the surprising overlap of two events
- serendipity
always implies a fortunate, pleasant accident
- fluke
informal; emphasises an unlikely lucky outcome
文法句型
by happenstance
pure happenstance
mere happenstance
用法筆記
Frequently appears with intensifying adjectives such as 'pure', 'sheer', or 'mere', and in the prepositional frame 'by happenstance'. Carries a slightly literary or formal tone; in everyday speech, Taiwanese learners will hear 'by chance' or 'by accident' far more often.