befall
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.
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"We wake up wondering what new disaster is going to befall Auroville," its French-language magazine declared in December.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
European elections keep rolling around whether anyone wants them or not, and the next will befall the U.K. in early May.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
How has she dealt with the fallow periods that befall every actor?
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025
Jo's brother Jimmy said he "never imagined such a profound tragedy would ever befall our family".
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025
Or the Ninety-first Psalm: “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
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Money is a form of the “resource curse” that befalls many producers of oil and other vital commodities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
After tragedy befalls his family, Mahito, the titular boy, leaves Tokyo and relocates to the country with his father to live with his aunt, Natsuko.
From Salon ● Dec. 23, 2023
When a crisis befalls a small circle of closed-minded leaders, they tend to react with strategic and often self-destructive recklessness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2023
A magnetic field around any of these structures would form a continuous tangent vector field, and at this point we know what befalls such hairy constructions.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 18, 2023
"Take my betrothed back to the castle, and see that no harm befalls her," the prince told him brusquely.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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That is precisely the situation that befell Cisco Systems in 2001.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
No other harm befell him or my little brother.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
A similar fate befell What's Wrong With Me – a duet with her musical hero, The Cure's Robert Smith.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Because, for veterans of modern warfare, the question isn’t how to come to grips with something that befell us in the manner of a natural disaster.
From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2026
Whatever befell, there would be a blue sky overhead, and the warmth and color and fragrance and beauty that her heart craved.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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In baseball, curses are no joking matter, and the Curse of the FTD Burger might now have befallen the team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
The same fate could’ve easily befallen this movie, too.
From Salon ● May 1, 2026
“This is a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
That's the fate that has befallen SchwuZ, whose director Katja Jaeger says is "the oldest and biggest queer club in Germany", if not Europe.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2025
“Such a sad time for you,” he said with false sympathy, “but it seems that good fortune has befallen you in other ways.”
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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It doesn’t help that a rainstorm of biblical proportions is befalling Chicago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
For someone who wept at seeing the modern Tatars enter Baghdad, the prospect of a similar fate befalling Tehran is more than a strategic policy shift.
From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2026
If we speak about 1929 perhaps we believe we will avoid a similar fate befalling us.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2025
The statement is hollow so long as people still can stake their dollars on the calamities befalling everyday Angelenos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2025
“Do not speak of ill befalling you,” Taran cried.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
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Vocabulary lists containing befall
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 1
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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ACT Vocabulary List
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