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

What happened on May 11 reflects one tribe’s decadeslong navigation of the byzantine bureaucracy in Washington.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Maybe Ossoff’s reference was just a tossed-off line that happened to blow up.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

She blames us — and her biological brother — for everything bad that happened to her.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

"He didn't know what had happened to him... He just said, 'I am in jail, please take me out'."

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

“La, what happened? What made you panic? That hasn’t happened since your mom.”

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold