happens

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:

happens

"A new group of shareholders might say, 'Don't declare dividends; we need to reinvest this money in the companies.' What happens then? The first casualty will be the hospitals they run," said Potdar.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Berkshire, as usual, will probably outperform if that happens.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

If the new garbage happens to be more ethical and sustainable than the old garbage, he can live with that.

From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026

Before seeing “The Dog Stars,” which also came out this summer and stars Jacob Elordi and another pooch, I looked into what happens to its canine star.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Most of the time it happens around the spring equinox of the year you turn fifteen.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy