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

Vote Safe organizers stress that their own volunteers will be unarmed and nonpartisan, and say their purpose is not to confront officials but to provide a familiar presence and record what happens.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

He noticed that about 25% of images sent out were being screenshot to be used in AI tools as he is notified when it happens.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Even though mathematicians had suspected this almost never happens for typical problems, they had never fully proven it—until Urschel did.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Once that happens, people’s behavior often changes, because they feel a “rush of motivation” that commonly follows losing weight, according to Paul.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

But that always happens in the beginning of learning new material.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold