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

When quarterbacks and receivers are thinking alike, magic happens.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026

You're not incurring a direct cost on your books for this old software, but in reality you are, only it's an implicit cost until something like this happens.

From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026

"In a crisis or conflict, there are serious concerns that undersea cables will be cut... so if that happens it's good to have satellite communication as a backup," Kari Bingen said.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

As it happens, he is 9 years old—the same age as the youngest participants in OpenAI’s study.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

“What happens if Lou Ann says we can’t stay?”

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word