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

“Probably the biggest driver of stress is not knowing the end date of deployment—as happens in war cruises like this one. Uncertainty is tough,” said Montgomery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

What happens here, mechanically speaking, is that liquidity is sucked out of the financial system and diverted to the real economy, in Howell’s words.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

Who cares what happens to the Danes’ precious briefcase?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

"Surprisingly, we discovered this collapse happens at every level of genome organization -- compartments, domains, and chromatin loops."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026

Rue holds my hand as I recount everything in my vision and how much time I think we have until it happens.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold