Synonyms for befall
bɪˈfɔlbe·fall

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.7 / 3 votes

1. befall

   A thing is said to happen when no design is manifest, or none especially thought of; it is said to chance when it appears to be the result of accident (compare synonyms for ACCIDENT). An incident happens or occurs; something external or actual happens to one; a thought or fancy occurs to him. Befall and betide are transitive; happen is intransitive; something befalls or betides a person or happens to him. Betide is especially used for anticipated evil, thought of as waiting and coming at its appointed time; as, wo betide him! One event supervenes upon another event, one disease upon another, etc. ["Transpire," in the sense of happen, is not authorized by good usage: a thing that has happened is properly said to transpire when it becomes known.]

   Synonyms:
   bechance, betide, chance, come to pass, fall, fall out, happen, occur, supervene, take place

   Preposition:
   An event happens to a person; a person happens on or upon a fact, discovery, etc.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. befall

   Synonyms:
   happen, occur, betide, fall, supervene, bechance

   Antonyms:
   miss, pass, spare, pretermit

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. befall, bechance, betideverb

   become of; happen to

   "He promised that no harm would befall her"; "What has become of my children?"

   Synonyms:
   betide, bechance, happen

2. happen, befall, bechanceverb

   happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance

   "It happens that today is my birthday"; "These things befell" (Santayana)

   Synonyms:
   encounter, betide, materialise, fall out, bump, go on, occur, pass off, materialize, bechance, hap, happen, chance, take place, find, pass, come about

Matched Categories

1. • Happen

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. befallverb

   Synonyms:
   betide, overtake, happen to

2. befallverb

   Synonyms:
   happen, occur, take place

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. befallverb

   Synonyms:
   happen, supervene, betide, bechance

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How to use befall in a sentence?

1. Phaedrus:

   Submit to the present evil, lest a greater one befall you.

2. Ned Price:

   United States've spoken of the unprecedented nature of sanctions and other economic measures that would befall the Russian Federation in the event of an invasion. Were Belarus -- what should be a sovereign, independent country -- if that country were to support such an invasion, United States response would also be swift and decisive.

3. Godfather, The:

   Don Corleone I'm a superstitious man, and if some unlucky accident should befall Michael - if he is to be shot in the head by a police officer, or be found hung dead in a jail cell... or if he should be struck by a bolt of lightning - then I'm going to blame some of the people in this room and then I do not forgive. But with said, I pledge - on the souls of my grandchildren - that I will not be the one to break the peace that we have made today.

4. Justice Louis Brandeis:

   No danger flowing from speech can be deemed clear and present unless the incidence of the evil apprehended is so imminent that it may befall before there is an opportunity for full discussion. Only an emergency can justify repression.

5. Edward C. Banfield:

   Every political system is an accumulation of habits, customs, prejudices, and principles that have survived a long process of trial and error and of ceaseless response to changing circumstances. If the system works well on the whole, it is a lucky accident -- the luckiest, indeed, that can befall a society.