Meaning & use
chance encounter
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Meanings
nouncountable
A meeting with someone that is not planned or arranged, usually a surprise.
Grammar: Countable: a chance encounter, several chance encounters.
Patterns
- a chance encounter with someone
- a chance encounter between people
A chance encounter at the airport led to a new job.
They met through a chance encounter in a bookshop.
The chance encounter reminded him of his old school.
nouncountable
An unplanned meeting that turns out to change someone's life or plans.
Grammar: Often used in stories about a fortunate turn of events: a lucky chance encounter.
Patterns
- owe something to a chance encounter
- a fateful chance encounter
Their friendship began with a chance encounter on a train.
She owes her career to a chance encounter with a director.
A brief chance encounter in the park changed his plans.
Word forms
| plural | chance encounters |
|---|
Common combinations
- a brief chance encounter
- It was only a brief chance encounter, but she remembered it.
- a chance encounter with
- He had a chance encounter with his old teacher.
- a lucky chance encounter
- A lucky chance encounter brought them together.
- a chance encounter between
- A chance encounter between two strangers started the story.
- a fateful chance encounter
- A fateful chance encounter sent her to Paris.
Synonyms and how they differ
- coincidental meeting
- Coincidental meeting is more formal and stresses the odd timing, while chance encounter suggests a surprising but natural event.
- run-in
- A run-in is often unpleasant or an argument, but a chance encounter is usually neutral or pleasant.
- accidental meeting
- Accidental meeting is plainer and does not carry the storytelling feel of chance encounter.
- serendipity
- Serendipity is the lucky quality of finding something good by accident, while chance encounter names the event.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: chance encounter or coincidence?
chance encounter vs coincidence
A coincidence is when two events happen at the same time by accident, while a chance encounter is a meeting between people.
Practice
They never arranged to see each other; it was just a ___ on the street.
Choose one answer.
A chance encounter is an unplanned meeting. The other options describe planned meetings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “chance encounter”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.