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befall

verb · noun

Simple meaning

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

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

bihfawl

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

bɪˈfɔl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance

  2. transitive

    To fall upon; fall all over; overtake.

noun

  1. Case; instance; circumstance; event; incident; accident.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance

Used this way, befall is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It suits reflective writing more than quick conversation.

Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Slightly formal
Intensity
Gentle
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Fortunate or pleasantly unexpected
Usage feel
Reflective and slightly elevated

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use befall

  • “He promised that no harm would befall her.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Happen / case

harm befallpossibly befall

Other combinations

evil befallever befall

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: happen or occur

happen

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.