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chance upon

verb

Simple meaning

To find by chance.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

chansuhpahn

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈtʃænsəˈpɑn

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. transitiveidiomatic

    To find (someone or something) by chance.

  2. Find unexpectedly

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

This meaning: To find (someone or something) by chance.

Used this way, chance upon 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.

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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.