Coincidence

/koʊˈɪnsɪdəns/

nounBeginnerCommonGeneral

Definitions

1

The occurrence of events that happen at the same time by chance, and seem to be related.

/koʊˈɪnsɪdəns/

nounneutralBeginner
General

A remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.

Meeting my childhood friend in a foreign country was a remarkable coincidence.

💡 Simply: Imagine you and your friend both wear the same shirt to school. That's a coincidence! It happened by chance, not because you planned it.

👶 For kids: When two things happen at the same time without planning, that's a coincidence!

More Examples

2

Their shared birthday was just a coincidence.

How It's Used

Everyday Life

"It was pure coincidence that we met at the coffee shop."

Statistics

"The researchers dismissed the correlation as a mere coincidence."

Idioms & expressions

It's just a coincidence

Used to dismiss a seemingly related event as purely accidental.

"'You both got the same job?' 'It's just a coincidence.'"

From Middle French *coincidence, from Latin coincidere "to fall together", from com- "together" + incidere "to fall".

The word's usage has remained consistent throughout history, referring primarily to chance occurrences.

Memory tip

Coin-cidence: Two coins landing heads up at the same time—a chance event.

coincedencecoincidensecoincidencee

Usage

40%Spoken
60%Written