1
as in encountering
to come upon face-to-face or as if face-to-face
chanced upon my archenemy as I rounded a corner
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in finding
to come upon unexpectedly or by chance
I chanced upon your mother in the grocery store yesterday
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chancing (upon)
Verb
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Upon arrival, crews found light smoke conditions at a single-family residence, quickly encountering increasing smoke coming from a second-floor bedroom, the news release said.—
Aurora Beacon-News,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Feb. 2026 -
The latter sees a faded star eyeing a possible comeback and encountering all sorts of ghosts from his past.—
Marta Balaga,
Variety,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The grim news out of Tucson is that, thirteen days into the search for Nancy Guthrie, the odds of finding her alive have been dropping by the hour.—
Paige Williams,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
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The impact is expected to hit the bottom of the employment pyramid hardest, with research finding big drops in hiring among 22- to 25-year-olds in tech and customer service, The Economist reported.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
In another document in the most recent release of the Epstein files, Google co-founder Sergey Brin emailed with Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, about meeting up with Epstein during a trip to New York in 2003, well before Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea.—
David Ingram,
NBC news,
5 Feb. 2026
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Indeed, the old regs were an indirect way of promoting electrification, as car companies stood little chance of meeting them without battery power or drastic lineup reworkings.—
Caleb Jacobs,
The Drive,
5 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Chancing (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chancing%20%28upon%29. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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