hapchance
/ˈhæpˌtʃæn(t)s/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "For the next few minutes he rather neglected the game, the countess absorbing his entire regard. For, by hapchance, the 25 won for her; and, as she took the thirty-five sovereigns, the woman's color deepened, her lips parted, her eyes glowed, and for the moment she looked radiantly happy."
- "Duncan and Betty took an hour off at the bank the following morning, and the pair of them, after wandering with evident aimlessness round the town, drifted as it were on the tide of hap-chance into Graham's drug-store."
- "Under the cover of darkness queer things happen in strange corners and some of them come to light. Here are two incidents that by hapchance are revealed[…]"
- "It could not actually be called a conversation, for he spoke in monologue, usually at some length, and more as though by hapchance and at random."
- "A little brush, two horses meeting by hapchance, was one thing, but a downright, bald-faced[…]"
- "There's no rules, in spite of what I said. It's all hapchance, and I think God Himself keeps pretty clear[…]"
Etymology
hap (“luck, fortune, chance”) + chance (“chance, fortune”): a tautological compound, in which both elements independently mean “chance”. Compare the similarly redundant haphazard (hap + hazard), and the synonymous happenchance and happenstance. Recorded from 1866, but attested chiefly in literary prose of the 20th century.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhæpˌtʃæn(t)s/
- British English: /ˈhapˌtʃɑːns/
Usage
Inflected Forms
hapchances (plural)
hap-chance (alternative)