Circumstance Meaning
/ˈsɜːkəmst(ə)ns/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounSomething which is related to, or in some way affects, a fact or event.
nounAn event; a fact; a particular incident, occurrence, or condition (status).
Sentence Examples
They are in comfortable circumstance.
She takes every circumstance into account.
The new bishop was installed with much pomp and circumstance.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Due to an unexpected financial ____, we had to cancel the trip.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Under no ____ should you ever leave the small children alone city.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English circumstaunce, from Old French circonstance, from Latin circumstantia.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The circumstances are well known in the country where they happened."
— 1819, Washington Irving, The Broken Heart:
"The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely according to her own ideas. […]"
— 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, in The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace, →OL:
"I have ſeen Two or Three antique Buſts of Alexander in the ſame Air and Poſture, and am apt to think the Sculptor had in his Thoughts the Conqueror's weeping for new Worlds, or ſome other the like Circumſtance of his History."
— 1705, J[oseph] Addison, “Florence”, in Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 413:
"Then another circumstance happened, which made a lasting impression on my memory, though I was but a small child."
— 1834, David Crockett, chapter I, in A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, of the State of Tennessee. […], Philadelphia, Pa.: E[dward] L[awrence] Carey and A[braham] Hart; Boston, Mass.: Allen & Ticknor, →OCLC, page 20:
"Right, you are in the right, and therefore / I holde it meet without more circumſtance at all, / Wee ſhake hands and part; […]"
— c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and Iohn Trundell, published 1603, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Due to an unexpected financial ____, we had to cancel the trip.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Under no ____ should you ever leave the small children alone city.