serendipity

serendipity — noun

1. the way that fortunate or interesting events happen or are discovered completely

1.名詞B2
釋義

the way that fortunate or interesting events happen or are discovered completely by accident, without being planned or actively looked for

例句

Ryo discovered his love for painting through pure serendipity during a rainy afternoon.

through + [noun phrase] serendipity for accidental discovery

The research team credited serendipity for the unexpected breakthrough in their experiment.

credit serendipity for [result]

同義詞
  • luck

    broader term — luck covers any good fortune, not specifically accidental discovery

  • chance

    more neutral — chance can refer to random events regardless of whether the outcome is good or bad

  • happenstance

    more literary and less common; emphasises that events occurred together by accident

反義詞
  • design

    the opposite of happening by accident — a result of deliberate planning

  • misfortune

    bad luck or an unlucky outcome

文法句型

serendipity + verb

a stroke / moment / act of serendipity

用法筆記

Uncountable noun — do not use directly with 'a' (use 'a stroke of serendipity' or 'a moment of serendipity'). The word is most common in narrative or reflective writing rather than casual everyday speech.

常見錯誤

I had a serendipity yesterday.
I had a stroke of serendipity yesterday.
💡serendipity is uncountable and needs a partitive phrase.
The meeting was serendipity.
The meeting happened through serendipity.
💡serendipity names a concept or quality, not an event itself.