happening
UK/ˈhæpɪnɪŋ/
happening is the present participle and gerund of happen.
Adjective
happening (comparative more happening, superlative most happening)
- Busy, lively; vibrant, dynamic; fashionable.
- “[…]San Francisco is not exactly the most happening place, you know.”2005, Wendy Lawton, Less is More, page 13
- When the show ends, the circular, sunken floor is one of the more happening dance clubs in town.2006, Eliot Greenspan, Neil E. Schlecht, Frommer's Cuba, page 165
- Trendy, up-to-the-minute.
- Every show has its hottest, most happening trends. If I were to isolate just one for hardware and one for software, this year's hot hardware would be the 386 machines, and the happening software would be desktop publishing.1987 November 16, Steve Gibson, “Desktop Publishing, 386-Based Machines, ‘Happening’ Trends at Comdex”, in InfoWorld, page 42
- Going strong since 2006, this ephemeral nightclub (it's open only for 50 nights each year, in July and August) has become the hottest ticket in DJ land, a combination of the most happening names in music and its spectacular setting at the heart of the Palais des Festivals.2009, Nicola Williams, Oliver Berry, Steve Fallon, France, Lonely Planet, page 883
Noun
happening (plural happenings)
- Something that happens.
- Three follow-up singles, all ecological or religious in theme, did chart in the lower reaches of the Hot 100. Thereafter, Ocean remained a Canadian happening.1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 271
- A spontaneous or improvised event, especially one that involves audience participation.
- And it was some kind of happening / Some kind of happening / Salvador Dali's garden party1989, “Salvador Dali's Garden Party”, in Privilege, performed by Television Personalities
Meaning of happen
Verb
happen (third-person singular simple present happens, present participle happening, simple past and past participle happened)
- To occur or take place.
- Let me tell you how it happened.
- Synonyms:
- come to pass
- To happen to; to befall.
- 'By my soul! I believe something bad has happened me,' he muttered, and popped up his window, and looked out, half dreaming over the church-yard on the park beyond […]1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard
- To do or occur by chance or unexpectedly.
- Take an umbrella in case it happens to rain.
- To encounter by chance.
- Unexpectedly, in a nook close by the farmhouse, he happened upon a spot where the vintage had actually commenced.1860, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 30, in The Marble Faun
- To become popular or trendy.
Synonyms of happening
1 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of happening
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more happening |
| superlative | most happening |
| Noun | |
| plural | happenings |
Origin of happening
From happen + -ing.
From happen + -ing. As term used in performance art popularized by Allan Kaprow.
Words formed from happening
Phrases with happening
Questions about happening
- What does happening mean?
- Happening means busy, lively; vibrant, dynamic; fashionable.
- What is happening the present participle and gerund of?
- Happening is the present participle and gerund of happen.
- What part of speech is happening?
- Happening can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce happening?
- Happening is pronounced /ˈhæpɪnɪŋ/ (UK).
Words near happening in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: happening (page history and authors); happen (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-happening.ogg.
Cite this entry: “happening.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/happening. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.