Synonyms for circumstance
ˈsɜr kəmˌstæns; esp. Brit. -stənscir·cum·stance

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.0 / 4 votes

1. circumstance

   A circumstance (Latin circum, around, and sto, stand), is something existing or occurring in connection with or relation to some other fact or event, modifying or throwing light upon the principal matter without affecting its essential character; an accompaniment is something that unites with the principal matter, tho not necessary to it; as, the piano accompaniment to a song; a concomitant goes with a thing in natural connection, but in a subordinate capacity, or perhaps in contrast; as, cheerfulness is a concomitant of virtue. A circumstance is not strictly, nor usually, an occasion, condition, effect, or result. (See these words under CAUSE.) Nor is the circumstance properly an incident. (See under ACCIDENT.) We say, "My decision will depend upon circumstances" — not "upon incidents." That a man wore a blue necktie would not probably be the cause, occasion, condition, or concomitant of his committing murder; but it might be a very important circumstance in identifying him as the murderer. All the circumstances make up the situation. A certain disease is the cause of a man's death; his suffering is an incident; that he is in his own home, that he has good medical attendance, careful nursing, etc., are consolatory circumstances. With the same idea of subordination, we often say, "This is not a circumstance to that." So a person is said to be in easy circumstances. Compare EVENT.

   Synonyms:
   accompaniment, concomitant, detail, event, fact, feature, incident, item, occurrence, particular, point, position, situation

   Preposition:
   "Mere situation is expressed by 'in the circumstances'; action affected is performed 'under the circumstances.'" [Murray's "New English Dictionary"]

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.0 / 2 votes

1. circumstance

   Synonyms:
   detail, feature, point, event, occurrence, incident, situation, position, fact, topic, condition, particular, specialty

   Antonyms:
   deed, case, transaction

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. circumstancenoun

   a condition that accompanies or influences some event or activity

   Synonyms:
   condition, context, setting, consideration

2. context, circumstance, settingnoun

   the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation or event

   "the historical context"

   Synonyms:
   context of use, setting, background, stage setting, mount, scope, mise en scene, linguistic context, consideration, context, scene, place setting, condition

3. circumstance, condition, considerationnoun

   information that should be kept in mind when making a decision

   "another consideration is the time it would take"

   Synonyms:
   condition, retainer, setting, shape, status, precondition, thoughtfulness, term, consideration, context, considerateness, experimental condition, stipulation

4. circumstancenoun

   formal ceremony about important occasions

   "pomp and circumstance"

   Synonyms:
   condition, context, setting, consideration

Matched Categories

1. • Ceremony
   • Condition
   • Information

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. circumstancenoun

   Synonyms:
   incident, accident, subsidiary fact

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "circumstance":

   circumstances, improvised, situation, fact, circumstantial

How to pronounce circumstance?

How to say circumstance in sign language?

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How to use circumstance in a sentence?

1. Patrick Meehan:

   I think there is tremendous pressure on an administration, absent some clear indication that this is a hoax, to try and do the prudent thing in the circumstance, there isn’t a lot of time to contemplate it. It has to be made on a moment’s notice.

2. Jim Rivas:

   Employers that use our system never, under any circumstance, see individual employee data … the employee data is anonymized, aggregated.

3. David Greenberg:

   The focus started to shift back to being capable of using the automation as an assist to reduce workload in the right circumstance, but being capable also of taking over and flying the old way, in Asia, it's very normal to rely, in my view, excessively on automation.

4. Francis Collins:

   If you're in a circumstance where you really, really don't want to miss a diagnosis of somebody who's already carrying the virus, you'd like to have something that has a higher sensitivity than that.

5. Russell Wilson:

   To be able to play this game, you have to be a little bit wild, a little bit crazy, you have to be tough to be able to do all the things you have to do every day, this is one of the hardest games in the world. I think every guy’s circumstance is different.