🎲 A possibility 🍀 By luck 🎰 To risk 🔎 To find by accident 🤷 Unplanned

chance

3.7

Happening without a plan or intention

adjective
/tʃæns/

: fortuito

By pure chance, they met each other at the café after so many years.

Examples

He stumbled upon a hidden garden, an unexpected beauty found purely by chance.
The book fell off the shelf not because of a push, but simply by chance.
An exact way, Not by chance, but in an exact way.
An exact way, Not by chance, but in an exact way.

Synonyms

random

vschance

527 3.4

Happening without a plan and by chance

is about unplanned events rather than emphasizing lack of pattern

spontaneous

vschance

187 4.2

Happening naturally without planning or outside cause

is about unplanned events, not inner impulses

accidental

vschance

118 3.0

Happening by chance and not planned

names an unplanned occurrence rather than describing it

casual

vschance

50 2.5

Happening by chance and not planned

is the broader term for events not planned or intended

coincidental

vschance

32 4.8

Happening by chance at the same time as something else

is the general term for unplanned events, not only time matches

unintentional

vschance

26 4.1

Happening by accident

is about lack of planning rather than absence of intent

fortuitous

vschance

Formal

15 7.3

Happening by chance in a lucky or helpful way

is neutral and does not imply luck or benefit

purely coincidental

vschance

3 5.1

Happening only by chance and not planned

is the general idea of an unplanned event without stressing totality

Antonyms

intentional

117 3.9

Done on purpose and not by accident

planned

26 1.0

Arranged before it happens on purpose

Idioms

by chance

66 2.3

Happening without planning or intending

on the off chance

13 6.7

Just in case there is a small chance something will happen

fat chance

Informal

2 8.1

A way to say something is very unlikely to happen

in with a chance

1 6.0

Having a real possibility of succeeding at something

Chinaman's chance

Slur

1 9.9

A very small chance, expressed by an old insulting phrase

dog's chance

8.4

A very small hope of success

Tinker to Evers to Chance

Informal

9.9

A famous baseball double play that stands for perfect teamwork

Compounds

second chance

223 2.3

An opportunity to try again after making a mistake

fighting chance

Informal

26 4.0

A real chance to succeed despite the difficulty

fair chance

12 2.4

A good but not certain chance of success

slim chance

10 3.4

A very small possibility that something will happen

game of chance

9 3.7

An activity where luck decides the result, like a lottery or roulette

outside chance

Informal

6 3.5

A very small possibility that something will happen

chance of rain

5 2.2

How likely it is to rain at a time or place

sporting chance

1 3.5

A fair possibility of success that is not certain

chance of reconciliation

1 4.8

The possibility that two people will be friendly again after a disagreement

chance event

1 3.4

An event that happens by accident and is not planned

last chance saloon

1 7.0

A final chance to succeed or avoid failure

chance music

Specialized

9.9

Music in which some sounds happen by accident or by a player's choice

chance variable

Specialized

7.9

A number that takes different values by chance in statistics to show random results

chance-half correlation

Specialized

9.8

A number that shows how similar scores are between two random halves of a test

chance-medley

Archaic

9.9

An unplanned killing during a sudden fight, often in self-defence

happy chance

3.9

A lucky unexpected event that brings something good

How Planned

deliberate

125 4.1

planned

26 1.0

chance

3.7

accidental

118 3.0

random

527 3.4

Surface Forms

chance positive

Etymology

Chance as an adjective comes from the same root casus meaning 'a fall', so it keeps the idea of something not planned or done by accident. That's why a 'chance' meeting is an unplanned meeting.