- [countable, uncountable]
the fact of two things happening at the same time by chance, in a surprising way （令人吃惊的）巧合，巧事 a strange/an extraordinary/a remarkable coincidence 奇怪的／不寻常的／惊人的巧合 What a coincidence! I wasn't expecting to see you here. 真巧！我没料到会在这里见到你。 It's not a coincidence that none of the directors are women (= it did not happen by chance). 没有一位董事是女性，这并非偶然。 By (sheer) coincidence, I met the person we’d been discussing the next day. 真是巧了，我在第二天就遇见了我们一直在谈论的那个人。
Synonyms luckluck- chance
- coincidence
- accident
- fate
- destiny
- luck the force that causes good or bad things to happen to people:
This ring has always brought me good luck. 这戒指总是给我带来好运。
- chance the way that some things happen without any cause that you can see or understand:
The results could simply be due to chance. 这结果可能纯属意外。
- coincidence the fact of two things happening at the same time by chance, in a surprising way:
They met through a series of strange coincidences. 他们因一连串奇妙的巧合而相遇。
- accident something that happens unexpectedly and is not planned in advance:
Their early arrival was just an accident. 他们早到仅仅是偶然而已。
- fate the power that is believed to control everything that happens and that cannot be stopped or changed:
Fate decreed that she would never reach America. 命中注定她永远到不了美国。
- destiny the power that is believed to control events:
I believe there’s some force guiding us—call it God, destiny or fate. 我认为有某种力量在指引着我们，称之为上帝也罢，天意也罢，或是命运也罢。
fate or destiny? 用 fate 还是 destiny？ - by …luck/chance/coincidence/accident
- It’s no coincidence/accident that…
- pure/sheer luck/chance/coincidence/accident
- to believe in luck/coincidences/fate/destiny
Extra ExamplesBy an unfortunate coincidence, their house was burgled on the day he lost his job. 不幸的是，在他丢了工作的那天，他们家又偏巧遭人偷窃。 By coincidence, we both went to the same school. 碰巧我们两个上的是同一所学校。 It was pure coincidence that they were both in Paris on the same day. 他们俩同一天都在巴黎，纯属巧合。 Remarkable coincidences do happen in real life. 现实生活中确实会发生不寻常的巧合。 They met through a series of strange coincidences. 他们因一连串奇妙的巧合而相遇。 What a happy coincidence to meet you at the airport just when I wanted to see you. 我正想见你，就在机场碰到你，真是令人高兴的巧合。 By sheer coincidence, I met the person we'd been discussing the next day. 纯属巧合，我第二天遇到了我们一直在讨论的人。 It's not a coincidence that none of the directors is a woman. 董事中没有一位女性，这并非偶然。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- complete
- pure
- sheer
- …
- series
- set
- string
- …
- happen
- by (a) coincidence
- [singular] (formal)
the fact of things being present at the same time 同时存在；并存 the coincidence of inflation and unemployment 通货膨胀与失业的并存
- [singular] (formal)
the fact of two or more opinions, etc. being the same （意见等的）相同，相符，一致 a coincidence of interests between the two partners 两个合伙人之间利益的一致
Word Originearly 17th cent. (in the sense ‘occupation of the same space’): from medieval Latin coincidentia, from coincidere ‘coincide, agree’, from co- ‘together with’ + incidere ‘fall upon or into’.