- [countable, uncountable]
the fact of two things happening at the same time by chance, in a surprising way （令人吃驚的）巧合，巧事 a strange/an extraordinary/a remarkable coincidence 奇怪的／不尋常的／驚人的巧合 What a coincidence! I wasn't expecting to see you here. 真巧！我沒料到會在這裏見到你。 It's not a coincidence that none of the directors are women (= it did not happen by chance). 沒有一位董事是女性，這並非偶然。 By (sheer) coincidence, I met the person we’d been discussing the next day. 真是巧了，我在第二天就遇見了我們一直在談論的那個人。
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. 這戒指總是給我帶來好運。
- chance the way that some things happen without any cause that you can see or understand:
The results could simply be due to chance. 這結果可能純屬意外。
- 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. 他們因一連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. 他們早到僅僅是偶然而已。
- 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. 命中注定她永遠到不了美國。
- destiny the power that is believed to control events:
I believe there’s some force guiding us—call it God, destiny or fate. 我認爲有某種力量在指引着我們，稱之爲上帝也罷，天意也罷，或是命運也罷。
fate or destiny? 用 fate 還是 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，他們家又偏巧遭人偷竊。 By coincidence, we both went to the same school. 碰巧我們兩個上的是同一所學校。 It was pure coincidence that they were both in Paris on the same day. 他們倆同一天都在巴黎，純屬巧合。 Remarkable coincidences do happen in real life. 現實生活中確實會發生不尋常的巧合。 They met through a series of strange coincidences. 他們因一連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. 我正想見你，就在機場碰到你，真是令人高興的巧合。 By sheer coincidence, I met the person we'd been discussing the next day. 純屬巧合，我第二天遇到了我們一直在討論的人。 It's not a coincidence that none of the directors is a woman. 董事中沒有一位女性，這並非偶然。
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 同時存在；並存 the coincidence of inflation and unemployment 通貨膨脹與失業的並存
- [singular] (formal)
the fact of two or more opinions, etc. being the same （意見等的）相同，相符，一致 a coincidence of interests between the two partners 兩個合夥人之間利益的一致
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’.